Painting center taillight [Merged 11-6]

[Defiant]

What? It's just spray paint, but in factory colors.

 

[myeclipseisnice]

ok so if its just spray paint in a factory color how come people just dont paint there whole cars with that?

 

[Defiant]

That's actually a pretty good question, and the answer is volume. A car takes a couple of gallons, and it wants it pretty much at the same time. The quart paint cup on a DeVilbiss will be enough for you to get areas done quickly enough that you can catch it wet enough to blend (especially with enamels), but a spray can doesn't have the power nor capacity to do an area much larger than about 2'X2'.

But it's plenty for your tailpiece.

Oh, and around here, you get to _see_ many rolling reasons why spray cans don't do very well on cars. Because it seems many try.

 

[myeclipseisnice]

ok so now, back to the duplicolor, at my pep boys they have import color, and all the other crap but no dupli color, where can i get it? napa? let me know thanks

 

[Defiant]

Yeah, it's a big (and the original) touch-up company- someone near you will carry it.

 

[TBSpyder]

Wal-Mart

 

[dewman0012]

maaco wouldn't paint my center taillight, so i did it myself

 

[eclipsegsx9797]

hey guy's what did you guys do to paint your center tail light. my local body shop said they would have to ruff up the light area with sand paper then paint it. just curious what you guys did to get yours done thanks jim

 

[eclipsed95]

My friend had mine done for me at a body shop. It makes sense that they would scuff it some, just like sanding anything else you paint. Good luck, I like mine a lot better now.

 

[ImportModder]

I had a body shop do mine. Supposedly they had this special primer that they used for PT cruisers' lights to paint them. But all you need is to scruff them up a bit.

 

[VOTBLINDUB]

It's just like painting plastic, use rough snadpaper first, then move to finer, end up with wet sanding it, find a good primer for plastics and paint for that. There is really nothing special in painting it. Im keeping mine the way it is, cuz its gonna be lit up, so there is a full strip in the back side to side

 

[Ilikefastcars]

I work at a body shop. What you have to do is scuff it with a 400-600 grit scoch brite pad, and then use plastic primer . You can get that in a spray can, Then paint with than 15 min.

 

[$mP]

To those of you that have done this before :

Is it costly?
Are most shops willing to do it?



What do you guys think, to paint or not to paint?

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[airjordan56]

Hey man, nice car I like it. But downt to business, I wouldnt even bother painting it since your car is red and all. Most of the people I know have done it themselves so I really dont know how expensive it would be to have it done at a shop. But i'm sure any shop would be willing to do it.

 

[$mP]

Thanks dude!

I know my car is red and all but I think it'd make my car look cleaner if I had two distinguishable taillights. It doesn't seem like it'd be too hard to do myself. Just figuring out how to take it off, prepping it, and matching the paint color.

 

[airjordan56]

it's easy to take off. Just take the panels out from behind the lights in your hatch. Then you'll see all the bolts you'll need to remove. Your red shouldnt be hard to color match. And as far as painting it, just search on here for a how-to on painting taillights. Hope everything turns out great!!!!!

 

[1badtsi]

dude, adam, i could do that for you hella cheap, i paint cars at school, let me know man

 

[$mP]

Oh, alright Mike.. I'll give ya a ring later about it.

 

[adamism]

Anyone done this? How'd it come out? Could you post the steps and materials needed. It'd be greatly appreciated! Also, how do you take the piece out? Thanks.

 

[dsmmyth]

Yea I've been wondering about this too. I know rkgrafix (www.rkgrafix.com) makes center tail light vinyls to fit the centerpiece, but they're set colors and they don't make any to fit your paint code. They have a carbon fiber overlay and other colors, but I don't want to get some color that doesn't match my car. So, if anyone could fill us in on how you did it, it'd be greatly appreciated.

 

[cuttheduck]

Yea I've been wondering about this too. I know rkgrafix (www.rkgrafix.com) makes center tail light vinyls to fit the centerpiece, but they're set colors and they don't make any to fit your paint code. They have a carbon fiber overlay and other colors, but I don't want to get some color that doesn't match my car. So, if anyone could fill us in on how you did it, it'd be greatly appreciated.

I think it says its a pretty close color if not right on to the paint code.
However,,,, look at that car they use as an example. I'd have a hard time
buying anything from a place that has that car as satisfied customer.

 

[adamism]

I think it says its a pretty close color if not right on to the paint code.
However,,,, look at that car they use as an example. I'd have a hard time
buying anything from a place that has that car as satisfied customer.

Yep, I agree.

Looks like it's ready for take-off.

 

[Spidey]

I did mine myself, though I haven't taken any new pics yet. I bought some white Krylon spraypaint(stuff that says it dries in 12 minutes), and some Krylon triple-thick clearcoat, both found at Wal-Mart. First I washed any dirt and stuff off, next I scuffed up the piece real good with some 200 grit sandpaper and wiped it again with a wet cloth. Now I just sprayed evenly back and forth with my hand about 12" above the center piece, until there was a nice even coat of paint. I let it sit for a few minutes and gave it another coat of white, then let it sit for 20 minutes just to be sure it was dry(and it was). Next came the clearcoat, I sprayed this in the same way but only did 1 coat, and it took a lot longer to dry, I let it sit for a good 2 hours. I was worried about the paint matching, but once mounted I can honestly say there is hardly any difference. I'll post some pics once I get my other new toys on

 

[Airpoppoff]

i did mine with reflective black vynil it looks great plus blinds everyone behind me

 

[Eclipse2NRGSnt]

can u use any Krylon paint for this?? lyk mine is black so can u use black and will it match up correctly???