Tinted taillights

[zoomtictac]

Alright, so I've had this stuff sitting around for a while - I was entertaining the idea of tinting the Miata's taillights, but still not sure. However, I decided it would look great on the Pro, essentially because the car is black. I used VHT, and it took about 7 light coats before I got it as dark as I wanted (which makes them look almost totally black, unless exposed to direct sunlight or some other source of light. They look black on a cloudy day. However, light still shines through great. I'll have to post some night shots a little later, because I didn't get the opportunity to take any tonight - but I held one of the housings up to a lamp in my apartment, showing how easily light shines through the bulb holes.

Anyway, the link to the pictures is here: http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s...%20taillights/

Let me know what you guys think I'll post the night pictures soon.

[almighty4wd]

is that legal?

It certainly looks sweet. A very smooth ghosted look.

[zoomtictac]

Alright, added the two night shots to the page above - one with parking lights, one with brake lights.

[zoomtictac]

is that legal?

It certainly looks sweet. A very smooth ghosted look.

I had my Saturn tinted like that for over 2 years, never had any issues. Can't be any less legal than the tinted headlight and taillight "covers" you can buy at most auto stores.

[Turpro]

Looking good. I've been thinking about doing my tails and familia garnish.

[96ProDX]

i did the top layer or my tails with nite shades on my 2nd gen. had no probs and it looks so much better than the ugly orange.

[Mazda_Powered]

Nice! I have my Protege GTs tailed tinted. I had the center garnish tinted too, but i opted for the colour match.

JACK.

[diflictedminds]

hmmm i guess its a matter of if you want someone to see your lights REALLY well, or just a little bit. or you could say that its just a matter of whether you want a nice looking rear bumper or a smashed up one.... its all personal preference! (I do like the ghosted lights, just not practical on the rear imho.)

[zoomtictac]

Dually noted. Hopefully my eventual plans for the taillight light source will solve that (involves LED's in a similar pattern as the new Acura RL's, I think). Haven't totally worked that one out yet, still just a idea in my head.

I dunno, maybe the pictures aren't a very good representation - obviously if the pictures are not exposed correctly, it won't give an accurate view of the light output. But I can say that when my friend pushed the brake pedal for the one picture above, I was pleasantly surprised at how much light was coming through.

I'm very pleased with all aspects of the outcome.

[tunerguy]

where is the best place to find this niteshades spray?? i searched a lil but idk who would carry it

[96ProDX]

i got mine off Jegs.com for about $20 after shipping

[zoomtictac]

20 bucks? Yeesh.

I got mine from www.saturnmotorsports.com (no affiliation) - which would make sense that I got it there, because I had a saturn the first time I used the stuff. Go to the site, click on the Online Store link along the top, choose 29-VHT Products from the drop down menu on the left side of the page, and you'll find all kinds of cool paints and dyes. The lens tint is on the 2nd page (NOT to be confused with the window tint). $8.40 per can plus shipping (when I ordered recently, I got full size cans, not the miniature one pictured). I ordered 2 cans, but 1 can was more than enough to put 7 coats onto my taillights - still have some left in the first can.

While you're there, if you don't know anything about Saturns and think they're slow piece-of-crap family cars, you should look around and see what kind of stuff you can get for those cars (mostly the older S-series cars), and what they're capable of. Never underestimate a car because of its reputation.

[Mazda_Powered]

The tint spray i used never changed the output of the tail lights, if it did...its maybe around 10% darker light. And my tail lights are BLACK. Very happy with the product...i think it was HVT or something.

JACK.

[zoomtictac]

Probably VHT, as referred to directly above your post, Mazda_Powered.

[jraz305]

turbo 2 tail lights at ur service

well this is great news ive been intrested in doing this for a while now .. ive seen lots of g35 rocking that look and its really nice .. so where is this an up make ,a tem plate cut it out and open ur taillights .. insert a round styled template on and u got home made mazda turbo 2, rx-7. tail lights or gtr one circle bigger then the other .. truth is i had no idea it was a spray.. i thought some ass really sat there and used good old film for tint .. im glad i didnt start my project