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Old 09-25-2006, 02:19 PM   #1
silence8
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Default black housing taillight mod for 06 WRX

I've sucessfully completed the headlight mod(when you paint the insides of the headlights black) on the stock 06 tails. I dont know if anyone has ever done this before. I have a few pictures of the process and the final lights.
I had to dremel the lights apart, paint the insides and re-seal them.


Thanks to speedworx for helping out.

How to:

Disclaimer: This is not a mod for those that don't have patience and/or very good hand eye coordination. You can not do this mod quickly or hastily. The longer you take the better it will look. I did it with speedworx, we each dremeled a light painted them together and re-assembled the housings in the span of 4 hours! If you are doing this on your own be prepared to take 6-8 hours.

1. First thing you need to do is get the materials. I went to Autozone and picked up 3 things

1. a can of KRYLON FUSION
2. A can of Duplicolor Trim paint.
3. 3M Window-Weld Ribbon Sealer. Its the same stuff used on the front windsheild of every car. Its very similar, if not the same to the goopy stuff used on the front headlights.




2. Now, to remove your tail lights from the car. You will need to remove the plastic clips from the trim panel, and unbolt 4 10mm nuts per light. Unclip the harness, and each taillight will pop out with no difficulty.

3. Once the lights are out, remove the bulb wiring harness. On the back of each taillight there are 6 philips head screws. Remove them all.

4. Get your Dremel ready. I becan to cut along the back side of the housing about 1/8 inch from the crease line on the back. Be careful, do not cut more that 1/4" depth...you could hit the inner reflectors. I did not even go through 1 cutting wheel, so if you are going through cutting wheels, you are doing something incorrectly. Cut in a smooth consistent line. I made about 3 passes before cutting through as i went around. Stop and clean up the shavings with a razor blade. It will let you see where you are cutting, and will also minimize the chances of getting hit with hot plastic(wear safety goggles!).




5. Once you have cut all the way around, you will find that there are two points holding the housing together. Here is where your dremel will not cut deep enough, and you will need to pry the light apart and SNAP these two points. Do not cut these out once you open the housing. These small tabs hold the chrome housing in place, and will help keep the entire light together after assembly.



6. Make sure that as you cut you stay as close as you can to the crease line. If you get too far from the line, when you are trying to pull the housing apart, you will not be able to because of the shape of the lamp.

7. Once your housing has been seperated from the black housing on the lens side, you will need to slowly work the chrome piece free. ***important*** IF YOU DONT CUT CORRECTLY FROM THE BEGINNING, YOUR CHROME LENS WILL BE STUCK IN THE HOUSING EVEN AFTER SEPERATING THE TWO. Once it is out, spend some time cleaning up the edges of both sides(the lens and the housing) with a razor blade. Clean everything very thoroughly.

8. To prepare the inner chrome lens for paint you will need to remove the red plastic reflector. It is snapped in place. With a small flathead screwdriver push the small clips out from the back of the chrome housing. Be careful. You will also need to remove one of the clear reflectors. This is also relatively straightforward. Remove it from the back with the same flat head screwdriver. Remove the large clip first, and the others will follow.
ATTENTION! Before painting, Make sure you test fit the chrome piece into the black housing on the lens side. You will have to trim-shave some plastic from the black housing on the lens side, but never cut or remove any of the supports inside of the housing. These supports are necessary for the chrome piece to be in the correct position after reassembly.

9. Tape off the areas you do not want to paint. I taped the remaining clear lens(it is glued in place) and the chrome area behind the red lens.

10. Prep your painting area, and shoot in the color of your choice, starting with the fusion paint.



11. For the re-assembly. Follow the previous steps in the reverse order. Before placing the housing back on the lens, you will need to use the 3M Window-Weld Ribbon Sealer. run a bead of this across the entire area you cut. I used this because if I ever want to open up the lights again, all I need to do is stick them in the oven for a short time and the two will seperate.



You now have a set of custom tail lights.
Please post questions, and I will try to edit this post with any answers.

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Last edited by silence8; 09-26-2006 at 09:58 AM.
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Old 09-25-2006, 02:51 PM   #2
vividwrx13
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pics?
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Old 09-25-2006, 02:54 PM   #3
silence8
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a few pics:




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Old 09-25-2006, 03:04 PM   #4
speedworx
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they look nice show the pic of the headlights too
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Old 09-25-2006, 03:13 PM   #5
silence8
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headlights:

Last edited by silence8; 09-25-2006 at 03:23 PM.
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Old 09-25-2006, 03:32 PM   #6
Handsdown
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you're the 1% i alluded to in my previous post here:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...1&postcount=18


great job, but i don't like the effect. it makes the circles stand out even more. i would have done it in metallic red.
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Old 09-25-2006, 04:04 PM   #7
silence8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Handsdown View Post
you're the 1% i alluded to in my previous post here:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...1&postcount=18


great job, but i don't like the effect. it makes the circles stand out even more. i would have done it in metallic red.
lol...I dont mind being in the 1%
They do stand out a little. maybe i should have tried to smoke the clear lenses a bit...either way, they are done, and its really not that difficult if you are patient and pay attention to detail. Looks 100x better than stock in my opinion.
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Old 09-25-2006, 04:11 PM   #8
Wannascooby
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Wow that is cool I have been waiting for someone to figure out how to get them out. But dremel...My skills are that great, but I suppose if I took my time I could paint them like the s204 taillights...those are sweet! Nice job do you have any more tips about dremeling it?
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Old 09-25-2006, 04:30 PM   #9
PARANOID56
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so, how did you do this?

Shane
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Old 09-25-2006, 04:45 PM   #10
bdon22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PARANOID56 View Post
so, how did you do this?

Shane
Agreed. Instructions would be very nice
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Old 09-25-2006, 04:47 PM   #11
Handsdown
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he said, dremel apart, paint, reseal
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Old 09-25-2006, 04:59 PM   #12
silence8
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I have some pics that i took while working on them. I will post them when i get a chance, I left my usb cable for my camera at home.
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Old 09-25-2006, 05:35 PM   #13
bdon22
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What did you use to reseal? I think when I try this I'll re-use the permatex black silicone I have left over from clearing my headlights.
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Old 09-25-2006, 05:40 PM   #14
Evil STI
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Nice job.

I thought about doing it before I traded them for the '05 tails, although I would have personally done them in red instead.
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Old 09-25-2006, 08:33 PM   #15
pdxsilverwrx
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Subscribe, I will paint them differently though.
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Old 09-25-2006, 09:11 PM   #16
octaYne
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i like the way that looks, i also did my 06 headlights and wanted to do my tails also. a how to on this mod would be geat

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Old 09-25-2006, 09:21 PM   #17
AlxSti
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headlights look good.. tails.. eh..
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Old 09-25-2006, 09:23 PM   #18
akinasdevil
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Good mod, definitely better than stock.
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Old 09-25-2006, 09:38 PM   #19
ChrisCJ99
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yeah. i'm curious as to where exactly you cut the tail lights with the drumel. Could you not just seperate the tail lights by sticking them in the oven like the headlights? Pics of the cutting would help out a TON. I just finished painting my headlights this weekend and I'm looking to do the tail lights also.
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Old 09-25-2006, 10:31 PM   #20
Evil STI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisCJ99 View Post
yeah. i'm curious as to where exactly you cut the tail lights with the drumel. Could you not just seperate the tail lights by sticking them in the oven like the headlights? Pics of the cutting would help out a TON. I just finished painting my headlights this weekend and I'm looking to do the tail lights also.
The tail lights aren't bonded together in the same way as most headlights with the black, gooey adhesive. They are heat-fused and/or use a permanent glue during assembly.
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Old 09-25-2006, 10:43 PM   #21
schooby
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why not make the headlight housing the same as the car color? The new corvette has that stock, and it looks good.
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Old 09-25-2006, 10:55 PM   #22
jiyun
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finaly someone that had the balls to do it. and i posted a week ago about anyone dremeling their tails open. very well done. few questions i have to ask about the project

1. Did the red lense(brake light) just detach from the housing? Facilitating the smoking of the chrome portion? Or did you have to tape it off?
2. Did you dremel the whole tail light? Or did you use a scoring knife at any point?

++++++1 for doing this mod as I cant stand the tints people put on their taillights. As someone posted above the circles do stand out.. but its pure sex regardless nice choice on ur car color white/black only way to gooooo!

edit: shave the ugly emblem off and she'll have a gorgeous booty!
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Old 09-25-2006, 10:58 PM   #23
jiyun
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schooby View Post
why not make the headlight housing the same as the car color? The new corvette has that stock, and it looks good.

Cause thats for Fits\Vettes
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Old 09-25-2006, 11:20 PM   #24
Handsdown
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jiyun View Post
Cause thats for Fits\Vettes
because it looks absolutely terrible on imprezas, that's another reason.
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Old 09-25-2006, 11:22 PM   #25
AlxSti
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schooby View Post
why not make the headlight housing the same as the car color? The new corvette has that stock, and it looks good.
ferrari did it first
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