My car is anything but normal, so why should my tail lights be stuck in the 80's!!

Enjoy,

So here's my car:
8 piece Widebody w/ one off handmade rear fenders.
You can see the tails in this shot
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Materials used - plastic sign for making form
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Basic idea:
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Glass cut:
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Glass laid out:
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skimmed and trimmed:
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Mockup on the car:
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Quick DA sanding:
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That's it for now, tomorrow maybe can get final sand and 2nd skim coat.
More pic's to follow.

Future plan: - glass molding the light assembly into the body so all you see is the tail lights - no light bucket outline.

 

Not only does this old, overdone idea look terrible, but it dramatically reduces the lighting output from every light.

 

i like that body!!! thats bad *** **** right there!
but those lights just made my dick go limp...

 

Nice body kit. Can't say I like the tail lights though man. You just cut the visibility of your rear lights in half without trying to compensate for it like converting the visible area to LEDs. Your turn signals are now nowhere near as easy to see by vehicles in your blind spots as they were before since the curved corner area is now eliminated. It seems like all you wanted to do was change your lights, not improve them, with your moding.

 

They make a clear casting resin that can be (and very much has been) used for making custom or reproduction taillight lenses. I think you would be better off using something like that.

 

i believe that they have a "kit" that does the same thing on ebay for like $10.

 

props on making your car unique but that wide kit looks sick but it would be better if you made the door wide to

 

i think we would like to see a write up on how you did the body work =p

I like the body. I spy Rmagic kit with GP sports rear bumper and your custom rear fenders hehe

 

LED's won't compensate for the fact that the lights are so much smaller.

 

Oh and by the way, Put your flame suit on. It's getting hot in here.

 

Actually there is a vinyl kit for the rear tail-lights for the S4 on ebay. Which does the same thing. Your ones kinda of remind me of the old capella tail-lights :P thou. Interesting project but prepare your flame suit, it is not everyone's cup of tea.

Wicked wide-body

 

why didnt you just go with some s5 taillights?? they have hte round look and still will be bright...

 

ANyone else notice the F&F sign in the background..? Keep an eye on my thread I am doing a taillight mod too, not nearly the same but along the lines of modernizing them. BTW I have been watching your buildup as it has been progressing. Very nice project, love the Cobra wheels.. Looks fantastic.

 

Illegal in most states.

And kinda dumb... obviously done by someone that has never been rear ended or doesn't care about being rear ended.

Nice law suit when the guy smacks into your *** because he didn't see your lights because they are now 3/4 covered with plastic.

 

I would probably just cut out the circles and install some weatherproof LEDs.. Not really a big fan of that mod...

 

High intensity LEDs could if done right with some extra reflective material(heck maybe even aiming the individual LEDs could be done) to help throw the light around more than the typical 20 degrees or so of viewing angle that the LEDs provide. Yeah, the actual surface area of the visible tail light remains the same, but they could still probably be improved a little with LEDs if done right. Notice I said "trying to compensate".

 

just get s5 tails

 

I'd have kept them stock, looks great and matches with the glossy black wheels. Everyone's taste is different though, props for uniqueness

 

you made those out of a stolen handicap sign?

 

so is it bad that with all this flaming the only thing i can seem to care aboout is how hott that wide body looks and why you didnt take the mazda and rx7 stickers off before spraying the car?????????

 

Thanks for the comments/advice, good and otherwise.

Regarding the light being too dim -It's actually not, and not sure how many people have actually tested this, but I had an old S4 light and did a quick mock up on it to check the brightness - the inside light falls directly in front of the bulb location. But to be on the safe side, I guess I should mention 24 LED lights are in the plans. So not too worried about the brightness factor. For the outside set - I am going to auger out the hole and mold in my own bracket to match the back perfectly to the light location.
I also retained the 3rd brake light.
I only shaved the rear key lock.

Yes, I have seen the guy online who sells a vinyl black out kit for $49.00!
Mine however will be molded into the body and perfectly flat.
And personally, I like the line that divides the light. To each his own.

Regarding the signal issue, I agree, this is obviously a work in progress car -
Main idea at this time:
Molding in a darkend plexiglass rear truck LED strip sequential light flush to the car that would only be seen when used. Or just one that has the usual flash.
or
When I mold in the rear wing to the body- may come up w/ a signal idea at that time.

It's still winter here, plenty of time to have something by then.

As far as just use S5 lights, what's the fun in that? - Talk about following an old trend.

Thanks for the input though.

Will try to have more progress up later tonight.

killert2 - regarding the wide body door - have definitely been working on that - but I have had a hard time coming up w/ something that will work w/ the front fender. May change that in time.

NZconvertible - the light are deceiving in the pics - keep in mind that I glassed over the light housings as well - in reality the lights are as wide as the diameter of the light lenses themselves- a little over 5 inches in diameter. Not nearly as small as you think.

Hypertec - great eye!! - you nailed it!

RRTEC - liking your project!

TFitz.

 

I agree with the lack of light that has been mentioned here. That could be dangerous. I'd just get yourself some S5 tails. That way you get the look you want and it's still safe.

 

I dunno, you seem hell bent on creating a "custom" set of tail lights, but they pretty much will just end up looking like terribly designed S5 tails. You have the two circle thing going on, but nothing on the sides at the corners for visibility, and yea...We'll see the finished result.

 

your garage is so clean :O

 

looking forward to see what she becomes haha..

I like the rmagic kit too , and i didnt like how they designed the rear fenders also.