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Project: Ford Racing Taillight Resurrection

4.2K views 29 replies 15 participants last post by  BlueFang04  
#1 · (Edited)
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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...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: :cool:

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*** UPDATE ***
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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.

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Yeah... based on that last pic, I am pretty ****ing stoked about seeing how these look on the car :rock:
 
#4 ·
Sigh... I'm impatient to a fault.

Sealed up! Now with extra HAWTNESS:

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#9 ·
LOL...just cruel...

I was given a set of these last year too for free. Brand new. I would'nt run them on my car, so I gave them to my brother and I got his stockers...LOL

I should crack his open and paint them yellow(EggYolk Hatch)
 
#12 ·
i dunno man. i did this to my lights a long time ago and still wasnt happy with how they looked. they just look like poo on our cars. (or any car for that matter). just my .02, tint ur stock tails.
 
#13 ·
Didn't get a pic, but they went on today. I think they looked a little better on the floor than they do on the car.

I'm considering painting the housings themselves (minus the lenses and reverse area, of course) a gloss black. I'll post a picture of how they look tomorrow and get opinions.
 
#14 ·
* UPDATE *

Finally snapped a couple pics today. These things are growing on me fast. I even had a friend at work mention he really liked them, and that they "...didn't look douchey at all!" This is from a guy who has a deep, seething hatred of rice, so it felt good :)

I thought briefly about just painting the lens covers themselves black so the whole unit matched the car (just like the Hella Magic Modules), but I've pretty much decided against it. I think they're going to stay just like this.

Any comment on possibly putting a light coat of niteshade over the top, or do you think I should take the "Ain't broke, don't fix it" approach and leave 'em as-is? Let me know what you think!

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#18 ·
I'm on board with the *very* light coat of niteshade idea.

I'll pick up some cans when I have the cash and give 'em a coat. I have a few other things that need my wallet's attention first (like getting my SVT rear bumper painted :))
 
#19 ·
I'm on board with the, I don't like it and never will folks.

Please remove from car and throw in garbage, i'll even pay for shipping to myself so I can light them on fire.

Ben,

I appreciate the effort, but it was an feat you could not win.

You're making my 'almost' car feel bad. ;)

- Drew
 
#21 ·
focusownerskid said:
I'm on board with the, I don't like it and never will folks.

Please remove from car and throw in garbage, i'll even pay for shipping to myself so I can light them on fire.

Ben,

I appreciate the effort, but it was an feat you could not win.

You're making my 'almost' car feel bad. ;)

- Drew
*sniff* You cut to the quick, Drew :(

Hehe, I know, I know, they look like frigging rocket boosters. Like I said in OP, I don't think anything but the Hella Magic Modules really pulls off the 'bubble' look. But, after having them on for a few days, they've really grown on me, and after a coat of niteshade I think I'm going to keep them on the car. I have THREE (count 'em... how the hell???) pairs of stock tails in my basement, so in the meantime maybe I can come up with some homebrew mod on one of them that will look better :)
 
#24 ·
CrUziN4L said:
willing to give me a set of stockers?:evilgrin:
Only one of the three sets is pristine, and I'm keeping that one. The second set has some haze on the driver's side light where it looks like sandpaper was rubbed on it, and the third set has been niteshaded to all hell and really needs a healthy dose of Aircraft Remover. If you wanna pay for shipping, take your pick :p
 
#25 ·
:repost:Allright so I was looking for something on google that had nothing to do with tailights at all lol but found this post and I am glad I did because I have the same lights which didn't go with my car at all and I wanted to do the nightshade but at the same time was sketchy cause their brand new in the box and didn't wana take the chance on loosing money on them so I am really glad you posted this despite many peoples disdain to these tailights. :banana:eek:h yeah I whipped out the bannanna for this one