continued on adding the colored section for Pontiac:
the inner lens needed to be remade to get the amber color, scoured the junk yards till I came across these lens from a ~91 Cavalier on the rear trunk and took the clear sections out from behind the red lens:
next was to cut to fit and add some color to the lens. This was done using an air brush and transparent amber/red paint (bought from a hobby store). Here are the colored lens mounted in the outer lens:
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 06-28-2005).]
next was to modify the reflector to prevent light from either the red or amber side bleeding over to the other side. This was accomplished by cutting up a broken set of lens for the divider between the red and backup lights. It was cut to fit and glued to the section between the red and amber using an industrial acrylic glue:
all together, ready to be assembled and installed:
The wiring will also need to be modified some to account for the separate colors, just some cutting and splicing needed, plus I will have to run an extra wire for the brake lights now (or a GT harness could just be used, which I don't have easy access to right now).
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 06-28-2005).]
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03:09 PM
LZeitgeist Member
Posts: 5662 From: Raleigh, NC, U.S.A. Registered: Dec 2000
damn! you should market them it's not everyday someone does something for the notchie! I think it'd look a little more killer w/o the pontiac, but I do like them overall!
Holy crap those are AWESOME!!!!!!! They remind me of the 1990 Prototype lights (I don't have a picture of them handy ). I think I want to get a notchie now just so I can get some of those...
------------------ I am the signature virus, please put me in your signature so I can spread
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03:52 PM
Cheever3000 Member
Posts: 12400 From: The Man from Tallahassee Registered: Aug 2001
Very nice work! They look a lot like the 3rd Gen Trans Am GTA tail lights similar to these:
You may just have a marketable product here. I really like it. If you're not interested in completed lights, maybe offer a kit with the stencils and instructions? (and parts list on where to find the right lenses, etc.)
[This message has been edited by Formula88 (edited 06-28-2005).]
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04:46 PM
doublec4 Member
Posts: 8289 From: Oakville, Ontario, Canada Registered: Jun 2003
I would throw down money right now for a set of those. I really like the look of a notchback other than the stock lights. Those look 1000 times better than the stock lights do. Would be killer on a notchy with a chop! Please, for the love of God, make more so I can get a set to replace my poor old cracked and foggy taillights
-Randy
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10:05 PM
fierce_gt Member
Posts: 1517 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Registered: Oct 2002
Originally posted by Formula88: Very nice work! They look a lot like the 3rd Gen Trans Am GTA tail lights similar to these:
You are so close, the ideal came from the 91-92 TransAm GTA - unfortunatly, these tail lights are just as rare as some 88 parts are since they were only used for the 2 years:
Anyways, thanks for the all the kind words
Also, to answer the above questions - the mask is made out of a UV resistant high grade vinyal. - the inserts are 'painted' lens from the Cavalier currently siliconed into the rear outer lens - not sure if I will produce them to sell as good rear lenes are not that easy to come by around where I live, however the internal mask and complete instructions on what I did may be are possible.
And now for an update, sorry no pictures of them in the car, I may go out later today and take some now that the camera battery is charged, but ran into a couple of slight problems:
1) the colored lens do not completely cover the entire lens the way I would like them to (they are about 1mm too small in one spot). This is due to the clear lens had to be trimmed a bit to follow the contour of the outer lens as it is not straight but has a slight curve.
2) looks like the rear reflector needs the internal lens to add some support to the outer frame - not too big of a deal however, but I am picky
Looks like I will have to make another trip to the scrap yards and located some amber lens a bit bigger. I will then cut up the original internal lens and add in the amber and a new red section to the original red lens frame. This should add the needed support and should eliminate my problem with the little gap that is present.
Not sure I am keen on the 'Pontiac' part as well since my rear bumper has the 'Pontiac' molded into it, so I will need to eliminate one of them. I also just noticed that my inital set the lettering is a fair bit taller than in my original photoshopped picture. I will have to wait a couple of weeks however for my buddy gets back from holidays to cut out a fresh mask.
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 06-29-2005).]
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10:48 AM
FieroBUZZ Member
Posts: 3320 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Feb 2001
As the tails do not have a built in reflector, you might just buy a sheet of red/or amber plexi or plastic. You can shape it with heat over a wood form as desired. Then you can drop the yard search for clear lenses and the painting of them, as I'll bet the red will fade very rapidly.
Nice design and great work.! The masks would be a good seller. Maybe even just a downloadable image that can be cut at a local signmaker.
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12:34 PM
Mickey_Moose Member
Posts: 7545 From: Edmonton, AB, Canada Registered: May 2001
As the tails do not have a built in reflector, you might just buy a sheet of red/or amber plexi or plastic. You can shape it with heat over a wood form as desired. Then you can drop the yard search for clear lenses and the painting of them, as I'll bet the red will fade very rapidly.
Nice design and great work.! The masks would be a good seller. Maybe even just a downloadable image that can be cut at a local signmaker.
Original ideal was to use colored acrylic, red wasn't a problem, but getting some amber was - painting was the last resort without spending a fortune. I would have to buy a whole 4x8 sheet at a few hundred dollars just so I could get my 2 little 4"x5" pieces from The other ideal is to find a set of amber lenes big enough and flat that will fit. Red is not a problem, but I have a ideal on which car to look for now for the amber.
I thought about making the image downloadable, but it took me a long time to make it up (many revisions) and clean it up for cutting - sorry - but maybe for a few 1000 plus
anyways, back onto the pictures that I promised:
before:
after (ack - Pontiac on top of Pontiac, why I didn't think of that before - doh):
4-ways on (turn out it was not too hard to take the picture during the flash):
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 06-29-2005).]
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02:37 PM
Mickey_Moose Member
Posts: 7545 From: Edmonton, AB, Canada Registered: May 2001
brake lights (I still have to change out the one socket so I have both reds come on with the brake lights):
brake light close up (you can see the bit of a gap at the bottom center, only affects this lamp (on both sides)):
sorry I can't take a picture of the back up lights on by myself
once I do the modifications as meantioned above, I will post more pictures. As for making units available for sale, I 'might' sell these 'prototype' ones. I don't have a spare set of good lenes I could use, so I will see how easy it will be to peel the vinyal off, if not I might sell them as is
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 06-29-2005).]
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02:43 PM
matt 84 2m4 Member
Posts: 492 From: kingston,wa,usa Registered: Mar 2005
You are so close, the ideal came from the 91-92 TransAm GTA -
Those were the ones I was thinking of, I just couldn't find a pic of them, and I didn't remember what years. Now all you need to do is put the GTA digital dash in to complete the theme.
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03:08 PM
Mickey_Moose Member
Posts: 7545 From: Edmonton, AB, Canada Registered: May 2001
Originally posted by Formula88: Those were the ones I was thinking of, I just couldn't find a pic of them, and I didn't remember what years. Now all you need to do is put the GTA digital dash in to complete the theme.
...funny you meantioned that, that is another one of those things I started way back (I had a post on here as well that showed the pictures, but the pictures are not online anymore). And, I can't find my pictures of it on the hard drive right now . The only problem with this is the depth that the circuit boards need, so you will have to make a custom cover for the guage pod, but I have the displays all mounted to a front bezel all ready to go in. Just have no ambition to make a new cover for the rear of the pod
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 06-29-2005).]
What seemed to take the longest was creating the mask and getting it to the right shape to fit inside the lens and a pattern I was happy with - and then there was the time to peel off all those stupid little ovals after the vinyal was cut. I would guess about 10-12 hours on the mask (plus some time to quicky learn Corel Draw so I could create the vector image). Time to find a lens that would work and then to trim it to fit, paint the lens color/mount it inside, modify the rear reflector, cleaning of the outer lens/buff, etc. Modify the tail light wiring - so maybe a total of around 20 hours so far.
Now that I am going to modify the internal lens, you could probably add a few more hours to that.
Funny how the pattern looks like it slops in at the top in those pictures with them on the car. The pattern does run vertical (has to, so that it aligns up with the reflector correctly) - the amber pattern does however slop inward near the top outside edge due to the curve in the lens.
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 06-30-2005).]
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12:13 AM
Saber49 Member
Posts: 937 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: May 2004
I think they really look nice, better than stock. You've done an excellent job. But if it was me, I would loose the PONTIAC in the middle and make them all red, with sequentual turn signals, just my two cents for what it's worth. I would be tempted to buy some if they made that way.
Awwww I like the "Pontiac", didn't the 91-92 GTA have the pontiac too?
I've been looking for that picture for quite some time, that's a 1992 Trans Am. I think the taillights are perfect for a notchie, they really remind me of what you made and the 1990 prototype.
Incase that picture doesn't work here's the page that links to it: Here
[This message has been edited by Tinton (edited 07-06-2005).]
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01:29 PM
LZeitgeist Member
Posts: 5662 From: Raleigh, NC, U.S.A. Registered: Dec 2000
That looks amazing... well done!!! VERY well done!!!
Would you be willing to sell just a pair of the vinyl masks without the 'PONTIAC' in the center? I'd really like to do these, and I already have some spare parts laying around to work with. Heck, I'd even be willing to go for just the computer-cut, unweeded, unmasked vinyl - I'd be able to do the weeding and masking myself if that would make things easier, less expensive and less work-intensive for you...
Please PM me, or e-mail me at the address in my signature...
j/k
it's not everyday someone does something for the notchie! I think it'd look a little more killer w/o the pontiac, but I do like them overall! 
). I think I want to get a notchie now just so I can get some of those...
