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Hey guys,
the tailights that I have don't look too shab, these are them:



Does anyone have tips on how to paint them nicely?

I'll have a set of these lights in just over a week, so I don't know, but is it possible to remove the strip (is it chrome) from the rest of the housing?
If so see if you can get them out without damaging them.
If not looks like you'll have to mask them up.
Just respray them in as close to the original silver as you can get.
Do the grill to match.

Dave...

Remove the chrome trim by gently twisting the tabs of the back, make sure you mark them left and right as they will be slightly different. Sand with a fine sand paper (1200) undercoat and paint. I used Toyota wheel silver as it looks pretty cool. Carefully twist the tabs back once the chrome is in place. The lenses I cleaned with car wash then polished the outside the bring back the shine.

To polish the lenses,use some buffing compound and a nice soft,clean rag. Rub the crap out of them,wash them and repolish with Brasso. Works a treat.
A couple of guys I knew that did a lot of panel and paint on jap imports,used to rub faded and yellowed headlight lenses with 800wet and dry,then spray them with 2pack clear.A bit dodgey,but the looked OK.

^^ What pistorf said is correct, not the sand paper and clear but the polishing, thats how we used to do the shitty plastic headlights on Supra's, takes all the yellow out. Works a treat on my Brothers EL Fairmont too
Just use a gritty polish to clean out all the filth and muck from the exisiting marks. Then use a smooth polish to shine them up. I used Eagle One Nanowax as the rough and then Eagle One Nanowax Paste to shine. No I dont work for Eagle One I just bought it when I got the VR4 and it was killer stuff, lol

Went from this



to this



This is they way they did look

thanks guys,

my lenses look good, i cleaned them out already


i managed to get the chrome striping inside the outer section removed yesterday.
so you guys think just primer and regular spray paint will do the trick?

thanks,
kirk

kirkstanton wrote:so you guys think just primer and regular spray paint will do the trick?

Yep. Don't forget to clear coat them afterwards...

Dave...

Took this topic into consideration and this was the outcome

Before ..



After ..

I know this reply is waaaay too late to answer the original question. However, it still might interest some one. I did my tail lights years and years ago after giving them a light sanding , an undercoat and a top coat, in matte black, but they started to flake off after a few years. I redid them using fish oil as a base coat, a Kill Rust primer and black gloss Kill Rust top coat. They look great and have lasted for years. I think the trick is the fish oil stays sticky and ensure the primer adheres to the plastic underneath. I've done the same thing with other plastics, too, like FoMoCo mirrors and other trim. It works a treat. Just don't go too heavy with the fish oil, because it'll sag below the subsequent coats if you do.