I removed and disasembled the side markers.
Removed the "S" from the chrome part.
Painted the chrome satin black.
and tinted the lens red
Rassembled and installed ...

 

Interesting ...
I didn't know that the "S" was reflectorized untill taking these shots

 

Nicely done. I like one-of-a-kind DIY mods.

Is the black flat or gloss? It looks glossy in the pic, but that might just be from your flash.

 

I did about the same thing on my BRG MCS. However, I just put tape on the S, and did satin black.
I think I now need smoked lights to make it look better.

 

i like it!

 

It is a satin finish on the black paint
I thought about smoke for the bulb ... but I am CR so it looks different .. may go smoke later.

More photos of all parts in gallery

 

 

This is a popular mod amongst those who "de-chrome" their MINIs

 

Question, what exactly did you use to tint your reflectors that red color. Obviously it wasn't any old red paint, as it is transparent enough to see through to the reflector...

Thanks!

 

Looks like the standard Cooper orange in a couple of the pics.

 

I'm going to guess that it's spray tint.... maybe not though.

Curious to see where that came from if it is, the only red spray tint I've seen was online and way too much for such a small project.

 

The material uesd to tint is ORACAL 8300
avaliable in LOTS of colors !

It is an adhesive film that can be streched buy using a heat gun.

Take a look at my gallery I did my tail lights as well.
No moe orange blinkers and you can't see the chrome
Cool thing is it still reflects back so it is "legal"

 

Whoa... that stuff looks fun

 

I KNOW

My head is just spinning with the possabilities !!!

Your side markers and tails would look great in the RED

I like your gallery
VERY nice

 

Nice!! I was just looking for something like this and wondered if it would just be easier to paint the vents...looks nice.

 

I'm actually in the process of doing the same thing. I had a hard time with the primer adhering to the plastic though.

I'm going black with a Blue S. And then going with the Black Side markers available at Outmotoring.

That looks clean though, good job. Gives me a little inspiration.

 

That looks very cool. Is the red tint DOT approved?

 

I have to admit to orange lens envy on those MCs... I'm not a huge fan of the clear lens on the MCS... especially on Pepper White...
I was thinking of doing something very similar to what you've done. My experience in such things, however, was limited to the same parts...but on MODEL KITS> ha!

We used to use this Tamiya transluscent glaze. There was a great block glaze that made smoke glass efect, and a red/orange that accomplishes the... red/orange... lens look. I was thinking that there wasn't any reason why a glaze like that applied to the inside face of the lens wouldn't work. The black de-chromed look for the surrounding panel looks awesome, though.

 

Not quite DIY (do-it-yourself), but OTS (off-the shelf) from a place called OPMD.com - I think that these are from the UK. They are called Black Jewel repeaters, and I think that they these would look great on a dark MINI, or expecially good on a PW with a dechromed look.


I need to pick up some of these for old Mr. Neb.

 

Thanks for the idea and the tips!! I had to steal it, but put a little twist on it.

I did mine this weekend as well, smoked out lights from outmotoring.com come this week...Did you use a spry plastic primer or primer from a can? I used Rust-Oleum Plastic primer in a spray can. I didn't apply as light of a coat as I should have with the primer on mine, mainly because it wasn't actually coating the entire piece with the wind blowing in the afternoon so I let the primer flash dry in the hot sun and applied very light coats to get all the surface areas I needed covered and one final light coat. Once dry I painted multiple coats of black, but found the best coats were when standing further back to get a more textured look.

I let the paint dry in the sun, but was a little over eager on the install and scratched one piece (of course ) so I need to touch it up -but I'm very happy with the outcome.

Before...


After...

 

Clean clean. I had to do them over because I was going to mask over the inside of the S's and that just didn't go well. So what I am doing right now, I scuffed up the plastic a bit because the primer didn't adhere to it that well. I then put the primer and let it dry for about two days and gave it a light wet-sanding. on the imperfections.

I'm gonna spray on the Flat Black today and give it a few coats. Let it dry a day or so and then I'm gonna use a paint brush to do the S's. Let that dry after a few coats and probably give it a few Clear Coats to seal it down. It's gonna end up a little glossy, but at least it can take the weathering. And at least it's not Chrome.

I'll get pics to you when I'm done though. Are you gonna do the Black Lenses too?

 

I gotta stop posting with my company name.

Megan Racing by Day...

NokturnalMCS by Night...

 

Yup, they just came from OutMotoring yesterday...popped them on and I like the look...but not in direct sunlight. I'm not a big fan of the black lenses because they are actually clear with black plastic behind them so the color is a little off and not as clean looking as the white sidemarkers. I'm thinking of adding a light tint to them so it will have a cleaner look.

Also -good call on sanding the plastic down. The primer will rally adhere to the plastic if you do that. I am thinking about repainting mine after I got knicked with a rock yesterday.

 

If you install those outmotoring lenses... I'd be interested in a photo, as well as one with the signal illuminated, just to see, you know? They seem pretty dark...

 

No problem! Camera battery died (of course) so I'll snag one at home in the light and at night...it's really an optical illusion, not dark at all. The lens is almost clear, but instead of the white plastic backing (on the standard S lights) it's black...so they appear darker than they really are.