Taillight Blackouts

[flynhawaiianss]

Thought I would throw in a picture for reference in case anyone was wondering. This is from my second set of blackouts that I am trying. The first set had very similar results. Yes I know I did not tack down the blackout all the way as I was trying to get it centered the best I could trying to get the correct fit without messing up the adhesive too bad.

[CamaroDreams76]

from the looks of it. If you smooth that huge gap at the bottom that will cover quite a bit of the tail lights but it still wont be all of it.

[OlePhu]

I went kind of a different route. I bought some VViViD Black Perforated Headlight Wrap (12"x48' roll) for about $10 off Amazon with the intent of removing the bezels and cutting roughly to size but when I was trying to change the light bulbs, I dropped one bulb inside the light housing so I had to remove the housing to retrieve the bulb. Anyway, I ended up removing all four and applied the vinyl. PITA to get to a couple nuts but overall was easier.

Lights off...



Lights on...



They appear to be dark without lights or brake lights on but, even in daylight, are visible when I tap the brakes. These are the hazard flashers which probably explains why the brake light in the window isn't showing up. Plus, at night, the reflector strip at the top of the housing still shows through when lit from behind which doesn't happen with some tints. Just a thought

[flynhawaiianss]

yeah one of the other pictures I took had that gap more smoothed out but the sides were showing more than I would of liked. That perforated wrap looks pretty good and hard to tell a difference between that and the blackouts, at least from the picture.

[OlePhu]

During the day, without any lights on, they do look blacked out unless the sun hits them just right (the pics above were with the sun behind me); then some of the red will show through slightly. The wrap will cut the light brightness by about 25-30%, maybe, but still pretty bright and not dark enough, like some tint, to get pulled over. I'm looking at LEDs to compensate for that though.

I'd also read someplace else on the forum that the reason taillight tint kits don't cover the whole taillight is because that's illegal in some areas ... don't know whether that's true or just a marketing ploy (excuse).

[flynhawaiianss]

Well....I think I may have found the solution that I've been looking for if anyone is curious and gets in the same boat as myself. I went to the lamin-x website and was looking around. I found that they sell rolls of varying widths and lengths of different colors. I found the dark charcoal which is the darkest they have and seems to match the ones sold by vendors that sell pre-cut taillight blackouts. They sell a 4" x 30' roll for $29.95. They also sell pre-cut for the taillights like other vendors but the roll will suit my purpose. Obviously I will have to go through the trouble of cutting and trimming for my taillights but I believe I will be able to cover the entire taillight like I have been wanting to and have plenty left over for future uses so it's a win-win in my book. I will drop the link below for what I was talking about.

http://www.lamin-x.com/4-x-30-Roll-o...lm-p/430-c.htm

[Spec]

My first set of blackouts for this car were from Big Worm. They looked great...

But after a swap of some custom tail lights, I went and tried some of those hard plastic sets. I tried a few of them and nothing ever looked better than Big Worm's set of vinyl. The hard plastic sets, no matter who made them, would not cover up the entire tail lights. If it doesn't cover up the entire tail light, it doesn't look right to me...

I've been doing the tail light blackouts since the 90's. Just love the look and its never been a safety concern if done right.

Will never go back to those hard plastic sets at least on this car... utter waste of $$. Go Big Worm.

[flynhawaiianss]

MY first set of Big Work blackouts just didn't fit and I could see the edges just a little bit and it bugged me. I really wanted them to work out but they just didn't cover enough for me. I have a hard plastic set on my '96 Z28 that have worked beautifully but they are a solid one piece but I can't remember who makes them. I'm gonna try ordering the roll from lamin-x and see what happens. I don't mind doing a little extra work if I get the results that I want.

[Yasuo]

I used window tint..

[bigwormgraphix]

The pattern that we use is the same every time we ship them out, the bezels are actually the part that changes from car to car. The opening in the bezels varies from car to car quite a bit. What fits perfect on one car may or may not fit another car the same. Over the years we have tried making the tint larger which actually caused more problems because customers didn't like tucking it under the bezel which also makes it easier to get bubbles. We have been using the exact same pattern for awhile now with very few problems, it's between tucking and being too small. If you are removing the bezels we have a pattern that is a lot larger that you can special order, this pattern won't work unless you remove the bezels first. Email us at bigworm90@gmail.com after you order and we will modify your order. We use Lamin-X material but make our own patterns.

[15cammedSS]

Originally Posted by flynhawaiianss

That's the feeling I'm getting that these kits are hit or miss even though I believe they are all computer cut and should be alike. I bought the Xpel blackouts for the side markers and they showed a decent amount of the turn signal still. So in turn, I purchased the blackout kit from Headlight Armor and side markers fit perfect (minus the taillight fitment issue). I'm tempted to buy the Xpel taillight blackouts and give that a shot but this will be my third kit and if those don't fit I'm at a total loss

I just put these on my brothers car last week and the fit was perfect.

http://www.phastekperformance.com/20...-h0602c-ds.htm

[flynhawaiianss]

Well it is safe to say that this issue has been put to bed finally! After BigWormGraphix made the post about making another order and sending an email to request the slightly over-sized taillight blackouts that's exactly what I did. These worked perfect and a big thanks to BigWormGraphix for resolving this. Took less than 20 minutes to put them on that includes removing the bezels since this set was slightly larger than the normal blackouts sent out. Didn't have any issues with the taillights showing once the bezels were back on and only had to put each blackout on once with no re-positioning. Thanks for all the help from the members that chimed in and a bigger thanks to BigWormGraphix! Very happy customer over here!

[bigwormgraphix]

Originally Posted by flynhawaiianss

Well it is safe to say that this issue has been put to bed finally! After BigWormGraphix made the post about making another order and sending an email to request the slightly over-sized taillight blackouts that's exactly what I did. These worked perfect and a big thanks to BigWormGraphix for resolving this. Took less than 20 minutes to put them on that includes removing the bezels since this set was slightly larger than the normal blackouts sent out. Didn't have any issues with the taillights showing once the bezels were back on and only had to put each blackout on once with no re-positioning. Thanks for all the help from the members that chimed in and a bigger thanks to BigWormGraphix! Very happy customer over here!

Thanks for posting!

[snafu]

i had the kit from phastekperformance but i didnt use it. My tint guy said he could do a better job than that kit did. I think i made the right choice. I also did the side markers also. this was done with spray on tint. 2 layers of spray tint and 1 layer on clear coat. my tint guy said he's been doing this kind method for years and it always turns out good... and u can see the tail lights come though great! didn't obstruct them at all.