Red-out Tails And Amber Corners Del Sol

[Vtec_Power]

Author: Dr. Isotope
Location: www.solsociety.com/forums

Figured I'd throw them both in here, as the process for both is virtualy identical. First up, as they are far more common, All Red Tails, often called redouts. This is a single-pic walkthrough-- you really only need to see the finished product-- the steps in between are nothing to write home about.

Step 1: Obviously, remove the tail. Held in place by four 8mm nuts. I recommend removing the wiring harness as well.

Step 2: Surface prep. I wipe down the tails thoroughly with denatured alcohol (basically 100% alcohol, whereas rubbing alcohol is usually only 60-90%. This is the only step that's really necessary, but if you're nutso (like I am), grab a lint-free rag or cloth-- and I mean completely lint free-- (blue Shop Towels work well) and wipe down the tail with lacquer thinner. If you're at all worried about screwing up your tails, don't do this. The thinner will actually soften the plastic, and give much more bite to the paint.

Step 3: Mask. Mask off the reverse light. In order from best to worst, the products to use for masking: Hobbico Master Mask (a liquid mask you can spray or brush on-- absolutely no paint bleed, ever), Lacquer Masking Tape (it's lime green), Long Mask Masking Tape (the blue stuff), ordinary buff Masking Tape. If you use any of the tapes, be sure to burnish the edges with the corner of a credit card or your thumbnail to help reduce bleed-under.

Step 4: Paint. You have your choice of two products, and I've used both. There's Testors Transparent Candy Apple Red, and Krylon Red Stained Glass Paint. The Testors is enamel, meaning you can clearcoat over it for added shine; the Krylon is an acrylic lacquer-- and so it clearcoat-- so if you spray clear over it, it will melt or "swiss cheese" the paint. Not good. The Krylon is more labor intensive (more sanding) but I like the color a bit better-- it's a deeper red, while the Testors is a virtual match for the red of the tails themselves.

Do light coats, holding the can 12-18 inches from the tail. Let dry about five miniutes, then overcoat, equally light. I do this for about 2 hours, until I have a good build. After the final coat, let the tails dry for at least 2 hours (if it's sunny), overnight is actually best.

Step 5: Sanding. I wetsand in only 3 grades, because I'm cheap. The more grits you use, the more appearance of depth you'll get in the color. I do 600, 1000, and 2000. Fifteen-hundred might get some more definition, but the higher grits are all reliant on evenness of the paint and how well you levelled the finish with the 600, so in my mind it's not absolutely necessary.

Be sure to keep the tail and the sandpaper wet through all three grades. Rinse the surface well after the 2000 to remove any grit, and wipe with a towel. If sanded properly, the tails should have an all-over haze, uniform, with no visible spots of shine or irregularities.

Step 6: Polish. I use a multi-stage polish called NOVUS, which is spefically made for plastics and polycarbonates. It has 3 steps, and I only use the final two: #2 Scratch Remover #1 Fine Scratch Remover/Polish/Anti-static. A little goes a long way. Step #2 first, wipe on, let haze over, and buff off with a clean cloth. If there are still stops of haze, re-apply. Then wipe the #1 on-- I drizzle the polish on, and wipe it in with my fingers, as any cloth will absorb the polish pretty fast. After it hazes, buff out with a cloth or polishing bonnet.

Step 7: Put it back together. This is too easy.

You should end up with something kinda like this:




They could have stood a bit more work with the 600, but I didn't put as thick of a coat on as I wanted, and was in no mood to sand through the paint to the plastic. In reality, the dull look at the bottom right is the fault of lighting. The tail is pretty even overall.

Hyper Amber Corners



This one is easier to describe, but somewhat tougher to do. Here, you're painting over clear plastic, and have to be extra careful not to sand through the finish, as there are more irregularities to the lens. This how-to is for aftermarket clear-corners. I'm unsure as to how if would work over OEM corners...

The process is almost identical.

Step 1: Remove the light. One screw. Unplug the harness.

Step 2: Surface Prep. Exactly the same as above.

Step 3: Paint. Krylon Orange Stained Glass Paint for this one. Exact same method as above, careful not to hit any spot with too much paint-- it will run very easily, as the orange seems to be thinner than the red. I used more of the can for the corners than I did for the tails-- about half a can for 2 corners and 2 reflectors. Keep building and building.

Step 4: Sand and Paint. My method was to build it up, let sit for 2 hours, sand them quite angrily with 600 grit (actually through to the plastic in spots) then lay on another 5-6 coats, then let sit overnight.

Step 5: Finish Sanding. Much as for the redouts, only using 1000 and 2000 grits to get the final surface.

Step 6: Polish, exactly as in Step 6 above.

Step 7: Reinstallation. Opposite of removal.

Should look something like this:




Now the closing disclaimer about the corners: You will sand, a lot. You will need the paint to be quite thick to look amber-- otherwise they're kinda goldish. This is why I do the Step 4 sand and paint-- to get the paint as absolutelt uniform as possible. Any orange peel will show quite a lot-- well, at least from 6 inches away it will. I also painted over my bumper reflectors to ensure the colors would match, but this is obvisouly not required, and actually a bit nutso.

So how's that, folks? Total cost on this one, about $25, if you have absolutely none of the materials, and have to buy everything.

--Krylon Stained Glass paint, ~$6 a can.
--Multi-pack of wet-or-dry sandpaper, ~$5.
--NOVUS 2-stage plastic polish, ~$7.

[Calesta]

Here's my write-up... not for a Sol, but more pictures and more detailed instructions.

http://www.hondaswap.com/~mike/tails

[Vtec_Power]

Yea Definitly look at Calestas write up too he took the time and effort to write it up and its worth taking a look at.

[Calesta]