Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics Tail light mod - I have a question

I was thinking yesterday about how many members have painted the large reflector on their Contique to match the body color of the car. I don't really want to go that drastic, but came up with an idea and would like opinions.

My car is black. The red on the rear lamps/reflector contrasts quite a bit. I was wondering if there was a way to get a smoked/tinted effect on the entire rear piece w/out being illegal. The goal is to achieve a darker red that blends with the black paint better. I mentioned this to a local CEGer last night and the one concern that was brought up was loss of reflectivity and possibility of failing a vehicle inspection.

Is there anyone that's done this before or has any tips on how to achieve the look w/out breaking the law? I think this along with some Hightower headlights would really bring things together.

TIA

How about Window tint, or even the spray on window tint ?

I was going to try that too but I just think the Navy blue just isn't dark enough.

The spray on tint had been suggested to me, but I'd never even heard of it until yesterday. Any idea how this would effect the actual reflective nature of the tail lamp assembly?

The stuff your referring to is called "Nightshade". I had 3 coats of it put on the tailights of my old car and it still showed the brake lights real good. I say go for it and put up the pics too

Stewart from here in TN used the Nightshade stuff on his Silver SVT and it looks really good. I'm planning to use it on the back-up lights and get a smoked license plate cover to kinda tint the back end.

i saw some pics, it looks good and depending on how much you spray on, the light still comes through.

I've used the spray on tint and it faded fast... taillights look stock again. One thing I have seen done is to paint a candy paint over the light, this acts like the smoked taillight covers that you would put on with tape, but these don't come off (if done right) and you can tint it any color you want. Candy paint is just clear coat with a very same amount of color. I saw this done one an NSX and some other imports it looks pretty nice.

Heres a pic of mine, used a couple coats of nightshades and clear coat. when this weres off more im going to use more coats of nightshade, the clear coat made it look lighter, but gives protection.

(center crome piece fell off, apoxy didnt hold )

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Mike, I like the way that turned out...very close to what I had imagined

I guess it would seem that this Nightshade stuff fades fairly easily?? I guess a positive of that is you could return to the stock look w/out much trouble, but how often would this need to be applied? I think I'd like something a little more permanent.

Originally posted by MikesStripedSVT:

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Heres a pic of mine, used a couple coats of nightshades and clear coat. when this weres off more im going to use more coats of nightshade, the clear coat made it look lighter, but gives protection.
[image]
(center crome piece fell off, apoxy didnt hold )

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Looks badass with that stripe....