Tinted Tails/ Side Markers
 

So I have been toying with the idea of tinting my tails and side markers for awhile. I finally PS a rear view and I think it looks fairly good. I dont think I want to use NiteShades, as that is very permanent, and if law enforment or something ever has a problem, I don't want to have to buy all new lights. What do you think?

:td: Sorry...not a fan.

Personally, I wouldnt want to tint my tails in a car that allready almost gets run over on a daily basis. I do want to make mine all red though, a guy on Ebay sells a kit that I have seen in person, and looks really good IMO. The black looks okay, just not my thing.

i think they're a little dark, but looks pretty good. The side markers are perfect though.

I'd like to have smoked...not black though.

Hmm.. I kind of expected you all would like it.. O well I'm still not sure about it, but I think they look kinda neat.
-Michael-

I kind of like it. I think it looks alot better than most of the euro tails made for the miata.

I hadn't seen those red ones til I just looked. Maybe I will do something along those lines. This look any better?
-Michael-

I HATE those lol.

Try doing like a smoked look on them, like the euro e30 BMW tail...like...50% of the blackness.

I think that looks way better, doesnt scream "LOOK!". I plan on making the reverse red too. A faculty member at my school who had them has a red hardtop too, looked great, couldnt tell they werent supposed to be all red. The red tint was near perfect in direct sunlight.

I dunno, I kinda like just covering up the orange with red, that way I wouldn't have to tint all the lenses. I'm very torn.. I like both of them.. I think if I did the red it would just be the orange not the reverse. I think the white gives it a bit of contrast. Did your buddy get the ones from the guy in Canada?
-Michael-

No clue, he instructs the Toyota program there which I didnt take, so I haven't ever talked to him. They look identical to the Ebay kits though.

I prefer the red version (reverse still white). It actually may look good on my white car, I'll check it out.

I like the look, but I've already been rear ended once... and it hurts like hell.

Ouch, my thoughts on the smoked tails exactly..

use lamin-x, then if you ever want to go back to stock, all you do is pull it off. I used the yellow on my front turn signal lenses and the smoke on my side markers.

http://www.lamin-x.com/ has some precut kits for the miata tail lights.

Edit: If you click on the picture in my vB garage, you can see the smoked front side marker lights better...

Same here, but I do like the look!

I did the nightshades thing on my tails, and just painted my sidemarkers

Maybe I'm off the mark here, while tinted lights can and do look good doesn't this detract from the whole idea of tail-lights? Ie the car behind you should be able to tell when you are braking. I have been behind cars with tinted tail-lights and I nearly rear ended them beacuse I could'nt tell when they had the brakes on. Also makes the car harder to see in poor light conditions.

/rant off
J

I've got a can of VHT Nightshades in my shed and have been procrastinating doing this.
I don't like the look of the tails tinted real dark unless its a Black car - but, on other colr cars, I like the 50% smoked look as suggested above.
Personally, what I really like is what I'm going to do - my center peice between the tails is black (red car) so when I smoke the tails about 50% they won't look painted but they will blend in with the black much better.

I'll kick myself in the arse and do it tomorrow and post pics when I'm done.

-Ryan