I have also been a little nervous about dechroming the taillights. I was a little nervous to start cutting into factory assemblies and i wasnt confident in my artistic skills. The job was however not as bad as i expected but was a slight pain. I figured id post a DIY incase someone else was insterested.

as you can see my taillight started to leak and the chrome at the bottom started to wear off anyways so i figured what the heck. I removed the taillight from the vehicle by unscrewing the 10mm bolt.

I used a Dremel and cut all the way around the lens. Dont be too afraid to go too deep, its pretty forgiving. It does make a mess though and you have to clean up the rough edges with sandpaper and a razor blade. make sure you are cutting the housing and not the lens. you will see the dividing line. make sure to cut all the way around and the lens should release itself. dont try to pry it off when you get it close or you will crack the lens.

Be gentle and make sure you dont rush, once you seal it back up you wont have a chance to re-do-it. use denatured rubbing alcohol or brake clean on a rag and just rub on the chrome. The Chrome paint comes off surprisingly easy.
Use 2 part epoxy to reseal the lens to the housing. make sure you are filling in the cracks all the way. I used a screwdriver to spread the epoxy. remember to take your time and wipe any sloppiness away right away before the 2 part epoxy dries.



Once you have epoxied all the way around let it dry completly. I used my fan and a heat gun to aid in the drying process.

Here is the finished product held up and compared to factory chrome, it is a subtle but nice change
Reinstall the taillights and dont tighten the 10mm screw down too hard because you can overtighten it very easily putting unnecessary stress on the lens. when finished its a good idea to water test the vehicle and seal up any leaks you may find with silicone. Hope you liked it!

 

Agh! Where were you when I had my R50!?!?!? This is awesome! Great write up, man.