holidaychicken wrote:

yours is looking great, they really are a rewarding car to keep clean.
I tried opening an old broken indicator and i dont think they are glued together but more like plastic welded.

I then tried some vinyl wrap and cutting out the two round light areas and that was just crap.

The way i have done these which does require some bravery was to thoroughly clean the lense and then key up the surface using a very fine scotchbrite pad, grey, using straight strokes rather than swirls and the clean again.
This will leave the light with a frosted glass look.

I then masked off the area around the lights, i went just outside the chrome surround for each light. i have done a fair amount of spraying so i am fairly used to stretching the masking tape in a single contour. use a decent automotive fine lining tape used for layering paint as too much glue is not good.

I then painted the surrounding area with a java black base coat taking care to not apply too much paint as i didn't want a big step.

I left that to dry off for about an hour, too long and the lacquer wont stick and too short and the paint may lift with the masking tape. another reason to keep the base coat paint light where it meets the tape.

I then applied about 5 coats of 2k lacquer to build up the surface, this is when the frosted glass look should disappear.

When that was completely dry, the following day if necessary but i gave mine a bit of heat from a hot air gun and did it later that day but keep in mind 2k (2 Pack) lacquer has its own hardener so its workable quicker than standard lacquer.

I then wet flatted using Abralon pads which are like a foam backed abrasive which bend with the contours although a well soaked wet / dry paper would be ok.

I started with 1000 grit, then 2000 and then 4000 which only takes a matter of minutes between the lighter grits.
I then polished wet using a mini 3" polishing machine and G3 rubbing compound followed by G10 and then finally a wax polish.
I was really dubious about painting on the outside but i think it looks good.
i have also taken delivery of the same halos you used as well so just got to get around to fitting then and blacking out the rest of the lights and grille.

few pics below better light, if you look closely in the first pic you can see my reflection showing how shiny it is.

i think they should be ok long term, but give me a few months and i'll tell you.

If you have an old lense to practice on it would be ideal, i bought a broken one off ebay for a few quid.

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Love the bravery sir

A quick question if i may? Do you have an iPhone? Do you understand what i mean by the apps floating on the screen when you move the iPhone around? If you do? Do you not get that effect when looking at your front indicators from a variety of angles sir?

hi, Thanks for the interest, i have bravery and stupidity in equal measures so generally my projects have a 50 / 50 chance of success but i am happy with this bit so far mainly thanks to the OP.

i do have an iphone 6 that I used to take these pics but not sure what you mean about the apps floating on the screen.
If you mean that where i have painted on the outside lense and there being a gap between that and the silver backing of the internal lense, i think it's worked really well. i did have the fear of being able to see past the paint on the outside but i think it's ok, but see what you think of the attached pics. didnt have the halos on but you get the idea

I have also included some pics from the side.

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Thanks for the 3/4 fronts.

Time to get rid of the amber indicator lens and the side repeater

Thats ok, I thought that was what you meant

Have you photoshopped me ??

That does look good, i looked at it a couple of times and thought that looks different, although i don't mind a bit of extra colour

Hi all. I hope all is well in the full fat land. Happy new year!
It has been quite some time since I posted, so it's about time I gave you something to look at!

Since my last post, not a whole lot have developed with the range. Some time ago the alternator gave up and had me stressing it was something more. $200 nzd later and a brand new unit was in. Problem solved and it has been great since!

While the range has been great, I was still not satisfied with the look of the rear of the wagon and also the silver indicators.
From here, I looked to (wait for it) Dremel open the tail lights and paint the inner shrouds black to suit.
I got the lights off the wagon and got stuck in. 2 hours in and all going well, I had one lenses off without a hitch. The 2nd lease was coming off as the first did, until I went to lift it off. Stupidly I ate dinner 90% of the way through the job and went back to it forgetting to cut about 4 cm on one side. I go to lift it and boom, the lenses shatters along with my soul

Frantically searching online I found a couple of options as replacements. A. Pay big money for a stock 03/05 replacement and open it to paint. B. Look at what other newer/aftermarket options are available. C. Purchase a single second hand light from a wreck simply for the lense.

After a bit of searching the aftermarket option was out the window. The lense option wasn't really viable and I managed to track down some 05-09 tail lights from a wreck that were in sound but sore knick.

The lense had a water level mark inside from where the insurance write off had found the salt water (tide mark - don't ask..).
The electronics in the back were fried from the salt water and to top it off, condensation was inside. Although they sound , I saw the potential for experimentation and a future upgrade!

$150 later, I had them in my paws. Seems a little steep for trash, but at the time I didn't know the wiring was wrecked. Ah well!

So, here they are:

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holidaychicken wrote:

Phase 2 complete, I have blatantly copied your idea with the Morimoto switchback halos I'm afraid and i have been meaning to try and darken down the silver front end and hide some of its square corners for a while now.
I am really pleased with it, still needs a bit of tidying as had to rush a few bits and the lights are really easy to take apart - when you know how....
Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, wheels and side vents next, then the design pack rear bumper that's sitting in my garage

Looking good chicken! Looks rather familiar
Hey no worries at all. I'm a firm believer of helping others when it comes to forums, so I'm happy to hear I could be a apart of your build!

I might have to trademark the switchback halo/blacked out headlights idea though...I know of 4 people now with the same front end as mine! I shall call it the kiwiconversion!

At least I can still claim to be the OG when it comes to the new tails and opened indicators! Haha Kiwi lad - Range Rover TD6 L322
Murdered out crew

Dual switchback halo's
20x9.5 TSW's
More to come...

Nice job, they look great, used the same method on my old reversing lights.... My gas, soldering and wood burning kit, came with a very thin blade which cuts with much less width than your cuts, they are excellent for dismantling lights as easier to make good

Example pic

 Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

andy.cliff wrote:

Looking good chicken! Looks rather familiar
Hey no worries at all. I'm a firm believer of helping others when it comes to forums, so I'm happy to hear I could be a apart of your build!

I might have to trademark the switchback halo/blacked out headlights idea though...I know of 4 people now with the same front end as mine! I shall call it the kiwiconversion!

At least I can still claim to be the OG when it comes to the new tails and opened indicators! Haha

Looking good mate, really makes a difference, I need to post an update of my rear end as the design pack rear bumper is on, the quad exhausts i made have been on and off again and my rear lenses i applied a light smoke wrap to calm then down a bit and was quick and easy but i am just n the process of determining if my headgasket(s) have gone ....

Haylands wrote:

Nice job, they look great, used the same method on my old reversing lights.... My gas, soldering and wood burning kit, came with a very thin blade which cuts with much less width than your cuts, they are excellent for dismantling lights as easier to make good

Example pic

Thanks Haylands!

That's what I need to invest in! Thanks for the heads up. I was looking at making something similar but managed to get the wider tip to work the way I needed it to  Kiwi lad - Range Rover TD6 L322
Murdered out crew

Dual switchback halo's
20x9.5 TSW's
More to come...

holidaychicken wrote:

andy.cliff wrote:

Looking good chicken! Looks rather familiar
Hey no worries at all. I'm a firm believer of helping others when it comes to forums, so I'm happy to hear I could be a apart of your build!

I might have to trademark the switchback halo/blacked out headlights idea though...I know of 4 people now with the same front end as mine! I shall call it the kiwiconversion!

At least I can still claim to be the OG when it comes to the new tails and opened indicators! Haha

Looking good mate, really makes a difference, I need to post an update of my rear end as the design pack rear bumper is on, the quad exhausts i made have been on and off again and my rear lenses i applied a light smoke wrap to calm then down a bit and was quick and easy but i am just n the process of determining if my headgasket(s) have gone ....

Cheers Chicken!

It really does, doesn't it! It's amazing to see the difference you can make with a change of colour and styling.
Oh awesome, I'll keep an eye out for when you post up an update.

I have some precut tints here that I need to chuck on to give it the full black out look. The indicators and side markers are being done as we speak, so my project is almost done.

Just in time to put the old girl up for sale

Ahhhhhh blown head gasket?! Good luck mate!!! Kiwi lad - Range Rover TD6 L322
Murdered out crew

Dual switchback halo's
20x9.5 TSW's
More to come...

Hey Andy, you are going to love this I am sure :


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