Tail tint idea, feedback welcome

[jeff]

Hello folks,

I saw someone's car the other day on these forums with some neat tail lights, not sure if it was a different light than our USA OEM one or just some creative tinting....anyhow it gave me the idea to continue the line from the hatchback to the side of the car, wrapping around the car as you see below. I haven't tested the reverse light functionality yet but this stuff is pretty transparent, I've used it in the past with no issues. Anyhow I had some vinyl tint laying around so I did the drivers side only.

Give me some critical feedback, I appreciate it, opinions are helpful.....I'm gonna look at this for a few days and either peel it off or do the other side or come up with another idea.....wing risers are on the way so I'm thinking of stuff to compliment the aggressive rear end look that will bring.............THANKS!

 

[brbauer2]

Looks decent, but good luck getting any light out back when reversing and be ready to be honked at continuously for not using your directionals even if you turned them on. Maybe try to create a grid of holes to let light pass through.

 

[eleven]

I was just thinking yesterday that I wanted to:

1. Smoke tint the opposite of what you did
2. Tint the reverse and signal indicator area red
3. Replace reverse and signal indicators with clear LEDs
4. Rewire the reverse and signal indicators to brake lights (upper, tinted area would still function as running lights)
5. Add a Mustang reverse light in the faux mesh area above the faux diffuser

 

[M1lhomens]

How do the turn signals look when on? does the tint block them out a fair bit?
i'm thinking im going to do some tint this week. going to smoke the top sort of arch of the tails so the parts that need to light up while braking still work.
something like this:

 

[jeff]

Looks decent, but good luck getting any light out back when reversing and be ready to be honked at continuously for not using your directionals even if you turned them on. Maybe try to create a grid of holes to let light pass through.

How do the turn signals look when on? does the tint block them out a fair bit?
i'm thinking im going to do some tint this week. going to smoke the top sort of arch of the tails so the parts that need to light up while braking still work.
something like this:

Actually this tint lets plenty of light through - I tested it out and turn signals and reverse lights are plenty bright. It's the same thing I used on my front markers and it's held up great. It looks dark but it is light permeable and allows enough through.

Yesterday I put a quick piece on the other side. Some pics are below. I'm gonna drive it for a few days and see how I feel about this look....

 

[AzNightmare]

Hello folks,

I saw someone's car the other day on these forums with some neat tail lights, not sure if it was a different light than our USA OEM one or just some creative tinting....anyhow it gave me the idea to continue the line from the hatchback to the side of the car, wrapping around the car as you see below. I haven't tested the reverse light functionality yet but this stuff is pretty transparent, I've used it in the past with no issues. Anyhow I had some vinyl tint laying around so I did the drivers side only.

Give me some critical feedback, I appreciate it, opinions are helpful.....I'm gonna look at this for a few days and either peel it off or do the other side or come up with another idea.....wing risers are on the way so I'm thinking of stuff to compliment the aggressive rear end look that will bring.............THANKS!

lol, well. I'm probably gonna go against the grain. It's personally not my taste. But you asked for critical feedback.

The flow is what's bothering me the most:

The left side makes the tail light uniform to the bend on the rear gate, making a distinctive line that causes separation from the top half and bottom half of the car. When I look at it, it makes my eyes want to shoot across to the other side, instead of letting the slope of the tail light and rear gate to guide my eyes down to the bottom half of the car (show on the right side). I feel the bottom of the tail light plays an important role on leading the eyes down so it flows from top to bottom of the car seamlessly.

The tail lights also look kind of small now, and less aggressive imo. It doesn't look as sharp, and doesn't cut into the lower half of the rear. Think of it like fangs sinking in, rather than being cut off short where the rear gate bend is.

The tail light also looks a bit too simple now. More noticeable from the profile. It just looks like a basic scalene triangle. The perfectly flat (parallel to the ground) bottom side tends to make my eyes want to just shoot off behind the car, rather than down the car. Maybe not the worst effect. It does give the car an illusion of motion, but it also looks kind of plain especially when it doesn't match the slant/curvy front head lights.


Anyway, that's my 2 pennies worth. I don't hate it, but I don't like it enough that I would do it on my own car.
But either way, looking forward to whichever you decide, and I always respect the creativity.

 

[jeff]

lol, well. I'm probably gonna go against the grain. It's personally not my taste. But you asked for critical feedback. [..I always respect the creativity.

Thanks man. I'm not sold on it either yet, but I haven't removed it as of now.

Just installed my wing risers, take a look at the rear end now with the smoked tails and risers.............

 

[AzNightmare]

Looks good! Did you go with boomba or velossa tech risers?

 

[BionicBarnacle]

What vinyl are you using that is letting good light through? I would like to play around with tinting different things but don't want to do anything that will cause the lights to be unfunctional. Thanks!

 

[jeff]

Looks good! Did you go with boomba or velossa tech risers?

Thanks man.........I went Boomba, preferred metal over plastic. They had a 10% off too so it was $127.

What vinyl are you using that is letting good light through? I would like to play around with tinting different things but don't want to do anything that will cause the lights to be unfunctional. Thanks!

I'm using this exact product.

I posted pictures here and there that show the signals lit up night and day, it's plenty visible even with the tint.

 

[BionicBarnacle]

I'm using this exact product.

I posted pictures here and there that show the signals lit up night and day, it's plenty visible even with the tint.

Thanks! Any chance you can post up some pictures in this thread for us to see how well light shines through? I can hunt for it on the forum but if I don't have to I'd rather not haha.

 

[zanethan]

I'll give you props for creativity as well, but I'm not a fan of it either. It ruins the lines of the rear on the car in my opinion. Particularly the curve of the rear bumper and window. But if you like it that's all that really matters!