Diy Tinted/clear Taillight Covers
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
From: Amsterdam, Netherlands
This DIY is on how to make those clear taillight covers fit your original taillights.
I'm talking about these:
KSpec
To start of you probably have to break the original covers.
Why? Well, I bought an extra set of original lights (some guy on a ebayish site),
and it turned out the original sealing was just too tight to pry out through the back
'lips' that stick through the rear of the taillight.
okay, so like sayd above, I broke the orignal covers,
then cut from the hole so cracks would jump to the edges of the cover:
After that I pulled up a shard of the cover, and cut the original sealing off with a knife:
When you're done it looks like below.
But you end up with a big gap between the 'chrome' and the edge because the original cover
goes in between there.
The new covers will go over the edges (because they are intended to go over the original covers).
So I filled the edge with some black silicone sealing, and let that dry a night.
(If you want a smooth end result, use some water with cheap hand dish wash lemon stuff
-dunno what it's called in US or other countrys so..-
putt in your finger, and follow the edge, the sealing wont stick to your finger that way,
and you can sorta clay with it a bit)
Without sealing:
With sealing:
Allright, now i've put on the new covers with some clear silicone custruction sealing.
This stuff can take -40 ' till +100 desgrees celsius.
I just put it on the black tinted edge, so you won't see it.
After that I put some extra around the edges covering the edge of the cover and the edge taillight itself.
You do need some clamp's to keep it together, because of the rounding of the light:
After letting it dry another night, you're done!
This is the end result with me:
Oh, don't forget to get some colored lamp's to go with it.
'Cause now it's all clear. I got some lamps with red LED's.
Orignally they where BAY15D 21/5w (One lamp for normal taillight and brake!).
I'll try to make some pictures when it's dark. See how it looks! smile.gif
I'm talking about these:
KSpec
To start of you probably have to break the original covers.
Why? Well, I bought an extra set of original lights (some guy on a ebayish site),
and it turned out the original sealing was just too tight to pry out through the back
'lips' that stick through the rear of the taillight.
okay, so like sayd above, I broke the orignal covers,
then cut from the hole so cracks would jump to the edges of the cover:
After that I pulled up a shard of the cover, and cut the original sealing off with a knife:
When you're done it looks like below.
But you end up with a big gap between the 'chrome' and the edge because the original cover
goes in between there.
The new covers will go over the edges (because they are intended to go over the original covers).
So I filled the edge with some black silicone sealing, and let that dry a night.
(If you want a smooth end result, use some water with cheap hand dish wash lemon stuff
-dunno what it's called in US or other countrys so..-
putt in your finger, and follow the edge, the sealing wont stick to your finger that way,
and you can sorta clay with it a bit)
Without sealing:
With sealing:
Allright, now i've put on the new covers with some clear silicone custruction sealing.
This stuff can take -40 ' till +100 desgrees celsius.
I just put it on the black tinted edge, so you won't see it.
After that I put some extra around the edges covering the edge of the cover and the edge taillight itself.
You do need some clamp's to keep it together, because of the rounding of the light:
After letting it dry another night, you're done!
This is the end result with me:
Oh, don't forget to get some colored lamp's to go with it.
'Cause now it's all clear. I got some lamps with red LED's.
Orignally they where BAY15D 21/5w (One lamp for normal taillight and brake!).
I'll try to make some pictures when it's dark. See how it looks! smile.gif
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
From: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hmm, I just tried out the lights in te dark, but the LED's just give too little. It's not even getting half the light of let's say the blinker. I ordered some other led's wich have more leds in the socket, plus they are those ultra-bright tingies, hope they wil be better. I think if I go on the road with this, I would be pulled over instantly tongue.gif . Maybe normal bulbs would be better, but I can't seem to find any of them that light up red. Only bulbs that light up white are sold around here 02.gif .
Here's a larger picture of my car:
Picture Link
Here's a larger picture of my car:
Picture Link
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 34,642
Likes: 0
From: Los Lunas, New Mexico, USA.
Vehicle: 2001 Hyundai Tiburon, 2004 Kia Sorento, 2010 Kia Soul
Looks great, but one problem you need to be aware of.
If you have cruise control and want to keep it, you can't have LED bulbs in your BRAKE lamps. Just the BRAKE bulbs. If you DO use them, you either will have to use the LED bulbs that have the resistors in them to make them blink at a normal rate, or you will have to get a resistor load kit from one of the LED bulb stores like www.superbrightleds.com and install that.
If you have cruise control and want to keep it, you can't have LED bulbs in your BRAKE lamps. Just the BRAKE bulbs. If you DO use them, you either will have to use the LED bulbs that have the resistors in them to make them blink at a normal rate, or you will have to get a resistor load kit from one of the LED bulb stores like www.superbrightleds.com and install that.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 34,642
Likes: 0
From: Los Lunas, New Mexico, USA.
Vehicle: 2001 Hyundai Tiburon, 2004 Kia Sorento, 2010 Kia Soul
I didn't say it has anything to do with turn signals, but yup, trust me, it'll break your Cruise control till you replace them or put the resistor load on there. I had this problem and it took Kayjai about 7 months of research until he found someone with the same problem to get it fixed.
LED's draw so little power that when you hit the brakes, it doesn't register in the cruise control system or something.
Doesn't really matter, just know that it won't work properly.
You could do a search for "Cruise control" with me being the poster and you'll find the thread on it from about 3 or 4 years ago.
LED's draw so little power that when you hit the brakes, it doesn't register in the cruise control system or something.
Doesn't really matter, just know that it won't work properly.
You could do a search for "Cruise control" with me being the poster and you'll find the thread on it from about 3 or 4 years ago.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
From: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Okay, lol, that's kinda weird though. But I don't have any cruise control on it so I'll be fine, thanks.
I've ordered these leds now:
Picture led 1
Picture Led 2
I've ordered these leds now:
Picture led 1
Picture Led 2
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 34,642
Likes: 0
From: Los Lunas, New Mexico, USA.
Vehicle: 2001 Hyundai Tiburon, 2004 Kia Sorento, 2010 Kia Soul
It's not really wierd if you think about it. The brake lights are part of the cruise system. When you hit your brakes, the cruise turns off.
