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Taillight Project #1

96K views 283 replies 57 participants last post by  Saleen9090 
#1 ·
Anyone care to guess what I am working on? What if I told you it is inspired by DevolvR? Surely the thread name and that are enough information to figure it out...

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#7 ·
I saw all of these other projects

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?133148
http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?146018-Back-with-another-tail-light-retro
http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?118356-LED-Tails-and-Front

But wasn't sure if anyone had achieved the "light bar" look to achieve more of the XC60 look. What I mean by that is getting rid of the individual LED look.

This method looks promising. I plan on using acrylic sheeting with a certain % of light diffusion to achieve the look. Tonight I played around with shaping the acrylic. So far it looks promising.

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#9 · (Edited)
The only person that achieved the light bar look was someone in Taiwan. Someone posted pictures in juve021's Back wih another Retro thread. I'm also interested in redoing my taillights again with a more light bar look and brighter LEDs. :)

Using a thinner acrylic material might be easier to bend. I think the hardest part here is the cut out the housing reflector piece to fit the new light bar , then attaching the LED strips behind the housing and acrylic strip is the best way to create the contour lines.
 
#11 ·
The pictures show 1/4" thick sheet. I was actually contemplating going thicker so it is more visible from the back. I want a good solid contour line, not like something the thickness of a string.

On the contrary I've actually notice thicker is easier to work. I think it's because more mass hold heat longer and gives you a much longer "working" time. You have to be quick with the thin stuff because it hardens much quicker. I will either do 1/4" or 5/8" I think.
 
#10 ·
I have something in the works for a tail light project.. I will end up showing something on here or just wait for a volvo meet... im trying to be creative like DevolvR and everyone else
 
#12 ·
Do you have any pictures of your progress? I would like to see before I started in case it helps brew up ideas.
 
#13 ·
Well, I did a bit of acrylic work before in my old art school days. You'll need to make a mold then heat the acrylic with an oven to a certain temp to soften it up then press the acrylic to the mold. Mold ideally would be wood as its easy to work with.
 
#15 ·
I just planned on using the tail light's housing as a mold lol. It would ensure a perfect fit and don't have to create a mold.
 
#25 ·
My only problem now is: what do I do with the rest of the reflector housing?

In my mind there are four options but please feel free to add ideas.

1. The outer light bar will be used as a taillight (~50% brightness) and go to full 100% when braking. The rest of the tail light reflectors are completely unused. (seems like a waste of space to me)

2. The outer light bar will be used as a taillight (~50% brightness) and will remain 50% all the time. One of the three reflector housings will be used for brake lights using normal incandescent bulbs. Which of the three reflectors to use? (outer, inner, or middle)

3. The outer light bar will be used as a taillight (~50% brightness) and never brighten while an inner light bar as pictured will be the brake light at 100% brightness during braking

4. As said in #3 except the outer light bar and inner go to 100% brightness when braking then outer light bar returns to 50% when not braking

I personally am leaning towards 4

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#26 ·
Part 1 done. I am planning ob spraying the inside of the acrylic black so it does not light up the housing. All I want to see is the contour line, no reflections.

Did anyone have their doubts? I know I sure did. Lot of customization needed, not for the faint of heart.


IMG_5031 by Saleen9090, on Flickr


IMG_5032 by Saleen9090, on Flickr
 
#30 ·
Looks good brother!
 
#38 ·
you should put together a "tail light kit" and start selling them. this looks like its going to be an incredible mod! keep up the good work! and id be first on that list for a kit :)
 
#39 ·
I want a set too! Better yet, I'll just send you a set of tail lights, I have an extra set laying around. haha
 
#41 ·
Little bit of trouble I ran into. After spray painting the sides of the acrylic chrome to keep light from reflecting in the housing from stray light, it turns out the paint effectively dims the brightness a bit. I would think with chrome paint I would have had no issues but that is not the case. I know black paint would have absorbed the light but I thought chrome paint would only make the light output better. Not a huge deal but after I get them installed I may (hopefully not) have to use an incandescent bulb as brake lights. I was hoping to avoid this and only use the contour lines all the time for taillights and brake lights.

I also thought about the 3rd brake light. Maybe this will be my saving grace because it should forewarn people that I am braking even if the brake lights in my tails aren't bright enough. Like I said I am going to have to make a judgement call. Oh and the pictures are misleading, they are not actually that bright. They provide more of an ambient light which works great for taillights but not so good for brake lights.


IMG_5047 by Saleen9090, on Flickr


IMG_5046 by Saleen9090, on Flickr
 
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