$5 Project - Painted Corner's (pics attached)
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$5 Project - Painted Corner's (pics attached)
Well...I had just gotten done dropping in my new K& N air filter today, when I decided that I was tired of my orange front marker lights/turn signals. Now, I have yet to convice my wife that spending money on completely un-neccesary car parts, like clear corner lamps, is a hobby, so I decided to try to something different.
I had some silver spray paint in my garage, the type that you paint those clear Lexan R/C car bodies with. It says right on the can that it bonds with plastic, so I thought that it would bond with my marker lights too. After testing it on a small piece of translucent plastic, I was pretty confident that enough light passed through to keep my lights functional.
So out came my marker lights and after a little lite sanding, cleaning, and masking, on went the paint. The key to applying this paint (and most spray paints) is to let the paint lightly coat the object. I did about two coats on each piece. both rather lite, but I think they looked pretty silver afterwards. Right now they really look like brushed aluminum, with just a little sparkle/glitter efect. It might be interesting to apply a layer or two of Clearcote to see if you can give them an even more metallic look.
I am really happy with the results, but since I just did it, I haven't any idea how well the paint will hold up to daily driving and rock chips. I will keep you all posted. In the mean time I would like to know what others think of this $5 mod.
Pictures attached (3 per post)
I had some silver spray paint in my garage, the type that you paint those clear Lexan R/C car bodies with. It says right on the can that it bonds with plastic, so I thought that it would bond with my marker lights too. After testing it on a small piece of translucent plastic, I was pretty confident that enough light passed through to keep my lights functional.
So out came my marker lights and after a little lite sanding, cleaning, and masking, on went the paint. The key to applying this paint (and most spray paints) is to let the paint lightly coat the object. I did about two coats on each piece. both rather lite, but I think they looked pretty silver afterwards. Right now they really look like brushed aluminum, with just a little sparkle/glitter efect. It might be interesting to apply a layer or two of Clearcote to see if you can give them an even more metallic look.
I am really happy with the results, but since I just did it, I haven't any idea how well the paint will hold up to daily driving and rock chips. I will keep you all posted. In the mean time I would like to know what others think of this $5 mod.
Pictures attached (3 per post)
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Im my dark garage....
I would definatley NOT do this to your tail-lights or headlights. That would be very unsafe. They don't flash very well in sunlight, but I think they show up in the dark okay. I'll take some night pictures soon as it gets dark.
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IMPORTANT!
I should point out that the lights are absolutley fine for night driving, in fact you can't tell that there's any change when lights are on. But during the day it's a differnent story.
It is not my intention to be a hazard to others on the road, and I do not want to catch the attention of Johnny Law, so after re-evaluating the importance of the front turn signals; I have made this modification.
I have removed the paint from a section of each turn signal (the side marker lights I left as is, They only go on with the headlights anyway) on the front. It just wasn't visible enough in the daylight. If anyone else attempts this, I would suggest masking this area off, then painting. As it where I had to tape off the area and scrape it with a piece of metal, then sand the rest off, it took me about an hour to do both and was a real pain in the rear.
Here is the result. Maybe not as cool as all silver, but I still think it's better than the orange...
Nice and bright again, even when it's not dark out!
I should point out that the lights are absolutley fine for night driving, in fact you can't tell that there's any change when lights are on. But during the day it's a differnent story.
It is not my intention to be a hazard to others on the road, and I do not want to catch the attention of Johnny Law, so after re-evaluating the importance of the front turn signals; I have made this modification.
I have removed the paint from a section of each turn signal (the side marker lights I left as is, They only go on with the headlights anyway) on the front. It just wasn't visible enough in the daylight. If anyone else attempts this, I would suggest masking this area off, then painting. As it where I had to tape off the area and scrape it with a piece of metal, then sand the rest off, it took me about an hour to do both and was a real pain in the rear.
Here is the result. Maybe not as cool as all silver, but I still think it's better than the orange...
Nice and bright again, even when it's not dark out!
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