Gonna Make My Own Euro Tails!

[HondaBoy]

last year, i made my own clear tail lights which were very cool. but they were very illegal too. so i havent had them on since i got warned to take them off. ive been wanting to make the euro looking tail lights. like altezza's. i was going for more of a supra style, with the blinker on the side and the red circle lights. anyway, i went to the junkyard on my way home, realy i was looking to see if they had got any new hondas in. they didnt but i saw this nasty little black primmered neon. i thought i would give the back end a look. it has euro tails! holy shit! one was broken and the other looked alright. i asked the guy how much for both and he said $35. im guessing he knows that they are usually not realy cheap. so, i guess i cant pass that up. i wanted those red circle lense that are inside because they are DOT approved because of the built in reflector. im going to go pick them up on monday because i couldnt get back over there fast enough before they closed. i dont know what im going to do for the other lights. i'll think of something. i think it would look better with 2 red circle lights on each side with a clear one for the turn signal and ill have to think of something to do for the back up light. i can find something. so, what y'all think?

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Did you have the correct colored bulbs in your clear tails?

[k-roy]

Sorry but I have to do it.

[shepherd79]

actually i was thinking about that. it would be very easy to make your own alteza lights.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

I think I will try that instead of just clear tails for a challenge. What do you guys think I should use for the chrome stuff inside the light? Chrome tape?? (would that hold good enough?) Chrome Paint? (would that fade?) Where would you get the leds?

[HondaBoy]

oh, the reason all clear tail lights are illegal in all 50 states i believe, is because DOT says you have to have a red lense. just red bulbs shinning through are illegal. the blinkers are different, they can be clear in the back as long as they have a yellow/amber bulb. i dont know about the colored ones, i think they bitch about those. but then again. i think the hyper white bulbs are find for the back ones. the front can be clear, but have to have some kind of orange reflector of some sort. and that all i have to say about that. hehe. i dont think it will look ricey when im done with those lights. thats what im trying to keep from doing, but keeping it with a custom look. guess we'll see when we see.

[MrBen]

Chrome tape looks ghetto. Chrome paint is rarely ever chrome, it is more grey. Find a good chrome paint and knock yourself out.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Hell I'm just gonna do clear tails and then paint the bottom brake parts with candy apple red and then they will still look sweet and be somewhat legal. And have the top blinker part clear.

[k-roy]

Or you could just have the pieces dipped in chrome

[shane_lxi]

You can get the red disks for cheeper off of old semi trucks. Their trailer lights are the right size, and ar dot approved for all roads and streets. As long as there is two red dots at least, it is legal, and one of the red dots can be wired to work as the blinker too, or, if the dot is big enough, It can just cover both the bliner and tailight section of the rear lights, taht is what I am doing.

[Micah 89LXi]

pics

[HaccordR89]

black paint actually looks really dope. we did that on my buddys 00 civic and it was sick.

[HostileJava]

So did you pic the lights up? Any progress on the project?

[Morbid Intentionz]

Hmm.. funny i made all clears and used red Leds for brakes and yellow leds for the turn signal, and a cop actually thought they looked great. Although i live in Indiana. I would say do the project and let us know how it turned out and Mike.... like a shiny bright silver paint should do it, thats what i used for my clear. I recently took them off to do somethin better to em..........Take pics guys and let us know

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Hey Morbid what did you use to seal the edges of the tails? Did you melt the edges or what did you use? I have some chrome paint that I used on my clear corners. I have a big sheet of light fixture stuff so I will just cut out a big piece and have fun with the heat gun. Thanks for the info. I'm gonna do all clears and hope to have it done by the end of winter break.

[Morbid Intentionz]

i used hot glue and some kind of clear glue my buddy had. Not to sure on what it was though. Im half way dont with the outter right 'euro' tail light. I was tryin to do all LED's but i can't find any yellow ones.

[ChaseR]

how would I go about just making the top turn signal clear? Instead of orange/red?

[Elijah]

I would paint the backing the same color of my car.

[Elijah]

I would paint the backing the same color of my car.

[Morbid Intentionz]

how would I go about just making the top turn signal clear? Instead of orange/red?

Use a dremel and some plexi glass and or flourescent lighting cover. You can pick the lighting cover up at Office depot or a place like that. Use a heat gun and find good clear sealent glue. The know how is a givin from there.

[buzzbomber88lx]

reminds me of old times when i had my bonnie and fast and the furious had just come out. the next day after watching it i bought little sring tensioners and i pulled out the taillights. lol. heres what you have to do to do it the cheap and DOT legal way.
pull lenses off the housing and make sure they dont break
pull all of the grayish clear plastic out
pull the bulbs out
go to autozone and get those red circle lenses that are universal and bulbs for them
paint the housing silver
go to home depot and get some plexiglass that is uber thin
go home and take the old lenses and put the plexiglass over it.
heat the plexiglass with a blowdryer until it is bendable
get it bent to the right shape and then cut the plexiglass
now finish the housings the way you want them
take some kind of clear coat and coat the plexiglass so it dont scratch to hell
glue the lenses onto the housing.
THIS SHOULD BE STREET LEGAL if not do it morbids way

I'll admit it I hate altezas but damn everybody thought my 88 bonneville was the shit afterwards lol.

[shane_lxi]

I am interested, I wanna see pics of the progress!

[MarioBurke]

Now heres the scoop on tail lights and legalilty of everything. First off to say Cops will pull you over, because ANY modification done to your tail light is illegal. That includes euros and custom jobs such as mine. Now he is the part that they dont want you to know about, especially if you live in California, so listen up. Further on in the Vehicle code it is stated that Modifications to your tail lights are acceptable as long as they follow the Federal and state laws of where you are located and pass Driving standard tests (DOT approved.) A couple things you have to remember while making tail lights, everything must be DOT approved. you cant just rip apart all the housing and make clear lenses, because you wont have the DOT approval. however if you come accross small lenses that have the DOT stamp on them and place them within the housing, and then put your clear plexiglass around it, you SHOULD be fine. the thing with bulbs is a bit confusing. Now according to part of the law, it states that you can have Red, Amber or white Shining towards the rear of the vehicle. if i remember correctly, its been a while since i read the bulb rules, for brakes you can have amber or red for stopping use, and white or amber for turning. doesnt really make sense to me but thats what it says. you CANNOT use colored bulbs for anything in your tail lights. the catch to the rule is it must be a cleared bulb with a red reflector housing around it. of course it does not state what color the bulb illumination can be, so you can skirt around by having a clear bulb that lights up bright red, such as LEDS. the main thing you have to remember is keeping the tail light fulling functionable. that is what will get you in the most trouble. making sure you still have stop, tail, and turn.

also for those of you buying altezza, I was talking a law enforcement i know, and they just received a notice in the mail stating that as of this year altezza will be legal for any use. of course considering you bought them with the DOT stamp on them

[buzzbomber88lx]

my taillights were fine. I asked a cop I know here in town that I get along with and he had them checked out for me and they were fine.

[MarioBurke]

you also have less strict laws then we do in California