smoking the "thang" behind me: Advice/ opinions on smoked tail lights

[BANANA]

Hey guys

Got some left over VHT nightshades from smoking out my Boyfriends taillights on his Scion TC. I was pretty skeptical of this at first, seeing that the legality of doing so in CA is a little murkey. But I really liked how it turned out for the most part.

Has anyone here done this to their P5? one, I wanna see if it even looks good, and TWO, i want to make sure that what i planned on doing is not copying what someone else has done.

I'd also love to hear from any Californians who know about the legality first hand (ie you've gotten ticketed, or Haven't, ect) becuase despite reading what it says, im still lost in the technical jargon Law enforcement uses.


And ya..(2cents)(2cents), Post pics of your smoked rears too!

 

[thorracing271]

Copying what someone else has done? Many P5's have their tails tinted. I would personally love to do mine but havent had the time.
As for legality, all californians know that cops around here have 10000 reasons to pull you over. If its not the tinted tails, its the tinted windows, if not that maybe you dont have a front plate, or an out light. My mom got pulled over last week for having a necklace dangling from the rear view mirror. Is a cop going to pull you over? Most likely. Is the cop going to write you the ticket? Most certainly. Is it going to be complete BS and make you mad for weeks? YOU KNOW IT!

We just learn to roll with the punches in this state

 

[hornsfan10609]

Here are mine, I did them a few months ago, both tails, the 3rd brake light and the front side markers. I like the way it looks but one of the tails was broken the other day and i'm going all red with the next set.

No cop trouble at all because I didn't go too dark with it, I also don't recommend using clear coat, the VHT will have a shinier finish without it.

 

[fred_spitfire]

Here are mine, I did them a few months ago, both tails, the 3rd brake light and the front side markers. I like the way it looks but one of the tails was broken the other day and i'm going all red with the next set.

No cop trouble at all because I didn't go too dark with it, I also don't recommend using clear coat, the VHT will have a shinier finish without it.

sorry to steal the thread but how did u get your mazda ''M'' like that?

 

[ScratchNSniff]

^^^He cut it...

Pic of mine...

 

[cholland]

Here are mine. When I did mine I masked everything but the reverse and turn signals, put a couple coats on those, removed the tape and put a couple coats on the whole light.

I didnt put clear on mine at first, even tried to buff it to a shine, but they still looked dull so I put some clear on them

and this is what my side marker looks like

 

[NCZ13]

As long as the inner reflectors are visible through the lens, its perfectly fine. I had my tails vinyled with a light smoke w/ turn and reverse cutouts and never had a problem.

 

[drgnzadiel101]

^^^He cut it...

Pic of mine...

looks good but WAAAAAAAAAAY too dark

 

[fred_spitfire]

mine

yeah i know, it was dirty (spin)

i'll have to cut mine too, what did you guys use? and how do you remove it from the car and fix it back?

 

[hornsfan10609]

mine

yeah i know, it was dirty (spin)

i'll have to cut mine too, what did you guys use? and how do you remove it from the car and fix it back?

It has clips that hold it in place, be careful not to mess them up you have to reuse them. I actually bought mine from xJAZx, he used to sell them but i'm not sure if he has any more. The other emblems I just painted black but the M was cut and painted by xJAZx.

 

[fred_spitfire]

It has clips that hold it in place, be careful not to mess them up you have to reuse them. I actually bought mine from xJAZx, he used to sell them but i'm not sure if he has any more. The other emblems I just painted black but the M was cut and painted by xJAZx.

could you explain how those clips work? i've never messed with the emblems.

 

[BANANA]

Thanks for the input guys. car is blue silver and black, and these very red tail lights always just looked kinda OFF to me on the car. style I'm thinking of going with is just a very LIGHT coat over the red part of the lenses, making them more of a wine/burgundy color- leaving the reverse and turns clear. Kind of the opposite of what cholland did with his. im leaving the two circles unpainted for now, since i'm still on stock alloys. Maybe once i get around to getting new rims ill do something else.