Now I remember why I was not looking forward to doing this Most of the liner of the trunk came out with no problem, but those bloody one-way push in pins on the side panels are not willing to come out. And yes, I do have one of those removal tools. They have been pried out before and the heads are softened up, so the tool can't get enough leverage. I may have to destroy them and get new ones when (and if) I get them out. Wish me luck.

 

Sure!

Good Luck, Northwest GT! Good Luck indeed!

 

It was like the guy said in the movie The Graduate..."Son, I have one word for you"....leverage! (not plastics). I put the blade of a thick screwdriver under the upholstery tool and they came out. Look ugly, but they're out.

Painted the lenses earlier today and have them back on the car. In my opinion, they look great. It's a little detail, but it's one of those things that should have been on the car from the factory. Looks like it was there all along.

 

Pics?

 

 

 

Got to get them on to the site.

 

Rear view

 

Looks like it would be a great pic, but too small to see the work you did.. can you try larger size? I've been considering doing this for a while.

 

I wonder what it would look like painted the same as the body color?

 

I'll take another couple of pics now that I remember how to get them on here and post them tomorrow. I didn't take any pics while I was doing it because I didn't have all that much time. There is a post on the mod. You can find it in a search. It shows the process in detail. It really wasn't a problem doing the painting. The only real pain (for me) was to get that dang trunk liner out of the way and also get the lamps out and disconnected without breaking any bulbs. Especially those backup light bulbs.

 

These show the tail light edges a little better.

 

What paint did you use?

TIA

BB
Semper Fi

 

Nice...I like that look better than the plastic/rubber inserts that are sold. Cleaner.

 

A year or two ago, I put on those chrome stick on outlines....Not so good. I took them off after about a week.

About the paint, after masking and a quick cleaning with Dawn dish detergent, I sprayed on a grey primer. Then the color spray was SEM Color Coat, Satin Black. I got it from someplace on the internet (sorry can't remember where) but I think it is widely available. It's good stuff.

 

Even with a 21" monitor I cannot see enough detail to see if you just painted the bottom of each groove or if you painted the sides of each lamp segment as well. Which did you do?

TIA

BB
Semper Fi

 

Everything around the edges of the red portion of the lenses was painted matte black. That is between the three segments, top, bottom, sides. The only things I masked were those three raised portions of the lenses and the black plastic flange on the top.

I used Scotch blue masking tape. Taped up the lenses with some overlap, and then trimmed the tape with an X-acto knife. It's a little tedious, but no real problem. Just takes a little time.

 

Thanks I'm going to give it try as I also have the SHR blackout panel. I even got a free tour of Marcello's facilities thrown in when I bought it.

BB
Semper Fi