I've never liked the rx8 tail lights, I really hate altezzas but that's just my opinion. Anyways, I decided to tint them since it'd be less clear and altezza looking that way. First time I did it I used Night Shade, worst crap ever. Turned out terrible and had a purple tint to it.

I wet sanded all the night shade and clearcoat off and decided to redo it. This time I used the same stuff I did this on with my old SUV. I really should've just used it to begin with since I had such great results, but stupid me wanted to try something new. Oh well, live and learn.

Anyways, pics.

Wet sanded down
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/sanded1.jpg

After first coat
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/firstcoat1.jpg

After second coat
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/secondcoat1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/secondcoat2.jpg

Third coat
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/thirdcoat1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/thirdcoat2.jpg

Fourth
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/fourthcoat1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/fourthcoat2.jpg


The paint is still drying currently, later I'll be doing a few layers of clearcoat. After that is all dry I'll be wetsanding it a tad to take out any blemishes, then polishing them. I'll take some pictures of them on the car once it's all done.

I'm MUCH happier with the way they turned out this time, a nice glossy color and no purple tint to it. For anyone wondering, I used Testors Transparent Black Paint, it is a tinting spray for model cars.

preliminary results look pretty good, although it sounds kind've tedious. oh well, guess it makes it that much more rewarding. can't wait to see them installed again.

Yah it's tedious, but I don't mind. I've painted and tinted a lot of things in my life, I'm used to it. Since I did it in my kitchen, with newspaper well spread out and protecting stuff, I had my tv turned on and was watching. Every 10 minutes, new coat, then back to watching.

Hey, those actually look pretty nice. Please do post pics as soon as everything's installed! :)

I will, it'll either be later tonight or tomorrow, depending on how long it takes me to finish them and if I get sidetracked working on my rx7.

pictures!! im excited to see it

So far it looks good--I would never do it though; I like the lights on the RX8.

Nice work, dDub. What do you plan to use to polish them? Glass polish or a paint polish?

Meguiar's Mirror Glaze polish, #7. It's made for painted surfaces including clearcoat.

So far so good! I'm looking forward to the final pics!

Alrighty, done.

After clearcoat was done/dry.
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/clearcoat.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/clearcoat2.jpg

One on the right is wetsanded/polished, one on the left isn't.
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/rightsanded.jpg

Both sanded.
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/bothsanded.jpg

And a couple night shots of it on my car, just got done putting them back on. I'll get some daytime pics tomorrow.
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/oncar1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/oncar2.jpg

Maybe better pics would convince me but right now they just don't look quite right. To me they just look dirty, like there's a thin film of road grime/dirt on them. I realize you went to alot of trouble doing this and if you like it that's what matters most. Not something I'd do though.

Road grime? Hmm, not sure about road grime being that dark.

But yah, to each their own. I hate the altezza look and am really annoyed that its the new "cool" thing for car manufacturers, especially Mazda, to do. But oh well, if there weren't people that liked it they wouldn't do it.

Maybe better daytime pics will do it justice. :)

not bad, not bad. i'm likin' your island and gas stove top though. waiting patiently for day shots.... :beer05:

Heh, my mother would thank you. She picked out the layout/design for the kitchen.

Damn that looks like a lotta work. Nicely done. *Waiting for daylight pics.

looks nice.... would love to see the daylight pic too

but have you notice you have just lost the night reflective thingo....
so lets say if you park it at night, the on coming car will be more difficult to see/locate you since there are no reflective bits from the taillights......

daylight pictures pls!!!!

hrm.. smoked is an ~okay look i guess.. but you also frosted the covers up by sanding em.... which doesn't look that good...

oh well.. as long as u like it that way

i think if you had used a high speed buffer to polish the lense. you would have a smoother look which to me would look great. i see a lot of what we call an orange peel texture.

Day time pics.
http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/day1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~rx7projects/rx8tails/day2.jpg

Good job! Looks good with your color.

Yah, before doing this I did a photoshop mockup of what it might look like, to help me decide if I wanted to or not. I really liked how it looked with titanium grey, which is why I went ahead and did it. I think it'd look best on black of course, really sleek.

Nicely done dDub.

Looks dull. A "wetter" coat would have been better.

Also realize the day pics I put up there, is with dew on the lenses. There was a lot of moisture and frost out this morning.

Ahh. They look dull inside the house also.

they look good with that color...nice job :)

Ahh. They look dull inside the house also.
Oh well, can't please everybody :)

looks ok but darker would be better but illegal im sure

Okie, I got a fix-it ticket, back to stock I go. Oh well, I was getting tired of the tinted look actually, stock grew on me :(

http://home.comcast.net/~drewrx7/rx8/tails1.jpg

Man that was a funny read :)

the cop that gave you a ticket didn't give you aticket 'cause it was illegal, it was 'cause it looked awfull!:lol: glad you put it back to stock. JMO

People in glass houses autobot emblem boy ;)

stock looks much better than what you had..

Well, I hate the stock tails most of the time, sometimes they can look alright, though. I cannot stand altezzas.

I tried 2 different tinting paints and both did not turn out the way I wanted. One was Niteshade, other was Testors transparent model paint. Both turned out badly unfortunately.

The photoshopped version of my tinted tails is what I prefer, it was a mock-up to see how it would look. But neither paint worked properly.

The pictures didn't really do a good job either, in person it looked better.

stock looks much better than what you had..
Eh to each their own. Some people prefer the altezza look, some people don't, and some people prefer a black and/or tinted look.

Same thing goes for every mod, like how some people prefer body kits, and some prefer stock, or how some people like unpainted CF and some people think it's the most retarded thing ever. Everyone has a differing opinion.

You from Kirkland, I think I've seen your 8 around.

I live and work in Kirkland btw.

i hate that our 8's tailights look like altezza's but i've learned to except them, nothing we can do about it unless you want to spend 3-4k on a tailight transplants but thats useless. I love carbon fiber and i could give a crap about what people think about it. They can all suck tail pipe. Have you thought about transparent candy apple red? If done properly it can look pretty tight.

eh. just looks dull to me. thats just me. nothing done that makes it stand out for anything... prob wait for something.. but im fine with what it looks like.. but in general i do hate altezzas

Just curious, but would it make sense to mask off the Red portions of the tailights and tint the rest?, So you don't lose the brightness of the tail lights but get rid of the shiny altezza look?

You from Kirkland, I think I've seen your 8 around.

I live and work in Kirkland btw.
Cool. What color is yours? I see a couple around the Kirkland area a lot.

i hate that our 8's tailights look like altezza's but i've learned to except them, nothing we can do about it unless you want to spend 3-4k on a tailight transplants but thats useless. I love carbon fiber and i could give a crap about what people think about it. They can all suck tail pipe. Have you thought about transparent candy apple red? If done properly it can look pretty tight.
I did a photoshop of it and thought it looked awful.

Just curious, but would it make sense to mask off the Red portions of the tailights and tint the rest?, So you don't lose the brightness of the tail lights but get rid of the shiny altezza look?
You'd probably be able to tell if you did that and be able to see the paint layer.

I would just rather get over lays

Haven't bought mine yet. Waiting for the 06's

Cool. What color is yours? I see a couple around the Kirkland area a lot.

Okie, I got a fix-it ticket, back to stock I go. Oh well, I was getting tired of the tinted look actually, stock grew on me :(




I'm curious, are going to have to buy stock replacements or are you going to try and restore those?

I'm curious, are going to have to buy stock replacements or are you going to try and restore those?
They are restored (and it's raining/wet in the pic btw).

I wet sanded all the tint off, cleaned/dried them, and reapplied clearcoat. Then wet sanded and polished.

if you want to try again and have it very glossy and nice try this:

(compliments of focaljet.com)

I know there were a few ppl who's been wanting to darken their taillights but are scared to do so but afraid it might turn dull or if they decide they dont want it anymore that they're stuck with it. Well ppl been asking me how I did my taillights because it didn't look dull because it was a TINT.

The window tint I get though is not a regualar type of window tint that you use to tint your windows but a static cling tint. It's a soft "InstaCling" tint that sticks plastic or windows, you can take it on and off.

If you really want to try it it's around 10 bucks at Walmart, just make sure you get the "CLING" tint, you can open it and check if it's the soft rubbery film. ALl it takes is a lil cutting, playing, strtching and it should be fine. I also recommend getting the lil squeegy to take the bubbles and a sprayer with a lildish soap so u can reall smoothen it out. There's also a few grades of tint, the one I got was a 20% dark, I think it says grey, but that should work. If you need a pic of it on my car I'll try to look for a pic or need the actual box of the film, I know I still have them somewhere. Hope this helps.

http://images.canadiantire.ca/media/images/Automotive/InteriorAccessories/SunProtection/0374842_450

i've seen this in person and it looks really good and seems to last very well also best part is that if cops don;t like you can just peel off while he stands right there let him sign off on it than put it back later


good luck if you wanna try it hope it worx for you

dDub, why not do the ole' cook em' up technique. Open up the light and paint the inside. The Miatas have been doing that mod for years. Does it not work with this light? Seems like the best way to avoid cops, have a clear exterior and get rid of the look you don't like.

Just toss one in the oven for 15 minutes on 200F to release the glue. Paint, and re-seal. Anyone try that?

Did that on a previous car I had, didn't like the results. I had to reseal them many times before they stopped getting moisture in. Yes that's a problem coming from me either not doing it properly or not sealing well enough. But I just don't want to go through that again.

Truemagellen tried and tried and tried no luck separating the cover.

Others tried some melted the covers by using too much heat :(

For some reason the headlights are easier to separate than the tails.

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=74779&page=1&pp=20&highlight=taillights

it just occurred to me how f-in irritiating it is that people call ANYTHING that looks like Altezza tail-lights "altezza's". I can sort'a understand it when you have a craptacular Honda, or some bolt on laden Mini-Truck, or some ridiculous ghetto-ricer-fartcannon 200$ car with 5,000 wheels...and the aftermarket "altezza" style lights. But when your car already comes with them how about just calling them "stock" instead of "altezza" ? When was the last time anybody actually looked at the Altezza lights anyway, there's a lot more seperation of the different lenses, a lot more chrome, no l.e.d.s etc etc etc.......so why do people keep saying our lenses look the same, or even call them altezza for that matter?

here's my point:

back of IS300-

http://img158.exs.cx/img158/5479/rearend5gh.jpg

our car:

http://www.mazdaclub.net/download/takehome/wallpaper/rx8-5_800x600.jpg

now to me the only similarity I note is they both use clear in some places as opposed to the more traditional style of red/amber, but I still don't think that justifies being called altezza or whatever since they came with the frickin' car.

Here's my example of what I think aftermarket altezza's or altezza style or whatever the hell is:

http://www.westcohost.com/rwimg/i.php?pid=rt001282

that one in particular is for a del sol, and is a true "altezza" rip-off/wannabe

sorry for the rant but I'm really sick and tired of hearing our tail lights (which are some of the more unique and distinguishable ones out there) get trashed or compared to stuff all the time when they're totally different than anything out there.

So the Mazda 6 has Altezzas but do we call them stock?

What exactly is Altezza?

altezza is the name of the is300 in japan

and since the altezza aka IS300 started that trend.. peeps have been calling them altezzas ever since..

it was revolutionary back in the day... when the IS300 first came out with them...but then along came APC...need i say more...

i only wished we had tailights that looked like the G35.. i love those... all red with LEDs..or if some company could make an LED tailamp at least...

it just occurred to me how f-in irritiating it is that people call ANYTHING that looks like Altezza tail-lights "altezza's". I can sort'a understand it when you have a craptacular Honda, or some bolt on laden Mini-Truck, or some ridiculous ghetto-ricer-fartcannon 200$ car with 5,000 wheels...and the aftermarket "altezza" style lights. But when your car already comes with them how about just calling them "stock" instead of "altezza" ? When was the last time anybody actually looked at the Altezza lights anyway, there's a lot more seperation of the different lenses, a lot more chrome, no l.e.d.s etc etc etc.......so why do people keep saying our lenses look the same, or even call them altezza for that matter?

here's my point:

back of IS300-

http://img158.exs.cx/img158/5479/rearend5gh.jpg

our car:

http://www.mazdaclub.net/download/takehome/wallpaper/rx8-5_800x600.jpg

now to me the only similarity I note is they both use clear in some places as opposed to the more traditional style of red/amber, but I still don't think that justifies being called altezza or whatever since they came with the frickin' car.

Here's my example of what I think aftermarket altezza's or altezza style or whatever the hell is:

http://www.westcohost.com/rwimg/i.php?pid=rt001282

that one in particular is for a del sol, and is a true "altezza" rip-off/wannabe

sorry for the rant but I'm really sick and tired of hearing our tail lights (which are some of the more unique and distinguishable ones out there) get trashed or compared to stuff all the time when they're totally different than anything out there.



Those all look like altezzas to me. Yah they are "stock" rx8 lights, but they still resemble the "altezza style." Why would I say such a thing? Because Mazda was purposefully doing this! Ever since the fast and the furious and the honda modifying revolution that went nuts, car companies have been adding this STYLE of lights to stock vehicles, as well as other styles and dealership "performance" modifications. They did it because they figured it would attract more iinterest since so many people use that style as an aftermarket modification.

I'm planning on spray tinting my tails with VHT Niteshades. I have done this once before with good results although, I didn't go very dark. I had the orange peel effect on my last effort but I also did not wet sand, I was just curious if anyone has done this with success? I just want to know,
1. What exact brand of clear was used.
2. What grit wet sanding paper was used
3. After final coat how long was the paint let dry before polishing/wet sanding

Just for reference here is what my last cars tails looked like.
Before
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f103/CLNGRNAc-N-Teg/PRear.jpg

After
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f103/CLNGRNAc-N-Teg/DSCN0620.jpg

Taillights look better, but the rest of the car...