Painting center taillight [Merged 11-6]

[rowlex]

it flowed well unpainted. I dont care for it blacked out unless you finish the job.

 

[talon7684]

Mine is painted.. but I'm getting the car repainted soon, and Im debating on whether to have them paint it all black, or go back to the stock one....

Definetly keep it the same color as the car though.

 

[Jake_16_1999]

No offense but it looks like sh*t. I liked it better before.

 

[grullan]

What if you left the top part of the center piece alone (amber section) and painted the rest black? Maybe someone could do that on photoshop to see what it would look like.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

ok i've searched on how to do it and what i get is u have to sand it and just paint it. but a friend of mine is saying that if you sand the plastic it can scratch it up n if you paint it it's not gonna last very long on the plastic. any advice?

 

[silvercoupe97]

ok i've searched on how to do it and what i get is u have to sand it and just paint it. but a friend of mine is saying that if you sand the plastic it can scratch it up n if you paint it it's not gonna last very long on the plastic. any advice?

Use sandable primer, that will help with adhesion and sand it with a high grit paper. That will get the surface nice and smooth. Your friend is wrong.

 

[silvercoupe97]

high as in like what number?

1000 grit will smooth it out, well, come to think I about it 800 grit can do it too. I would go over it with 1200 or the likes to really smoothen it out. If you get the surface as smooth as you would like it to be and after a few coats of clearcoat...you'll have one glossy product! I'm meticulous though. You don't have to go through all the work if you don't want to and you can cut corners, here and there. I would just rather do it right the first time and be done with it.
If you've ever cleared your headlight lenses, the theory is the same (clear the scratches) except in your case you eventually prime and paint the taillight center.

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

Well if you read how to do it here what are you asking. Are you asking us to say your friend is a lier?

You say you did the research, so you should know by the amount of people here who have done it it WILL stick to plastic.

Has you friend done this before?

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

Well if you read how to do it here what are you asking. Are you asking us to say your friend is a lier?

You say you did the research, so you should know by the amount of people here who have done it it WILL stick to plastic.

Has you friend done this before?

well my friend has never done it before but he has done alot of body work and painting. im asking because i thought maybe there was some other method of doing it that i might have missed. but thanks for the info

EDIT: btw eclipse4x4....that is one sexy gsx

 

[myeagleneedmods]

I am going to paint the center tail light of my Talon stock color (deep green metallic) but i don't know how i should paint it. Should I paint the whole piece or just the red and orange light look a like part?

 

[HighPsi92GST]

I would leave it as it is, but if you really want to paint it, just do the orange and red parts

 

[coney2]

Every guy I know that has painted his taillights has come to regret doing it after, Only one of my friends who did a complete blackout and then clear coated them is still happy with the results.....I left my alone too. Today I am happy that i did.

 

[Defiant]

If you want to and like it, do it. It's your car. Time to be all grown-up now, and make a damned decision.

 

[jayman089]

Hey guys I've been getting ready to paint the center piece between the brake lights. I've been wanting to leave the Eclipse emblem on it and paint around all the letters. Do you guys think I should do this or just peel the letters off and paint it that way?

 

[MelloEclipse]

i mean...wouldn't painting AROUND those letters be hard as hell? what color are you painting it...and will the silver letters look good on top of it?

but if you're set on painting it, it'd be easier to take them off and then re-apply them i believe

***Edit*** i assume you're painting it white since i looked at your gallery *blushes* ..i personally think the white and silver might look odd...but then again i'm not a big fan of painted center pieces

 

[jayman089]

If I was going to leave the emblem on there, I would tape off the letters and paint it to match the rest of my car-the silver pearl color.

 

[MelloEclipse]

man my brightness must be up too much, that looked white on my screen...the silver on silver might be odd...hmmm...i have the pearl silver car too *good job* BUT anyway do what you think will look good

 

[pinder91]

Why not paint the letters too? I saw someone on here did that on a red 2g.

 

[v8killar]

I would paint the center piece silver to match the car and paint he lettering black.

 

[SoilentGreen98]

Taping off the letters can be a bi***. It's better to peel em off, paint it, and then buy replacement letters.

 

[BoBbOrAzE]

If your careful you can peel em off, paint the light and super glue them back on. You could probably do all that by the time you tape off each individual letter.

 

[BeanBag]

I say dont paint it at all, but if you are set on painting, I'd peel off the letters and then re-apply them after painting, and possible paint the letters so they show up better.

 

[ImJustaGirl]

peel the leters off and paint or just paint the letters

 

[swade]

how hard is it to peel off the letters? if its kinda easy, you could paint it, then peel off the letters so it would be red letters on the silver paint...

wade

 

[ILLiCliPSE]

I love the painted center with no emblem look....

basically the first thing I did when I got the car ...

here's mine:

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