Ok, after seeing the thread with the custom tails and bumper that were made by ScorchN200SX, the sun finally decided to pierce the sky and shine upon me, so i began doing my tails. this will be a step by step photo process, so expect to see many edits with new photos and the final end result.
Step one: masking off and glassing the stock tails:
I used 2 layers of fiberglass cloth, with high build fiberglass resin, waiting for it to dry as we speak, but since its dark now, thatll take a while, even with a heat lamp fixed on the wet area.
P.S. If you're new to using fiberglass, I highly suggest you mask a much larger area off than this including a portion of your rear bumper, because brushes do drip if you don't watch carefully while applying the resin, which very rapidly removes your clear coat and paint. For future reference I'm using Cargroom Fiberglass Cloth (the kind with a weave pattern that flexes and stretches to fit contoured areas). Regular mat will not work in this case, the tail lights have too many curves and you'll end up with wrinkles. I am also using Cargroom's High Build Fiberglass Resin for added ridgidness, and a large array of disposable nylon brushes. Triple the amount of hardener, if not quadruple the amount they recommend. 8 drops of the MEKP hardener will not set with the recommended amount of resin, even in optimal drying conditions, and 16 will take 24+ hours. quadrupling the dose in optimal conditions for drying will take an hour or two to ocmpletely set, longer if its colder or more humid than normal. Keep in mind the more MEKP you use to set the resin, the more brittle the fiberglass will be, so experiment for your weather patterns. The brushes will also be completely useless after each use, they will harden into fiberglassed nylon clumps.
After the resin hardens completely, slowly peel the mold from the masking tape and outline the stock light onto the glas using a gel ink pen or a pencil. trim along the lines and sand the edges smooth. Next we use Cargroom's Easy Sand Body Filler and Car Groom's Red Paste Hardener. Use the specified amounts on the container, in this case it works well. Mix the recommended proportions and quickly coat the entire piece with about a 3mm thick coat of bondo. It will set after about 5 minutes and you can begin lightly sanding it at this point, dont begin to heavily sand until about 15 minutes have passed. Once you have sanded the piece completely smooth it should look something like this:
Back:
Front:
Note that the mold has stretched away from the actual fit of the stock lens slightly, this is ok because provided you havent used an excessive amount of body filler on the top you can still flex the piece into the black bucket trim that surrounds the colored plastic on the stock lenses. If you want to avoid this completely, use more layers of fiberglass and thicker coats of resin, and less bondo. In future sets I make I will be doing this, but since this is my first attempt consider these beta tails, and a learning experience for everyone. Once you've completed the sanding and bondo-ing, check for imperfections or air bubbles in the bodo and fill them and resand. The best way to find air bubbles in your bondo work is to place the piece infront of a high powered lamp (or headlight in my case), the areas with bubbles will be MUCH brighter than solid areas, if you find bubbles beneath the surface, pierce them with a pin or a needle and try to work as much bondo into them as possible, remember if you live in a hot area, the air in any bubbles can expand and possibly crack the bondo, making for a decent amount of refinish work. The piece is now ready for primer and paint, however we wont primer or paint it until we drill the holes for the lenses.
Ok so I lied, I primered before i drilled the lens holes, but only because the varying colors of the bondo were distracting me from what the actual tail will look like with the lenses on! So anyways here we go:
Here you see what the front plate will look like with 2 of the now four lenses mounted (I know I strayed from the way i was gonna do the lens layout, but imo this looks better) Keep in mind I can use however many lenses you want, provided they fit onto the front plate. So if some of you order these fascias from me we can do 2 lenses, 3 lenses, 4 lenses, up to about 6 or 7 small lenses. Drilling through bondo is a real bitch, your best bet is to purchase a masonry bit and do so at low RPM's, you will still chip areas of the bondo, and possibly crack it, but once we mount the plate to the headlamp assembly it will be getting a final coat of bondo anyhow, so dont worry about it. You can purchase these lenses at any semi-truck store, they usually have several varieties in stock, but ask the guy at the counter to look at their lighting catalog anyhow, cause they have some sick ass parts they can order that will fit on these plates or into our lamp assemblies. Once youve decided how you want to lay the lenses out, trace a circle around them onto the bondo, and mark any mounting points where the lenses will screw in as well. Make sure when you are drilling through the front fascia you do so in a SMALLER diameter than the circle you traced, or the screws used to mount the lenses will have nothing underneath them to sink into. The best way to do this is to use a circular pattern of drill holes, so you can eventually punch or cut the center ring out. Im sure if you were good enough with a jig saw you could use a jig saw to cut the circle out, or you might even get brave and try a door knob drill bit (The kind they use to punch holes in doors to mount doorknobs with). Once the holes have been punched, paint the area beneath the lens on the fascia black, or rubberize it, or coat it with a mirrored silver reflective tape, or do whatever the hell you want to do, just dont leave it a bondo color or you will be able to see the hole through the lens. Notice the lenses are a bit high profile, to remedy this you can use a dremel or coarse grit sandpaper on a sanding block and lower their stance so they dont stick so far out on the plate.
Now screw the lens down. Continue this process untill all your lenses are mounted. If you purchased lenses with no mounting holes for screws, you will need a silicone sealant and a caulking gun, and you will definitely need to build up the bondo layer to help secure the lense in place and hide all that nasty silicone. In my next step I will demonstrate how this is done, but for now this should keep you busy.
By the way, this is what happens to your tail lights if you get hasty like me and use a heatlamp unattended to dry your fiberglass mold. (Dog knocked my lamp into my fender, while I was inside eating, and voila!)
>>>I really hope this works out for u--JUST REMEMBER Im first in line for the secound set---
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