Painting center taillight [Merged 11-6]

[devlish]

Personally, i would not use 200 grit for fear of sanding marks. a green scotch pad works great for scuffing plastic items before spray painting them. and YES, you can use a spray can if you don't have access to a gun or mixing paint. just take your time, and be patient. also, make sure the parts are REALLY clean before doing this.

i always use a spray gun & the proper mixed paint for my car. but i recently did the undertail on my GSXR with a spray can (only becuase i was not going to be spraying black anytime soon & didn't feel like cleaning the gun for such a small piece) and it turned out awesome. i took my time, scuffed it good, cleaned it good, and was patient!! i am VERY PLEASED with the spray can results!

good luck painting!
~Kurt

 

[Eclipse2NRGSnt]

i am rilly stupied but what tool do u use to get tha center piece off b/c i cant get it off. the bolt is 10mm but i dont hav a deep well socket to get in there so wut other tool do i use??

sorry for my stupity

 

[jaxon23]

ust get an extension you don't really need a deep 10mm but if you do they are cheap to buy...you can get a set of metric deep sockets at wal mart by stanley for like 8 bucks

 

[FiReBReTHa]

i like the shaved eclipse words.

my vote says stay red, i like the one long piece all across.

 

[Eclipsei95cl]

I painted mine with some spray paint from Autozone..Well and I too was afraid of it not matching my car but after I finished it..It matched at about 99% So Id say The colors they have available should ethier match exatcly or come damn close. I too sanded the thing down,few coats of Silver spray paint and a clear coat and looks cool. Be careful not to put too much on the first time I did and air bubbles kept coming up But yeah painting the center tail is definiley a DIY project. I brought it to MAcco b4 i did it myself and they quoted me 100 bucks! I was like screw you. They dont like wasting there time on little things so they usually overcharge u on it.

 

[LeJeune123]

guyz the only thing about painting the center taillight is that I got mine painted at a body shop and no matter what they did the word "ECLIPSE" just kept slightly showing through. But now I have it to where you can just barely see it and it really cool kinda like a ghost effect

 

[Six97GST]

guyz the only thing about painting the center taillight is that I got mine painted at a body shop and no matter what they did the word "ECLIPSE" just kept slightly showing through. But now I have it to where you can just barely see it and it really cool kinda like a ghost effect

I've had two center taillamps painted at a body shop and both had the exact same problem. The "ECLIPSE" does seem to fade over time, though. Weird..

 

[1badtsi]

i just painted my car last friday and the "eclipse" in the middle is gone, i used two coats of sealer before the color and that fixed the problem

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

Is there anyway to get it painted at a shop or DIY with the Silver Eclipse letters still on the center piece. I think it would add a touch of class.....

 

[Flat Tire]

why not just go out a buy some new letters? or just reapply the old ones with some 3m double sided tape or something?

 

[hewhoisknot]

i have the stupid big eagle head on my center piece.. how is that attached and how can i remove it without leavin marks?

 

[Eclipsei95cl]

well for my front Mitsu emblem on the front bumper i just put some WD40 on it and let it soak for a few minutes and then i stuck a razor blade on the emblems tip and pulled and it came right off. Try not to rub the blade on the paint though(obviously it will scratch ur paint) just use it to take the emblem off far enough so u can use ur fingers. But the talon emblem might be different who knows

 

[Talonman]

Painting question

Im painting the center section of my CF tails with VHT Nightshades so you can still see the bulbs I installed in them at night. The paint is very shiny looks gloss black as brilliant as the rest of the paint without any wet sanding, Im happy with the way it looks now.

Ok should I clearcoat? If I do will it dull up the finish and require wet sanding and polishing to make it shiny like it is now without the clearcoat?

 

[Talonman]

It will look like this but without the center line that runs thru the stock tails center piece, and you will be able to see the 2 reflectors lit up red thru the VHT Nightshades smoked lense paint: SO SHOULD I CLEARCOAT over teh nightshades lense paint?

 

[Daedalus]

I would clear coat it... It is a layer of protection for the actual paint. Plus, it SHOULD make it even more glossy...

 

[HighPsi92GST]

"Should" being the key word. i saw someone who had painted a spoiler with high gloss black spray paint and looked just like the car, then clear coated it and it was 10 times duller.

good idea to paint the center with night shades though

 

[wret]

I painted the center piece and I wasn't quite happy with the chopped off look it gave the tail lights, so I decided to give them a round look to kind of pick up on the shape of the car. What do you think?

 

[Coup D E'Tat]

I like the "chopped-off look" better.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

need mroe pics, but looks awesome.

def more pics.

good concept, very unique!!

 

[HighPsi92GST]

A+ for uniqueness

 

[dont need 8]

I like the "chopped-off look" better.

Why do people give the "keep it stock answer" in the exterior MODIFICATION section?

I also think it looks good and definately original.

 

[1fast97gsx]

Why do people give the "keep it stock answer" in the exterior MODIFICATION section?

I also think it looks good and definately original.

nobody gave that answer ... the chopped off look comes from painting the center section and he said he likes that better than what the guy did. I like both but I also kinda like the chopped off look better.

 

[laserboost]

I dislike it.

 

[Eagle_Summit]

 

[dsmmyth]

I think that's pretty dope.