So I happened by a pair of free Ford Racing taillights. "Free?!?," I hear you saying. Well, yes -- here's the thing. The seal between the housing and the lamp was separated and had been very poorly resealed (with, incidentally, what looked like Wood Glue. Ugh). Needless to say, they required a little work.
Now, I never liked the FR Tails. I don't think a single set of hatchback tails have pulled off the "Bubbles" look except for the Hella Magic Modules, and I never even considered buying a pair to put on my car. Plus, the altezza/chrome doesn't fit my theme at all. But they were free! So... what can be done?
Well, good news for us. The seal is already crap, so that makes things easier on me, but if you had a new pair, you might need to do some baking. With that caveat in mind, follow along with me on the journey to resurrect these poor, mistreated tailllights.
1) The lights.
Pretty good shape externally, despite the seal problems.
![Image]()
2) Removing outer housing
Like I said, pretty easy considering they were so poorly resealed. Otherwise, it'd take a couple 5-minute rounds in a 200-degree oven.
![Image]()
3) The old seal
Eww, nasty. Seriously, is that wood glue? Was it even pressed while wet? I remove as much of this crap as possible so the new sealant can take better hold later.
![Image]()
4) Sanding
The chrome surface isn't hard to paint, but it still doesn't take it as well as other surfaces in the car do. So I lightly scuff up the whole surface with some 2000 and 1500-grit paper and wipe clean.
![Image]()
5) Masking
Kind of a bitch to do, because of all the round surfaces, but still only took about 15 minutes for both lights. I make sure to mask the signal backing, as well as the housing for the reverse light and brake light. Reverse light sucks most of all because there's no good lip to stick the masking tape to -- I expect I'll end up with a thin, chrome lip around the reverse light, but with the texturing on the housing I think it'll be fine. Might actually look good.
![Image]()
![Image]()
6) Primer
Always good practice, but with the chrome surface, this is especially important. I lay down two coats of primer on each -- this is the first. In the past, I've done several coats of primer, paint, and clear, and I've had some trouble with runs. I think this time I'll try and be a little more minimalist with the paint, and just try and do a better job spraying.
![Image]()
7) Coats of black
Ahh, here we go. This ought to match my black hatchback's theme MUCH better than the chrome would. I sand the dried primer lightly with 2000 grit, just to smooth out any runs or rivets, and wipe it clean. Then lay down a few coats of black.
![Image]()
![Image]()
...Aaand that's where we are so far.
They've been drying in my basement for a few hours now, and I'm still deciding whether to put on a clear coat. I'm a little sketchy about it and am leaning toward just skipping it, since the paint is going to be protected by a housing anyway. It could fade slightly quicker without one, but I don't want to risk messing up this work since I REALLY want to have the tails ready to install tomorrow -- curing overnight should be all they need.
I'll post pics tomorrow with further results! :thumbup:
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*** UPDATE ***
---------------------
So after seeing the paint after a few hours of drying, I decided to skip the clear for sure. They look exactly like I wanted, and I don't want to push my luck. I cleaned as much of the old sealant off as I could before all this painting, but there's still some residue on there. I don't think I'll have any trouble sealing them up, though.
I took the masking tape off, cleaned the ever-loving S*** out of the housings (which are now *crystal* clear) with soap and alcohol, and very gently tested out the look. See pics below. As long as the paint feels right tomorrow afternoon, I'll seal them back up and see how they look on the car.
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
Yeah... based on that last pic, I am pretty ****ing stoked about seeing how these look on the car :rock:
Now, I never liked the FR Tails. I don't think a single set of hatchback tails have pulled off the "Bubbles" look except for the Hella Magic Modules, and I never even considered buying a pair to put on my car. Plus, the altezza/chrome doesn't fit my theme at all. But they were free! So... what can be done?
Well, good news for us. The seal is already crap, so that makes things easier on me, but if you had a new pair, you might need to do some baking. With that caveat in mind, follow along with me on the journey to resurrect these poor, mistreated tailllights.
1) The lights.
Pretty good shape externally, despite the seal problems.
2) Removing outer housing
Like I said, pretty easy considering they were so poorly resealed. Otherwise, it'd take a couple 5-minute rounds in a 200-degree oven.
3) The old seal
Eww, nasty. Seriously, is that wood glue? Was it even pressed while wet? I remove as much of this crap as possible so the new sealant can take better hold later.
4) Sanding
The chrome surface isn't hard to paint, but it still doesn't take it as well as other surfaces in the car do. So I lightly scuff up the whole surface with some 2000 and 1500-grit paper and wipe clean.
5) Masking
Kind of a bitch to do, because of all the round surfaces, but still only took about 15 minutes for both lights. I make sure to mask the signal backing, as well as the housing for the reverse light and brake light. Reverse light sucks most of all because there's no good lip to stick the masking tape to -- I expect I'll end up with a thin, chrome lip around the reverse light, but with the texturing on the housing I think it'll be fine. Might actually look good.
6) Primer
Always good practice, but with the chrome surface, this is especially important. I lay down two coats of primer on each -- this is the first. In the past, I've done several coats of primer, paint, and clear, and I've had some trouble with runs. I think this time I'll try and be a little more minimalist with the paint, and just try and do a better job spraying.
7) Coats of black
Ahh, here we go. This ought to match my black hatchback's theme MUCH better than the chrome would. I sand the dried primer lightly with 2000 grit, just to smooth out any runs or rivets, and wipe it clean. Then lay down a few coats of black.
...Aaand that's where we are so far.
They've been drying in my basement for a few hours now, and I'm still deciding whether to put on a clear coat. I'm a little sketchy about it and am leaning toward just skipping it, since the paint is going to be protected by a housing anyway. It could fade slightly quicker without one, but I don't want to risk messing up this work since I REALLY want to have the tails ready to install tomorrow -- curing overnight should be all they need.
I'll post pics tomorrow with further results! :thumbup:
---------------------
*** UPDATE ***
---------------------
So after seeing the paint after a few hours of drying, I decided to skip the clear for sure. They look exactly like I wanted, and I don't want to push my luck. I cleaned as much of the old sealant off as I could before all this painting, but there's still some residue on there. I don't think I'll have any trouble sealing them up, though.
I took the masking tape off, cleaned the ever-loving S*** out of the housings (which are now *crystal* clear) with soap and alcohol, and very gently tested out the look. See pics below. As long as the paint feels right tomorrow afternoon, I'll seal them back up and see how they look on the car.
Yeah... based on that last pic, I am pretty ****ing stoked about seeing how these look on the car :rock:
