Material/Tools Needed:
1. Black Vinyl adhesive backed material. (I used Tye-Tac material because
it is thin and can contour to curve of rear taillights. Tye-tac may just be a Canadian brand. Any sheet-type vinyl tape will do.) - Available at
most hardware stores.
2. Large sheet of Paper card (White color should be okay and can be
marked by a pencil). Needs to cover one taillight completely.
3. Pencil.
4. Scissors.
5. Pattern object. I.E.: Dead compact disc (CD) for circles, etc.
Estimated Time for Procedure: 30 - 45 minutes.
Steps/Procedures:
Create Template.
1. Take paper card material and place it against the taillight (It doesn't
matter right or left lens), there should be an inch or so of overlap between
paper material and the actual curve of the taillights.
2. Hold paper card steady over taillight and use your fingers to create
an indent of the curve around your Z's taillight. (Basically creating the
template.)
3. Once you've created a solid outline, cut your template out with
scissors.
4. Next check the cutout against the taillight for fit. Trim back the
paper card template if there is any discrepancy in size.
5. Take your pattern object and check it for size against your taillights
themselves. A pattern covering both turn signal and brake light at the
same time is best.
6. Place pattern object onto your template toward one side of it. You
need to place the object so it is centered between the top and bottom of
your template but also is toward one side of your template allowing you
to add more of them. (I.E.: Deciding if the two or three circle look is
better.)
7. Taking your pencil, trace around the object, transferring the pattern
to the template.
8. Move the object to the next position and trace the shape again.
Repeating as necessary.
9. Now very slowly cut out the pattern from the template. I started
from the middle of my circle and cut outward in a slight spiral slope.
This allowed me to approach the curve of the circle by the time I was cutting
the actual circle shape itself.
10. Cut out all the shapes you have traced.
11. Take the template and place it against your taillight. If
you don't think the pattern is good, create another template with another
pattern.
Note: If you flip you template over, it will fit over the opposite taillight.
Therefore onlyone template is needed.
Making Cut-Outs.
12. Transfer the pattern from the template onto the backing of the Vinyl/Tye-Tac.
Use a pencil and take your time.
13. Flip the template over to create the other side's black-out. This
makes a 'left' & 'right' set.
14. Cut the pattern from the vinyl. Use same method as you used for
the template. Go slow, this is the final copy.
15. Line them against the taillights as a final check.
Mounting the Blackouts.
16. Now comes the hard part. Mounting the vinyl takes patience and time.
17. Clean off the taillights of any dirt or build-up. I used alcohol
as a cleaner but be careful not to get it onto your paint. It will remove
all the wax.
18. If usinging a vinyl sticker, coat the taillight with a layer of
soapy water. Detailing shops use this to move the sticker around before
setting. I used Tye-Tac and believe the soap water will remove the adhesive
from the covers, so I applied them dry.
19. Peel back part of the sticker backing. Apply the vinyl and remove
air bubbles while slowly applying the rest of the vinyl. This took me several
tries as the curvature of the lenses caused a little headache. The trick
is to apply the center first and work outward. Also I stretched the vinyl
which caused it to curve with the lenses.
20. Repeat for the other side.
Note: On my Tri-Circle design, the center reflectors sort of look awkward.
I left the design as-is because I don't know how to remove the reflector
without leaving a hole, and from about 5 feet back the design isn't effected
by the reflector.
Raj Sharma
