Red turn lenses

dragonsgate

True Classic
I have thought about replacing the amber turn signal lenses on my one nine with red ones off and on for a while and some of you may have noticed my request in the for sale post. Well I am kind of a cheap-o and tenacious when it comes to figuring ways to get around the system. I guess it comes from when I was an artist starting out and didn’t have much money so I learned to make things or substitute for something else. Anyway I found this stuff for tinting tail light lenses.
It cost about $17 after shipping and seems like it will work if my first test is any indication. There are other brands but I settled on this one because it say Made in U.S.A. plus it showed some before and after pictures that the others didn't. Most paints tell you to work in a well ventilated area as this one does. That is an underestimate. This stuff is potent. I did a test on a cracked lens in the art room and a couple of small squirts stunk up the whole house something fierce. Two light coats on the outside and it looks pretty red. I have three sets of ambers that I am doing so I am bound to get at least two good ones. One lens has a slight crack and I am going to see if I can make it look presentable. First I washed and got all the dirt off. Who ever had a couple of them didn’t believe in masking or removing before painting so the lenses had a considerable amount of over spray on them. I washed them down with solvent and some four O steel wool. Steel wool can be a pain because of the bits of metal strands that can be over looked before painting but it seemed like the best way to help remove the crud. Got them all dry and ready to spray.

The one on the left is a broken test lens. It looks pretty good to me.



Holding up to light shows cracks on the test piece. The color is not bad for two light coats on the outside.

Got them all cleaned and ready.

Shoot the jams.

First light coat on the inside.

This is what they look like with one coat on inside.


One of the lenses had a slight crack. I am trying to soak some super glue into the crack then lightly sand and paint.


Putting two light coats on the outside.
This is with the amber lens the red lens and with light coming through.
The camera makes it all look yellowish. To my eye they look red. The one draw back so far is the painted lenses look new compared to the tail/brake light lens. I will have to buff up the tail light lens or give a light coat. Other than that I am happy. That lens with the crack I clued came out fairly well. Just looking at the lens the crack is invisible. I had to hold it up to the light at an angle to get it to show. The crack is to the right of my thumb. I got a bit of dust on one lens and a light sand with some 600 and then 1000 grit covered with a light spray and I will say everything came out 100% OK. I have found that any time you sand a fairly fresh paint job for respray it is best to wait at least 12 hours between the sanding and spraying. The sanding takes off the dry surface and exposes a not quite cured under surface. Immediately applying fresh paint over the freshly sanded area can some times cause lifting and or wrinkling of the paint. I even wait between sanding on catalyst type paints. The old err on the side of safety thing. So there you have it or I have it...Three sets of red turn lenses for less than $20 plus it gave me something to do for a couple of days.
 
Looks good!

I had a set of lenses from my '76 X1/9, so I put them on - I like the look. I'm sure you can polish up your brake lenses to look new.

I need to repaint my reflectors, they don't match in terms of "reflectiveness" - doesn't look right when the lights are on. I guess hi-temp silver or chrome will work (winter project!)


My friend has a Lancia Fulvia that the Amber lenses are looking tired (completely faded actually!) - I wonder if VHT sells this stuff in amber?
 
I gave a quick look and couldn't find any amber in the VHT brand. I did come across some mixed reviews on the VHT red but so far I am not disappointed. Time will tell. I didn't do any research before I bought this stuff and there are quite a few different paints and stuff for coloring lenses but I didn't see any amber. It has been over 24 hours since I painted the lenses and I did a thumbnail test on one and it didn't scratch so that is something. Ps. the red lenses on your red car does look really nice.
 
Never used this stuff, or heard of it for that matter...

Looks pretty good and oughtta do great on CLEAR lenses.

I used semi-transparent Candy Apple Red model paint... Testors I think... and just sprayed the INSIDE.

I do indeed like the single color as well... forfeited my back-up lights and made them into additional brake lights so I have a lot going on back there...



They actually look better and match better in person. Note the "third-brake-light" mounting and the color of its lens closely matches my back-up light lenses in this shot...

Oh... and my daughter gave me the license plate frame... I have never had the balls to mount it...
 
Looks pretty good and oughtta do great on CLEAR lenses.

I used semi-transparent Candy Apple Red model paint... Testors I think... and just sprayed the INSIDE.

I do indeed like the single color as well... forfeited my back-up lights and made them into additional brake lights so I have a lot going on back there...



They actually look better and match better in person. Note the "third-brake-light" mounting and the color of its lens closely matches my back-up light lenses in this shot...

Oh... and my daughter gave me the license plate frame... I have never had the balls to mount it...
I have some extra back up lenses and thought about trying that.
This stuff reminds me of candy color but smells a little more caustic than regular paint. The small step ladder I use to set things on when painting had a nice coat of gold from a previous project. The red lens paint over spray made a nice candy red. I just tried to take a picture but couldn't get it to show up right so you will just have to take my word for it.
 
Well... in any case... I try to be a minimalist...

but my Italian/Armenian heritage tends to gravitate towards BLING.

HA!

I also removed the license plate pods and recessed a lamp inside the frame. Really cleaned things up back there and except for sucking a few mega-amps when I step on the brakes... it lights things up back there nicely.
 
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