My S-55 Look!

[LincMercLover]

A BIG THANK YOU to CRUZTAKER who spent most all of Saturday afternoon to tint my tail lights and reverse lights. You did an excellent job, especially considering your adventurous Friday night! ;) I also want to thank the fat bastid and VegasMarauder for helping CRUZTAKER out while I ran around the Motorplex getting video of all our boys!

Well, without further ado, here they are!

[LincMercLover]

Another shot.

[cstringe42]

Looks really sweet!!! Was that done with Night Shades?

[LincMercLover]

Lit up.

[LincMercLover]

Yup!

[Marauder57]

LML....

That is a sweet look! Looks really nice....

[TAF]

Looking good LML...

CRUZTAKER does pretty darn good work with "the 'ol head...POUNDING" :lol:

[gonzo50]

Originally posted by cstringe42
Looks really sweet!!! Was that done with Night Shades?
Also, how was that applied again, thru the inside or outside, :confused: seems that the lens need to be removed, right ? Sorry, brain lock, Thanks again. ;)

[studio460]

NICE, LML!!! Can't wait to do mine!

[Dr Caleb]

Originally posted by gonzo50
Also, how was that applied again, thru the inside or outside, :confused: seems that the lens need to be removed, right ? Sorry, brain lock, Thanks again. ;)

Outside, and the lense and rear trunk panel need to be removed. Details:

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1645&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

[Marauderman]

What you really need to to is go badgeless on the rear and add some red reflectors in that empty bumper ....THEN you have something!!!!!!!!!!.......Tom

[Petrograde]

That turned out pretty good LML! I re-did my tail lights. Anyone who saw mine at Ennis can tell you they looked a little crappy.

a note to anyone thinking about doing this: Be wary of the heat and humidity out side! My tail lights looked really dull after sparying them on a day when the temp. and humidity were over 90. I'm sure the same can be said for doing it in the cold too.

With the exception of a few runs :mad2: which you can't see unless you get real close. It looks 10 times better!

[LincMercLover]

I'm going totally black. No bumper inserts, nothin'! I will end up with a rear badge like Mary's or Todd's, don't care for the empty look back there. Next will be a grille by Zack. Now if I could only yonk those rims off CRUZTAKER's car... :D

[Fourth Horseman]

The tail lights look real good, fellas. Personally, though, I'd be careful about over-doing the blacked-out theme. I know this is highly subjective, but to my tastes what makes this car stand out is the contrast. I love the black body and body work with the exception of key pieces of shiny chrome. Make it all black and I think it looks cheap. Just my $0.02, I know opinions vary. The tail light mod looks really sharp, though. :up:

[merc406]

Looks great, gonna do the side window chrome too?

[Petrograde]

I'm gonna leave the rims and moldings alone, like Forth Horseman said, contrast makes this car stand out. I think there's a fine line between "sweet!" and "oh crap! I over-did it!"

[Ross]

Nice job, fellas. I saw y'all working on this on Saturday, but I didn't realize that the young, slim guy was the FatBastid!

[Petrograde]

:lol: yeah. don't let the name fool ya!

BTW there's a pic of LML's tail light transformation in the photo gallery.

[Dr Caleb]

Originally posted by Petrograde

a note to anyone thinking about doing this: Be wary of the heat and humidity out side! My tail lights looked really dull after sparying them on a day when the temp. and humidity were over 90. I'm sure the same can be said for doing it in the cold too.

I must have painted and stripped my tail lights 4 times already, and I keep getting 'fish hooks'. It's driving me NUTS!

Do you know how long it takes to sand the paint off these things using 400 and 1000 grit paper!!! :(

The only times I've painted them were about 30c (95F) and about 80% RH. Now that it's near freezing, and 40% RH I'll try again this weekend.

Any tips would be appreciated!

Also I did the complete blackout on the reverse lights - I masked them off, did 2 coats, then removed the masking and did 2 more coats. With brighter bulbs, there's only a slight difference in brightness.


Thanks.

[Petrograde]

Hey Doc,
I have a few "fish hooks" too. ...sigh... I'm gonna sand them with some 1000 grit and repaint.

I'd be careful about painting when it's near freezing! the cold will give you even crappier results than the heat, well,.. I shouldn't say heat,.. humidity. You can paint in 100 degree weather, as long as your in the desert, or a garage with a dehumidifier. Otherwise you'll get what's called "blushing" or as you called it, fish hooks.

Tom

[Racerx88]

Did mine last Thursday before I headed down to Ennis.

I cleaned them real good, then wiped them down twice with denatured alcohol, let dry. No fish eyes for me. Instead of the "Nite Shades", I used Krylon Gloss Black, covered by two good coats of Dupli-Color clear. The clear will bury the edges of the black so it won't peel off at the car wash. I used the black paint because I didn't want ANY light showing except what would come through the "slots". I like the look better at night, and it looks exactly like the S-55 concept car. The black matches real good with the body paint as well.

[Petrograde]

... and it looked real sharp! I gave some thought to using gloss black instead of Nite Shades.(I still might) The Nite Shades spray nozzle has a tendency to clog fast, and start spitting.

If you use Nite Shades, keep a rag handy to wipe off the nozzle every minute or so.!

Tom

[CRUZTAKER]

LML:

I'm glad they turned out to your liking. When I hadn't heard from you I figured I made a mess. I wasn't feeling quite up to par that afternoon, and the weather wasn't exactly great for outdoor painting. It was although, a pleasure to assist you.

-Barry

[LincMercLover]

Nah... Just wanted to make it public with pics and everything before I thanked you! Ya did great man!

[Dr Caleb]

Originally posted by Petrograde
Hey Doc,
I have a few "fish hooks" too. ...sigh... I'm gonna sand them with some 1000 grit and repaint.


I've done that several times now. No change. Denatured alcohol, simple green, just plain water - nothing seems to work. I wish you better luck than I :)


Originally posted by Petrograde
I'd be careful about painting when it's near freezing! the cold will give you even crappier results than the heat, well,.. I shouldn't say heat,.. humidity. You can paint in 100 degree weather, as long as your in the desert, or a garage with a dehumidifier. Otherwise you'll get what's called "blushing" or as you called it, fish hooks.

Tom [/B]

I actually paint indoors. I have a room dedicated to my modeling that I used for painting my lights. *sigh*. Now that the RH is low, I'll give it another shot.

If the Night Shades fails again, I'm just going to take LML's advise and get out my air brush and some gloss black enamel paint.

Thanks Tom :)

[Petrograde]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dr Caleb
[B]I've done that several times now. No change. Denatured alcohol, simple green, just plain water - nothing seems to work. I wish you better luck than I :)

Really?... hmmm... well, I guess I'l give it a shot for G.P. If that doesn't work I'll just sand it down and paint it gloss black too.

Let me know how it turns out Doc.

Tom

[Racerx88]

Originally posted by Dr Caleb
If the Night Shades fails again, I'm just going to take LML's advise and get out my air brush and some gloss black enamel paint.

If it does come down to that, you guys won't be dissappointed. Here's mine ~>

[duhtroll]

I had great success with mine - no runs or defects of any kind. I did so by making the coats *really* thin. 5 really thin coats - especially the first coat, made it work IMO.

One of these days I'll post a pic.

Thanks,
-A