Has anyone repainted the reflective taillight housings on 1st gen?

The reflective paint on the inside of the taillight housings on both sides are flaking off, with large sections showing the black plastic behind it. I'm wondering if anyone has repainted theirs with a new reflective paint or material - and if so, what was used / how'd it turn out?

 

Since you can't really tell the surface quality, you can use Rustoleum chrome spray

 

couldnt hurt anything re-painting
i would do it

 

it's on my forever long todo list. I was going to use Rust-Oleum epoxy primer and white gloss paint. That primer seems to stick to anything as long as it's clean lol

 

I painted mine flat black many years ago as well as switching to all LEDs.

This is what the light looks like coming through.
https://youtu.be/CEsDEKRWusA?si=9EBXJBCZp5nHKYCz

 

I did a little touchup with some krylon silver paint and it worked ok.

 

nice Craftsman Truck Series wing!

what class you run in SCCA?

(looking at your thread above now)

 

So instead of re-doing the entire surface, you just hit the areas that were wearing? I didn't consider that

 

Capt....
i have my old peeling tail lamp reflectors up in the attic(i bought new ones for the kid's taco)

you can have them if you want to test out on a sacrificial part
send me a PM and will go up in attic NP for you

 

I did this on my 96. Used rustoleum, chrome or silver, can’t recall. Lightly sanded with grey scotch brite and wiped down with alcohol for prep. Taped off and spray painted the entire surface with a couple light coats. Made a big difference to my eye. Take a minute and wipe those o ring type gaskets down with armor all too.

 

Very kind of you, thank you! as of right now I feel pretty good about painting mine, but if that confidence fades, I will drop you a PM first thing. Thank you again

edit - have an idea - PM inbound

 

Forget paint, use Aluminum heat foil tape. I used something like this on a porsche restoration. Worked awesome.

Something like this link below. Many options out there for similar.

$30 3M Aluminum Foil Tape 3380, Silver, 48 mm x 45 m, 3.25 mil

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Linered-Aluminum-Foil-Silver/dp/B00A7I5P32?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&gQT=1

 

XP now that I have a severely modified suspension. I used to run SM.

 

I have been reading a bit for other cars, and a trend I am seeing is using flat white as that refracts light more than silver

I actually have a roll of reflective duct tape just like that I was thinking of using, but unsure of how to get all the curves and surfaces. My hands aren't very stable for small things like that

 

Don't Laugh, but for my backup lights, I put some aluminum foil in the area where the backup light goes in the tail light assembly. It's not smooth or pretty, but it worked pretty dam good.

 

Reflective tape was the "go to" decades ago, mostly as an aid to the weak backup lamps.
A little mention and a pic here.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/your-unique-mod-on-the-1st-gens.118241/page-107#post-27048435

 

I've done this. I used some sort of glue and was able to smooth the foil down nicely.

 

For me all the different crinkles in the foil just seem to through the backup light better but what do I know.

 

While I wait for ControlCars generous shipment to arrive, I figured I'd at least try the tape route since I had a roll here already. I tried to make it as clean as I could, but I'm not great at arts and crafts. I think my 4th grade teacher, Mr. Bradley, would give me a C- on it. But hey, the lens will be covering it.

The result was me needing to squint while it lit up my entire back yard. I need to figure out a way to be able to toggle these on without needing to be in reverse for trailer loading and unloading.

LH before




RH Before



RH After



Reverse housing bling






Next is to figure out how to wire a manual reverse light switch to use for loading and unloading our bikes.