DIY smoked taillight mod for less than $20 and 24 hours of time (long)

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I decided to go ahead and try smoking my taillights myself. I think they turned out very, very good.

First, getting the taillights out was easier than I thought and therefore the first one popped out and landed on the garage floor breaking about 1/2 inch of the corner into small pieces. There are only 2 screws on the trunk side that hold on the light and a piece that just pops in and out on the tire side. Super glue did not work that well and I wanted to try and fix it without having to pay $115 for a new light (stocked at Clairparts). Made a trip to Home Depot and got some clear epoxy, mixed it up, put it on the corner to hold all the pieces together and fill in small holes/cracks. I let it sit overnight and then sanded it down.

This is a picture with the epoxy prior to sanding.


I used RC window tinting lacquer and clear coat ordered from testors.com. They come in 3 oz cans as shown below. I did a light sanding using 600 grit paper between coats of tint. I did 3 coats of tint and 2 coats of clear gloss (no sanding on the gloss) with 45 minutes of dry time between coats. I didn't even use a full can of the tint or clear. I also probably should have gone with 4 coats of tint to make it a little darker.


Here is a picture after 2 coats of the tint (kids not included). The broken corner is not that noticeable now.


Here is the before picture


...and here is the after picture. Not for everyone, but IMO looks good on darker colored cars. And yes, you can still see brake and signal lights very well during daylight. I haven't backed up at night yet. I also think I will do the 3rd light on the trunk. Any questions, let me know.

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