Better yet....A friend of mine is the Body shop manager for MB in manhattan and lightly skuffed the lights and put alil black in some clear and sprayed em....PERFECT.....No tint peeling off or air bulbs...no scratching that comes with tinting.

 

I see what you mean... You can't tell in the distance shots, but up close you can...

 

imagoX are you in ohio? If so, are you going to modfest? I could bring my tinted set down if you wanted to just test fit them...it's a simple install

 

Ok, where is this modfest, and when is it?

-Cody

 

Cody, we start out about 8:30 at Tim Horton's for coffee & a bagel. Then we head over to Outmotorings palatial world headquarters. That's where modfest is held. Lots of fun looking at cars, parts & talking MINI stuff.

The location is SR161 & New Albany Rd.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp...y=US&geodiff=1

Hope we see you there.

 

That's too far away for me. Oh well! Have fun.

-Cody

 

come on...you can make it. It's the same weekend as the vintage races where you can watch classic minis race around the track and admire our new MINI's in the car show.

I'm driving 2 hours to go see it and probably attend the breakfast portion of modfest...

 

I would NEVER make it there. I get lost around here, let alone in Columbus....

Otherwise, if I knew where I was going I would love to come...and it would also depend when it is, because I'll be gone from the 11th-19th on vacation.

-Cody

 

Oh heck Cody it's just 2 hours up I 71. Call my cell & I'll navigate you there.

Have a great vacation. Where you going?

 

I'm going to Myrtle Beach!

And believe me....I don't even know how to get on 71 lol. I only know how to get to work and back to my house. Other than that...I don't do any driving, so I don't go anywhere.

-Cody

 

Too bad, man... you'd be very welcome, so if you change your mind we'll be waiting. The Tim Horton's is literallly within eyeshot of where you exit 161, and after breakfast all you have to do is follow the wagon train of hurtling, speeding Minis to Outmotoring.


I'll be there for sure, Rally - I'm having my driving lights installed that day and shooting some photos for Outmotoring that hopefully he can use, so I'll be there all day.

See you guys there!

 

you want me to bring the lights just to test fit them?

 

Sure man, if you can. How hard is it to unscrew the existing ones?

Also a question... I hear people talking about "spraying" their tail lights instead of filming them... Has anyone used THIS SPRAY PRODUCT and if so, how did you do it? I'd sort of like to keep the chrome trim showing under the outer cover to better match the rest of the car, so how would you use this? Is this intended for EXTERIOR use or do you crack open the lights and spray the inside?

 

Umm, it's easy to remove the lights. It's only one screw and 2 tabs (on each). Shouldn't take you any longer than 5min if you're slow like me.

And I have not heard of that product, but I would look into nightshade (website coming soon www.nightshade.com) because I have seen it in person and know someone who did it himself and it came out fairly well.

And if you want it professionally done, send them off to Jon.

Or another solution would be to give Spade Kreations (www.spadekreations.com) a call and see if they will tint your tails. Shouldn't cost to much, and they do great work. And I'm sure they can cut the film to make it so the chrome is still there.

-Cody

 

I'm not opposed to having a pro do the work for me, but I need my car (with brake lights) fior my daily drive. Plus, you know, I like to do it if I can, and I don't think I'll screw it up.

I'll check out those sites though - thanks!

 

Boy Matt do I have a deal for you. I happen to have a set of 06 tail lights sitting in my garage. Mine were replaced with euro spec lights. If you want to use them while yours are out at the "Tint a Lite shop" just say so. When yours come back just swap mine out & bring them back. PM me if you want them.

 

Well, I finally did it...



Thanks so much to my lovely assistant, here... He provided all the moisture I needed to keep that tail light film sliding around.

I'm working up photos into a How-to... it was pretty simple but I did learn a few tricks I'll pass along.

 

awesome results man. I am thinking about tinting my tail lights. I have a few questions.

I called a tinting shop and the guy told me that blacking out the tail lights was actually something body shops deal with, so I have been calling different body shops but havent gotten an answer yet, (I guess because of the weekend). Do you guys know.. if I wanted to do it locally, should I get it done at a body shot?

Does anybody have any pictures of blacked out tail lights shining red? I want to see how much it actually makes it darker when the lights are actually on. I have very tinted windows, and have never had problems with them.. but blacked out tail lights are a bit harder to hide. (if they are illegal in california which im not really sure about.)

Or.. would you guys suggest I buy a kit and do it myself? Im not very good with that sort of stuff.. it took me forever to figure out how to install my m7 grill.. but I guess I did do it so I can figure it out. I just dont want to mess things up, and tinting seems pretty difficult.

Lastly, I have heard about tinting, smoking, charcoal.. blah blah blah. Can someone please explain to me what exactly you are doing to the car to make it tinted? Is it a tint? or a spray? Do you put something on the INSIDE of the light or just the outside?

Thanks!

 

The one I used was a kit containing adhesive 7 mil vinyl...

http://outmotoring.com/tinted_tail_light_film.html

It wasn't at all hard... took a bit of patience and about 40 minutes, plus a spray bottle of water with a few drops of dish detergent in it. I was planning on doing one lens on the car and the other off, to see if it was much easier, but honestly, the film is so precision cut that I just ended up doing both lights right on the car...

The applicator squeegee is included with the film, which is VERY beefy and forgiving. I did not have the issues that some people reported with "rippling" along the tint edges - I think you'd get that if you used too much water in the application step. Or, I may have just got lucky.

Some people prefer to go the "spray" method, which involves sending out the lights. They are then opened up and sprayed on the inside. Benefits of this process are the most durable install - the tinting is literally on the inside of the plastic tail light. Drawbacks are non-reversability (may be an issue in Cali if they catch you) as well as cost - spraying costs about 3-4 times as much, and you have to do without your tail lights for a few weeks... This method is NOT reversable afterwards - if you're leasing or want to return the car as much as possible to its "OEM" look later to sell it, you'll need to replace the tail lights (but I bet you can later sell the sprayed ones on here to defray the cost of the replacement tails).

Outmotoring.com should have a How-To up with photos soon, hopefully, and you'll see how easy it can be. If you're worried about the law, I'd start with the film first (which can be removed if they hassle you) and you can always go sprayed in a year or two if the film starts to fray or something...

I'll take a night shot with the brake lights tomorrow if I can.

 

awesome thanks. Last quick question. Your tints cover the chrome surroundings of your lights. That seems strange since the chrome surroundings arent at the exact same level as the plastic over the lights, which confuses me. Please un confuse me .

 

On the '06 anyway, the chrome surrounds are UNDER the clear lens covering the entire tail lamp... Earlier models may be different (sorry, I'm not sure), but I didn't think so. I know that some people here figured out a way to open the tail light assembly and actually apply film on the INSIDE, against the red plastic light lens (thereby keeping the chrome surround), but I think covering over the entire thing is cleaner looking personally...

 

Wow, looks great! The stuff I got from Moss MINI is 16.5m thick, so imo it was pretty difficult to put on! I probably should have gotten the kit you got Imagox, the one that was easier to work with!

Oh, and I'll take a picture today when I get home from school to show the brakes lit up.

-Cody

 

I might be wrong on the thickness - I'm going for memory on what was on the label. The material was very thick and "rubbery" feeling, and was a bit difficult to stretch across the curve of the lens (but not too bad, once I figured out to start from one edge and work across from the center and the side).

I'm really happy it's so thick, though - it feels like it will really last. After getting this kit I REALLY want the side marker blackout kit and the headlight protector film kit now, as well...

 

ImagoX,

Looks great, I used the kit (tail and sides) from lamin-x.com, Mine was 17mils thick. Get the sides, it really makes a difference IMHO. I haven't been stopped and have asked others how the light is once the peddle is pressed. No one has said, oh I can't see or it's too dim.

One thing, the 3rd brake light, are you planning to cover it? I just ordered some bulk film today and will be doing it this weekend.

Here's two pics, one of my tail lights and one of the side marker tinted. No flames about the dirt please, I was out on a 100 mile run yesterday with 60 other MINI's. This is for the orange side marker drivers side.

 

I don't plan to cover my upper LED strip because I have the chrome beltline (my 3rd brake light is just above the trunk, set into the midline strip) - I think the black bar would look weird. If I ever blacked out the chrome midline I would, but I think on my orange car that would be too severe. Blacking out the midline chrome looks GREAT on black, red or dark blue cars, though, and only costs a few bucks for a roll of blackout tape... I think it would look REALLY nice on your car, as the current red lozenge really does break the clean, dark look you have going IMHO.