Hi, guys. Was hoping maybe someone could help me out or possibly give me something I'm missing. What are options available for smoked/tinted taillights for the 996 turbo? I took mine to a shop n he did windows n installed a windshield vinyl but said he couldnt do tails because there is such a compound curve. I'm really limited in my area as theres not alot of places that do this type of thing. I've seen sprays but those seem like a bad idea and don't look as good. I've seen lamin-x covers which as advertised seem perfect.....but then I've read alot of reviews that they are a nightmare to install. I'm not the best with detail oriented projects as I seem to have big dumb fingers. Dont want to spend the $60 n then screw it up.
Has anyone had anything done or done anything themselves that they could recommend? I am dying to do this as I REALLY do not like the look of the tailights on these cars. It's such a sexy car and then it has these big gaudy tails that look like they are from 1983. I even found an aftermarket set of nice smoked taillights but aside from them being like $500 they weren't available for Turbo model (of course). Any help GREATLY appreciated guys.

 

The clear red tails that come on the cars look great OEM. Do you have something other than OEM on your car, maybe post a pic?

I have seen em smoked and all red before, likely achieved with the 3M tints on both.

 

My tail lights as well as corner markers are smoked. I'm not sure how it was done but there is no foil used..


http://www.flickr.com/photos/87731073@N06/9079411671/ by pwdrhound1, on Flickr

 

smoking is usually done by a body shop using paint and clear coat, ive never heard of anyone using film

 

Ive seen a really dark tint used as well. The benefit there, at least what I was told, is that it is 100% reversible.

 

http://www.vhtpaint.com/products/niteshades/

find any old junk yard tail light to practice on first

 

my friend used clear bra on his fog lights, melted it after a month

 

Pwdrhound, thats exactly look I'm going for. Wish you knew exactly what was done. I contacted a few body shops and they all advised against it for some reason.

I was able to find these:
http://www.dashzracing.com/98-05-por...w-08026-s.html

Which apparently will fit Turbo.......kinda pricey but I do like look.

 

Those wont fit the widebody cars, doesn't say anything about turbo. They are ugly too, stock are 100x better IMO.

Google search 3M taillight film on google, lots of options. My buddy had his Audis headlights taillights and fogs done it looks nice.

 

stock tail lights look good. i dont know what all of this ricer hype is about.

 

I normally dislike tinted tails but the 996TTs are just so damn big and old that I wanted to tone them down. I was either going to smoke the red or the white, ultimately I decided red. I didn't want the tail light film because the gloss gets toned down and with a grainy texture. I decided to have the tails tinted with paint. Tinting with paint is pretty simple because its just clearcoat with a touch of paint mixed into it. They just fine-sanded the plastic where the tinted clearcoat would go to help it grip better. I'd say the hardest part is choosing how dark you want to go and also making sure your painted tints them both evenly. Once the color was correct two more hands of normal clearcoat was added and then wet-sanded then finally compounded. Not for everyone. In normal light they look dark red, in low light they look a bit darker. Cost me $100.


Car's a bit dirty here but you get the idea:

 

Looks good! Thanx for the info. Suprised so many are a fan of stock lights. Was on my to do list before I even got car, look dated IMO. But to each their own

 

Definitely outdated. We can all agree with that. Some people are purists and are happy with them. Others such as myself just deal with the lack of options. So many threads full of BS about making LED tails... and it just never happens. I was once hopeful but I haven't really thought about it since the last epic fail and forum killing. I'd say get the stock tails clearcoated so they are bright and glossy or get them tinted. Not much more room for improvement.

 

Fog lights get very hot, tails dont get hot at all. I would never use any kind of film/tint on fogs.

 

DYL, your car looks sick. please post more pics, especially of the front. Looks like you put a 997TT front bumper on.