Snagged a spare set of taillights from a junkyard and painted them all red to clean the rear end up. One of my favorite modifications to date!

-Tape off reverse light area
-wet sand taillight with 1000 grit
-clean/prep
-spray 6-7 coats (however many you desire) of Duplicolor Metalcast red
-find legit body shop/spray booth to apply clear coat
-install and enjoy the clean look!

It's that damn simple!

Scuffed and taped:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11274265393/http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11274265393/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/qwik2k2z24/, on Flickr

Color coats:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11274206716/http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11274206716/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/qwik2k2z24/, on Flickr

Legit clear coat:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11297914615/http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11297914615/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/qwik2k2z24/, on Flickr

Installed!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11298347146/http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11298347146/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/qwik2k2z24/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11307328683/http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11307328683/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/qwik2k2z24/, on Flickr

Very pleased with the outcome. Light output is still as good as stock!

 

Good Job :thumbsup:

 

Looks good. I'm still trying to decide which way I want to go with that. Red tint or paint. I paint for a living so I could easily do it that way. I hate the amber in the tails so much. I wish we just had a bolt on option.

 

Looks good!

 

Wow that came out looking really good. It goes really well with the rims and overall look.

 

Running lights wired differently. Turn signals/brake lights function same as before.

Before:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11394673116/http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11394673116/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/qwik2k2z24/, on Flickr

After:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11394669545/http://www.flickr.com/photos/qwik2k2z24/11394669545/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/qwik2k2z24/, on Flickr

 

Very nice!

That did clean up the back end alot.

Now you just got to ditch all those stickers, then it would look really clean

 

Love the stickers. They stay!

 

gonna try this some time soon

 

nice!!

 

I have two extra set of stock tails if anyone is intrested. PM me

 

for free? oorah! ill take it

 

small fee...lol. Really theyre just taking up space.

 

Howd you wire it up like that? Instructions please!

 

Long story short:

I used two pairs of taillight harnesses for the CRV.

-Cut off the turn signal plug from the harness you are going to use. Toss is aside, you won't be using that plug again.
-Cut off the brake/running light plug from the donor harness (leave a decent length of wires off the pigtail to splice with later)
-Color coding couldn't be easier. Splice the brake/running (green/white wire) into the wire that originally ran to the turn signal (Green/yellow) keeping the length roughly the same as stock to reach the upper taillight bulb hole.
- Tap the remaining leftover wire from the new turn signal harness (red/black) into the existing running light signal wire (red/black) .
-Grounds are all black and a no brainer. Each harness pigtail shares a single ground to the harness.

Harness colors:
green/white = brake signals
red/black = running lights
green/yellow = turn signals

Essentially you are making the upper bulb harness a 3 wire opposed to a 2 wire and tapping into the brake/running harness for the running light signal. I didn't take pictures during.

 

I did this too, but without the re-wiring.

End result:

 

All red tails look badass.

 

I agree. I like them way more than the "JDM" white/red/white ones on eBay.

 

That is very sharp! I may have to do that on my wife's red CRV.

 

Looks great on black!

 

I need to be doing this to both of mine. Caddiman, let me know about the tails you have. I sent you a pm regarding them

 

looks great!

both of em!

 

Did these. Thanks for the DIY!

 

Looks awesome! Glad this write up has been put to use.

 

I went over to red/white. but this spray looks way better then the tint I used. also you can get clear coat in a can and do that yourself as well. I use diplicolor engine paint to clear wheels or whatever.