how do most people go about this? i've heard about vinyl, transparents paint, ect. i have an 01 sunfire and i want to make the bumper nand side marker lights red instead of amber/orange. dont worry, its legal where i am.
I'm sure transparent paint would work good. Also, what about the lens repair kits? They have like red lens tape in them. Might work.
Wide Body Progress
i would check your state laws first before you go ahead and change it because some states if you have blue or red on the turn signal or anything that is flashing in blue or red can be illegal because some people think you a cop but ur really not so I would call your local state police post and ask before going ahead on this.
Opening Soon Kustom J's
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i would check your state laws first
im pretty sure he already said it was legal there......but my vote goes for red bulb..
The paint and all sounds goo for him but it won't do much b/c the amber lens is going to already filter a large portion of the light out. He may be a red light but it will be soooo dim it would hardly be worth trying it even... Your best bet is to get soem clear lenses and then either use red bulbs or paint them red with the red lens/stained glass paint... just my .02 though...
Knowledge about everything and yet an expert of nothing!!
Jack of all trades.
actually, i wouldnt consult any state laws. i live in dominican republic. i had my car shipped from NY like 3 years ago, and i'll be here for another 4 or 5 years on business(maybe more? who knows, making good money.)
no one really cares what i do to my car here. i have a 5% tint all around, even on the front windsheild and no ones gives a @!#$ either, so i honestly doubt i'd get pulled over for red lenses
either way, i've seen tail lights red'd out on other cars with paint, so i assume the effect would be similar. doesnt look bad and the color comes out red(obviously not as bright as it was before, but its not THAT much of a difference. maybe a red bulb with the red paint to get rid of as much amber as i can?
i guess i'l paint them. my last question is, can i paint them outside, or do i have to take it apart and paint them on the inside? i tried taking the lense off once and ended up having to buy a new set, so i hope it'll be fine for the exterior part of the light.
thanks for all your help.
Red bulb + red lense = no light output
The red bulb is usually filtered to let only the red light out...where as the red lense will let all BUT red from come out...the two combined looks like no light coming out. (personal experience)
My Car Domain
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Red bulb + red lense = no light output
if one were to use a transparent airbrush paint(or any transparent paint), the light might come thru better.
i thought the transparents paint only lets red light come through? why would it let every color BUT red out if its, red? i figured it puts out red light and only lets out red light so i get...red!
The combination of a Red transparent paint or lense and a red bulb makes for a darker color...
Remember those "Spy Glasses" with the red lenses that when you looked at the "hidden message" covered in the scrambled red ink pattern the blue ink shown up?
same kinda principal..the red lense plus red light transmitted from the light will neutralize eachother leaving a very dim to imperceptibal light.
If you want to tint the lense then use a really bright WHITE LED light
My Car Domain
White Raven (Ryan L.) wrote:The combination of a Red transparent paint or lense and a red bulb makes for a darker color...
Remember those "Spy Glasses" with the red lenses that when you looked at the "hidden message" covered in the scrambled red ink pattern the blue ink shown up?
same kinda principal..the red lense plus red light transmitted from the light will neutralize eachother leaving a very dim to imperceptibal light.
If you want to tint the lense then use a really bright WHITE LED light
Sorry but that is not true... Red lenses stop all light but red from passing through... the glasses work on the principle that they block everything but the red and since the blue has a low red reflectivity the blue turns black while the red becomes indistinguishable from the surrounding white dur to the filtration of the extra light spectrums.
Moral of the Story... a red bulb will give you just as much light as a comparable white bulb putting out the same lumens. So a bright white LED will work just as well as a Red LED with the same lumens output...
Knowledge about everything and yet an expert of nothing!!
Jack of all trades.
so do i paint the exterior?? do i have to sand it down first?
