Painted Altezza Taillights

[silver slotege]

Some of you may know that I have the ugly chrome Altezza taillights. They were on the car when I bought it and have been trying to get rid of them for a while.

Last week when I was washing my car I noticed the Altezzas were the same layout as the factory taillights. So I got the bright idea to paint them.

After A LOT of searching, I found some candy apple red in a rattle can.
So, after a few drinks I decided now would be a good time to throw my taillights in the oven. 8 minutes at 300 degrees and the lenses pulled right off.

I just taped off the 2 rounds spots on the taillight for the turn signal and reverse light. Then I hit it with the candy red. While I was at it, I painted the housings black.
Let me know what you think.

 

[A louie]

Not bad

 

[flipmode815]

where you get that paint at?

 

[silver slotege]

Carquest.
Its a little pricey ($10 for 6 oz.), but definitely worth it. If I ever did it again, I would get 2 cans.

 

[Tasty]

So I guess the question now is: Why did you get Altezza lights to make them look like factory?

 

[justanothermp5]

looks almost exactly like stock

which is bad to me haha i hate the stock tail lights, but these look better
u did a good job

im getting the jdm tailights, those are the only ones i really like on the p5

 

[silver slotege]

haha. Because all I had was the altezzas. I didnt buy them, didnt want them, but it was all I had and couldnt justify spending $100 on factory ones. So for $10 in spraypaint, I can have the factory lights. Plus I think they look a little better because the covers are smooth instead of having the texture on the back.

 

[silver slotege]

I actually think the stock ones look the best. I am not a fan of the JDMs. Not sure why, I just dont like them.

 

[Tasty]

JDMs are too plain IMO. To each their own though.

 

[tonybonekhang]

Testors has a color for painting tail lights on models. It is a perfect gloss red. I forgot what it was called but is definately cheaper at $2-3 for a small can (more than enough for two lights).

 

[InFlames]

looks almost exactly like stock

which is bad to me haha i hate the stock tail lights, but these look better
u did a good job

im getting the jdm tailights, those are the only ones i really like on the p5

x2 on the JDM tails, they fit the lines of the car better IMO.

I changed my stock tails up a bit but I plan on some JDM tails soon.

 

[jtlinna]

Testors has a color for painting tail lights on models. It is a perfect gloss red. I forgot what it was called but is definately cheaper at $2-3 for a small can (more than enough for two lights).

transparent candy apple red.. love the stuff!

JT

 

[jtlinna]

Im glad im not the only one who thinks Altezza lights are ugly.. to much chrome IMO.. nice paint job!! your a better man then me cuz i couldnt get the cover off my stock taillights.. 10 minutes at 200 degrees... hmmm...

JT

 

[silver slotege]

Yeah, I broke a corner off on the first attempt. Then I put it in the oven at 300 for 8 mins. They popped right out.
I did put it toward the top of the oven with only the lower heating element on, so that may have had something to do with it.

 

[MP5_Joe]

has anyone done blacked out Altezzas? If I had the money I would try it, seems like it would look pretty kool, like my blacked out headlights.

 

[ForceFed]

You need to show us some daytime installed pics.
I would have liked to see the Paint applied a bit smoother from what I can see..but I want to see Daytime pics ...Indoor lighting doesn't show true to their environment and helps accentuate the flaws.

 

[silver slotege]

Yeah, I think the photo I took earlier was right after I painted it. If your candy was anything like mine, it took a while to dry clear. It was cloudy in some areas, which made me think it was uneven, so I painted more. Eventually I left it alone long enough to see that it just takes a while to dry correctly.
You can see an installed close-up on the second pic. It really turned out nice. The sealant is still drying in these pics, so you may notice that around the edges.
Let me know what you think.
Either way, I like it.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

I like the artist signature fingerprint beside the blinker cutout in the last pic of the 1st set of pics. Chrome altezzas match the oem headlights, black altezzas are for sale everywhere & match blacked out headlights, only thing about the JDMs is they look like usdm sedan tails-not necessarily bad( just an observation) & yes the usdm oems look stupid at night to me. I much prefer the fit of the JDMs to altezzas & how they match the body lines. These painted altezzas look better than the usdm oems IMO. Let's see pics installed & lit up with parking lights & then with brakes.

 

[silver slotege]

^I'll take some tonight.
And I will check that finger print... I am 90% sure its on the outside.
God, I hope so...

 

[silver slotege]

Yeah, it was outside.