Time for new taillights - ideas?

[Darkwriter77]

'Kay, the lenses came in today as I was finishing a thorough wash/vacuum of the car. Took me about 3 hours to remove the old ones, pick out all the old sealant goop, sand/paint the housings, lay in the new butile goo, and get the stupid new clips to work properly.

As far as the appearance quality of these KSR or KRAP or whatever off brand these are from 50resto.com, they look perfect-o to me - held 'em up next to the OEM in the sun, couldn't tell the difference at all (aside from the Ford logo missing). However, whether it's due to the stupid new clips that aren't all that eager to STAY clipped or if there's a curve in the casting of the lens, I dunno, but there's a gap on the top end of the driver's side lens that just won't die.

The inside of the housings were DESPERATELY in need of help, and a quick hosing with some chrome Rustoleum worked wonders. Here, you can see the difference between the finished lens on the left and the OEM crap one on the right (I've since changed both sides out, of course). Now, to decide what to do about the tinting/striping part...

 

[Darkwriter77]

Silly idea: Pinstriping the LX lenses horizontally for sort of a variation of GT lenses? Or maybe three horizontal bars like the '94-'95 models?

 

[Boss 351]

Call me retarded but I want to mod these old style lights

to have the old school tri-bar lights, I'd have to remove the last two lights and put the backup lights in the bumper...

 

[Darkwriter77]

Hmmm ... sounds do-able, really. Maybe rig up some of those really small fog/driving lamps for your backup lamps (that'd REALLY give some visibility at night! ), locate them above the tailpipes a-la the '65-'67 models, then black out everything but the last three bars? I dunno. May as well convert to a later-model tail light housing before you go doing all that, might be easier in the long run.

Fiddled around with the trusty ol' MS Paint again, threw together four ideas into visual format. Two of 'em are variations on the Cobra lens - I just don't like the amber part of the OEM Cobras, myself. One's sort of a hybrid between a GT and Cobra, and the other is my lame retro-esque idea that keeps popping back into my brain. To do the three-bar thing, I'd have to use pinstriping AND some spray-tint, meaning it'd be a permanent thing; the upside is that I could always rip off the pinstriping if I don't like it and just tint the whole thing.

 

[Boss 351]

Here's an old school fox lol Looks stupid as hell and there's no plate, backup lights or side markers... That's a quick chop of my car BTW

 

[Boss 351]

Hmmm ... sounds do-able, really. Maybe rig up some of those really small fog/driving lamps for your backup lamps (that'd REALLY give some visibility at night! ), locate them above the tailpipes a-la the '65-'67 models, then black out everything but the last three bars? I dunno. May as well convert to a later-model tail light housing before you go doing all that, might be easier in the long run.

Fiddled around with the trusty ol' MS Paint again, threw together four ideas into visual format. Two of 'em are variations on the Cobra lens - I just don't like the amber part of the OEM Cobras, myself. One's sort of a hybrid between a GT and Cobra, and the other is my lame retro-esque idea that keeps popping back into my brain. To do the three-bar thing, I'd have to use pinstriping AND some spray-tint, meaning it'd be a permanent thing; the upside is that I could always rip off the pinstriping if I don't like it and just tint the whole thing.

stick with stock LX or Cobra lenses...

 

[Darkwriter77]

Okay, so the three-bar light idea is out. Just doesn't blend right with the rest of the car - can't make one part retro and have the rest looking to be from another century.

Again, I don't dig the amber that sticks out like a sore thumb on the Cobra lenses, but I do like the thin pinstripes. I've seen the horizontal striping done on a couple of other cars - actually, a few had them on the headlights, but I'm kinda iffy on the wisdom of blocking one's forward visible light output - and it does kind of subtly darken the appearance of the lens without actually tinting the thing outright. And, again, if it sucks, it's just a matter of peeling it off and maybe cleaning off the adhesive.

So ... what of the other three ideas in the pic? Or should I just give up and be happy with what I've got on there, now?

 

[Boss 351]

I'd seriously would just get tinted LX tails if you want something a little different than stock... but I'd personally stick to stock..