[redline95]

OK I was stuck in traffic when I got to thinking about clear tails. Here´s what I had in mind. The 2nd gen. wagon taillights are fairly flat. So find a scrap yard and get some to work with. Here´s the the possible clear cover, Lowes or Home Depot could carry the plastic covering for the flourescent tube lights in office buildings. Trim up a piece and glue them on with a hot glue gun or something stronger than Elmers. I haven´t looked around yet but that´s the best thing I can think of right now.

I don´t know if this is the best thing to work (with shorting or something if it touches) but tin foil could go behind the actual light itself to give the flashy bright background instead of the black plastic that´s behind it now.

Sorry coupe and sedan owners but I think the alternative may only work with wagons. Give me info if anybody has a similar better idea or if you have improvments for this one....

 

[Canuck]

Ther´s actually a web site that shows how to do this, but forgot where it is, been a while since it was posted on this site.

 

[Skuce]

The wagon tails actually aren´t flat.
They do a serious curve UNDER the tail gate area.

And I already have clear tails on my Hatch Back anyway...so it´s definelty possible.

 

[Juggernaut]

presonally i think clear/euro tails would look better on the wagons than the hb´s/etc cuz they´re separate, whereas the hb´s etc, unless you removed the long reflectors (which i really like the look of), it wouldn´t really match up well. but that´s just me, and from my stripe job i extended the whole reflector look right to the front door

 

[Type_R]

I though that if you could separate them and successfully put ´wm back together, why not take ´em to a specialty shop and have them mold up a clear outside tail like the red one! JUST A THOUGHT!!

 

[Skuce]

The cost of getting 2 RTV molds done would be quite high (I said 2 molds for only ONE tail...since the lenses are 2 separate peices)

Then what material would you use to put into the molds for the lens.

Clear Polyester Resin is good.....but needs to be seriously "de-gassed before it is put in. But then you will still get a lot of air pockets when the liquid hits the prismatic section

Next would be injection molding liquid lexan
(please don´t ask how much that would cost....you REALLY DON"T wnat to know *gulp*...lets just say it would be cheaper buying a 2002 Civic)

The best way to do it that I found so far would ba a combo between the both.

An injection fed high density RTV mold.
That would be a clear lens with no bubbles because it´s under such pressure plus the liquid itself would be de-gassed.

But how many people do you know that just happen to have either a big injection molder or a manual version just lying around???

 

[Adam]

how about instead of the tin foil useing that chrome paint and spray paint the black to chrome, no conductivity
or you can take the actual coloured plastic off of the black part (the actual housing) and get about 1/4" lex and use a torch to heat it to the same shape, it wouldnt be too hard because there isnt much of a curve
we used to do this in a construction class, heat up 1/4 inch lexan and bend it and it worked great