JDM Style Tail Lights

[Noddle]

Hi,
I've been looking into making my own tails lights,
I know that they come up once in a while on Yahoo, but to be honest I can't be bothered, so I'm making my own.

Since I have not done molds before, I've started small.

I just poured the other half of the mold, so tomorrow I will know how it turned out.

Nigel

[esprist]

That is impressive! Can we see the finished pictures, too?

[Noddle]

Hi,

This is what I found this morning,

I think it turned out pretty good.

Tonight, if I have time, I'll test this with my clear resin.

Nigel

[Patcon]

What did you use for resin? How did you go about making molds? How did you locate the correct colors? Details please, very interesting. I had considered a similar effort to make me a set of JDM 240z taillights.
Thanks, Charles

[Mastadd240K]

Looks Great man, ive thought about trying this but TBH i dont have the skills or the Time.

Looks like yours has come together great!

[Noddle]

What did you use for resin? How did you go about making molds? How did you locate the correct colors? Details please, very interesting. I had considered a similar effort to make me a set of JDM 240z taillights.
Thanks, Charles

The part I'm making (above) will be clear ( reverse light ),
the other parts will be 'tinted red' for the brake light.
I'll be using this dye
http://www.barnes.com.au/catalog/pro...oducts_id=1567

this is the clear product
http://www.barnes.com.au/catalog/pro...oducts_id=1455

I'm not 100 percent sure how it will turn out, but I will see, also I'm not sure how the resin is going to handle the uv.

this exercise is not cheap once you add the costs together, but at the end of the day, I will have molds to make lots of copies, maybe there will be a small market to sell them.

atm I have spent a good $350ish

this includes a pressure pot, vacuum chamber and vacuum pump, mold martial, clear resin, dye, and other bits and pieces. the mold martial for the above mold cost $75ish by itself, but it was the 'good' stuff and should last forever, or till I'm dead.. :-)


these 2 pictures show the Aus delivered lights ( red centered brake light), against the JDM tail lights (red outer brake light )


Nigel

[Noddle]

Hi,

This may help others, this is what gave me the idea that I could do it myself.

http://www.alumilite.com/howtos/Tail...gEquipment.cfm

Nigel

[Flauski]

wow, thats awesome! Hope it works for you. A lot of people miss the fact that the outer red/orange light on OZ/NZ ones is actually raised. Im lucky I have sets of both, I'm sure I will cry if my JDM set was to get damaged! Can't wait to see your final result.

[Patcon]

Nigel,
Are you currently molding the interior lens? Will you make the exterior lens in another mold and combine the 2 pieces? How would you mold a 240z taillight where the colors all meet in nice straight lines? Do you mold 2 of the 3 pieces and then put the 2 completed pieces in the last mold and let the third part bond to the first 2 while in the pressure pot?
Charles

[Noddle]

Nigel,
Are you currently molding the interior lens? Will you make the exterior lens in another mold and combine the 2 pieces? How would you mold a 240z taillight where the colors all meet in nice straight lines? Do you mold 2 of the 3 pieces and then put the 2 completed pieces in the last mold and let the third part bond to the first 2 while in the pressure pot?
Charles

The 240K tails lights come apart, so I'll mold each piece separate, and screw then together, just like the oem parts.

To be honest I have no idea how the 'Z' lights are setup, maybe you could make the separate colours, then join them with a clear over the top as you said.

Nigel

[Torker Man]

I love this thread!!


Let me know if doing some kits to sell!!!

[Kuro]

In for installed pics!

[Noddle]

Hi,

I had some more free time and decided to test this with clear resin this afternoon.

When I finished, I could swear I smelt this stuff before, after 20 minutes or so it clicked, same smell as bog.

I will wait and see how it turns out tomorrow

Nigel

[Noddle]

Lesson for today,

make sure the resin is %100 set before de-molding,

and putting the mold back together, and warming it in the oven for 40 minutes does not fix the issue of stuffing it up...

Nigel

[Noddle]

This one is a lot better, but not good enough.

[fraz]

Looks ok looking at it on my phone? What aren't you happy with?

[Noddle]

Looks ok looking at it on my phone? What aren't you happy with?

It hasn't got a good smooth finish, I don't think I'm leaving it long enough to set, or not putting enough MEKP catalyst in it.

It's cold where I'm working on it ( about 10C ), the next one I'll put it in the oven for 30 -50 minute before I open it.

just to make sure we are talking about the same part, it's the clear center lens ( will be the reverse light )

Nigel

[Torker Man]

This isn't a bad read either!

Great stuff nigel.


http://www.alumilite.com/howtos/Tail...oEquipment.cfm

[Noddle]

Hi,

I'm getting a nice collection now,

but I not getting the results I want,

so I sent a email to the company that I been buying my stuff from, and it appears I'm using the wrong type of resin,

hopefully in the next week my order of "BJB rigid waterclear" will turn up.

Nigel

[s13drifter]

I think alot of orders will be going in once you are happy with the products? I hope your ready for that??haha well done sir, watching with intense interest, good on you for having a go!!!

Dan

[Noddle]

Thanks you for the encouragement.

Hopefully they will turn out good, if they do, I'll sell a few of them, I don't see a big market for them,

but since I need the mould to do mine, I can do some extras, so it should help some others.

Nigel

[khughes]

Nigel,

how easy do you think it would be to create a part from scratch using this method?

could you make a solid resin block, cut it in half then carve out the reverse of the mould?

Thinking towards the GT-R style outer rings, but i could also do with making a set of larger guage rings to fit the autometer guages i will be installing



could you also post some more details on the equipment you used (vaccum setup etc.)

thanks

[Noddle]

Kent,

If I was to make something like this, I would make the part out of wood / bog / hard foam / etc., then take a mould of that.

I was looking at making the square cornered reflector ( the one on the bumper bar ), but I don't know how to get the chrome finish, I assume these have a chrome finish on the out side ( It's a bit hard to see with your photos, and the ones I have I cant see it either)

When I get some more time, I'll take some photos of my gear for you.

Nigel

[Noddle]

This is my gear,

a $10 pressure cooker, a square 10 mm thick flexi glass (I was told it's the stuff they use in excavators to stop the trees getting the driver)
a vacuum pump, vacuum gauge,

this is the main gear I use, also I can pressurize the vessel if I need to.

also I wrote some code to work out the measurement of my resin, sine it's mixed 100 : 88 parts

Nigel

[Noddle]

I have made some progress into making the center light,

it turned out pretty good I think.

also started on one half of the mould for the inner tail / break light.

Nigel

[Noddle]

Some more pictures

[Noddle]

I'm one step close to getting my JDM style tail lights,

I'll do some more on the inner brake / tail light tomorrow if I get a chance.

Nigel

[Torker Man]

Bitchin work on this one..Your patience is awesome!

[Noddle]

A little more progress,

the mould martial I used this time is a little more flexible than the stuff I used for the reverse light, so I decided to add a hard backing, made out of resin to stop it from deforming once it's finished.

once this drys, I'll work on the other half

[s13drifter]

Ah very good stuff. Thanks for putting in on this Nigel. Cant wait to see some red!!!

[Noddle]

.... so I decided to add a hard backing, made out of resin to stop it from deforming once it's finished.....

Small problem, the resin once hardened, shrank about 4mm across, this deformed the RTV mould, it was not sitting flat,

I'll make a different backing, and see if that fixes the issue..

live and learn...

Nigel

[Noddle]

A little more progress,

don't forget to use a release agent between the two halves, I have some silicon car stuff, it's used to makes plastic shiny. it worked ok on the other mould I made.

Nigel

[Noddle]

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.....

[Torker Man]

so you mixed the dye by eye?

Can't wait to see results!

Best off luck mate.

[Noddle]

so you mixed the dye by eye?

Can't wait to see results!

Best off luck mate.

Yes, but I did measure it, so I can make them the same

Nigel

[s13drifter]

ohhh Im on the edge of my seat!

[Norcal510]

looks great. Cant wait to see the red

[Noddle]

What's the saying,

Measure twice, cut once...

also you will note that the 'red' is not dark enough

done the outer light now as well

Nigel

[Mastadd240K]

Bloody hell!

its getting close!

Awesome work mate!

[Noddle]

something like this ?

This is using the 'cheap' resin, so I can work out the colour (how many drops of red dye to use per 100ml of resin)

[Mastadd240K]

which one is the original one?

[Noddle]

which one is the original one?

the top one is the original

[SHM17Y]

looking real good. looks to me as if the replica is darker? is that right? i personally prefer the colour of the bottom one
is the red on the 'GTR' tail light darker then the aus delivered ones?
cheers

[Noddle]

looking real good. looks to me as if the replica is darker? is that right? i personally prefer the colour of the bottom one
is the red on the 'GTR' tail light darker then the aus delivered ones?
cheers

They look pretty much the same, in the picture the light is behind the top light, that why it looks lighter

[s13drifter]

Awesome work man. Congrats!!!

So what were you account details to place an order???hahah

Looking forward to seeing them in the garnish!!! Great work!!!

[Mastadd240K]

Unless the original one is new, Its going to look Faded anyway

[cataloney]

good work

[uras1]

you reckon you could do the little reflector in the rear bar?

[Noddle]

you reckon you could do the little reflector in the rear bar?

The Round or Square one ?

It looks like it has a backing on the lens itself, so I'm not sure whats in between them, it may have reflective material or something,

Can I make them ? probably not.

I don't want to destroy the ones I have to see how it works.

Nigel

[uras1]

square ome, i will have to check to so if its reflective

[Noddle]

... :-)

[ovenfood]

thats awsum looks like all you need is a polish

[Noddle]

A little more progress

[khughes]

I bow down to your awesomeness! that is so good!

[Mastadd240K]

I know this gets thrown around alot on the internet

But that is EPIC!

[KID-K]

very sexy! Repo headquarters........

[Noddle]

Finished.....


I found that the mold of the outer tail light I took, was missing a 'step', I did not find this till I tried to fit the outer 'chrome ring'.

When I compared this to the original lens, I saw the small difference, I had to pack spacers to the mounting point of the chrome ring, about 3-4 mm worth,

from the outside you would not notice it.

I'll have to talk to my brother and put my original hand made lens in his lathe and cut a 'step', and make another mold of it.

but, other than that, I'm very happy

Nigel

[Mastadd240K]

That is so fantastic, Im really really impressed with your handy work!

you should be really happy with yourself!

[s13drifter]

Unreal mate well done.

So when id the production run???haha

[Noddle]

Hi,

I'll make a change in the outer lens mold, and make 1 set, and see how they come out, (it may take a month)

I'm not sure on how much I should ask for a 'set', but I need to figure out what they cost me in time a martial.

but I have seen originals go for, mid $600

Nigel

[ovenfood]

freaken awsum

[Noddle]

Hi,

If some one has a original (JDM assembly), could they have a look at the out lens please, and see if it has this 'step' ( see picture ),

if not, what size is the 'step' in the outer chrome ring,

I'm trying to figure out if the lens is different, or the chrome ring is different than the Aus 240K

if you have a nice clear picture, that would help as well.

Nigel

[Noddle]

Bump, can someone with original (JDM assembly) have a look , please ..

[ovenfood]

ill check tomorrow

[240kconvertible]

Put me down for a set please Noodle

[ovenfood]

[Noddle]

Thanks for this,

I will need to look at my setup to where the difference are,

but it looks like the outer lens sits lower in the housing

Nigel

[ovenfood]

if you need more picks ask :>

[N1GTR]

Wow, awesome work on doing this, so much patience involved!

Did you do the revised versions? Did they come out ok?

[Noddle]

To be honest, I have been a bit slack and have not done anymore besides cutting up a test lens and seeing how I can make it work,

I think the OEM lens is a different shape at the base, which would be hard to reproduce with out one.

I know what I have will work with a 4 door rear tail light panel, but with a 2 door ( the one with the larger outer surround ) need to be spaced to fit.

Nigel

[N1GTR]

Awesome, well I'm keen to see how you go with the "final edition" for the coupe ones

[s13drifter]

Any progress on this noodle?

[Noddle]

Any progress on this noodle?

I haven't really done anymore with this,

but one thing I have noticed is that the resin I had used is starting to degrade,

maybe I should have sealed it with a clear coat of paint.

even if had had some more, I would not feel confident enough to sell them sorry.

Nigel

[Adzmax]

Hey Noodle, I was thinking about the work you did here last night. I've got 2 of the number plate plastic lenses that I need to make replacements for.

Do you reckon I could use this method? What have you done with all your equipment?

[Noddle]

Hi,
I still have my gear,
I'm not sure how the resin would go with the heat from the light,

You could do this, with out any gear, and since its a small part. it should not be to hard

http://www.alumilite.com/howtos/Tail...gEquipment.cfm


Nigel

[Adzmax]

Awesome!! I'm goign to try that for sure. Stay tuned

[PLZ818]

I maybe a little hated for bringing up an old thread but did you make anymore sets f/s?

[uras1]

not to my knowledge

[PLZ818]

Bugger all is well ill have a crack at making a mould then cheers!

[Noddle]

No,

I was not happy with the resin I used to make the lens with,
it deteriorated in the weather.

Nigel

[PLZ818]

Ah bugger! Well if it would be ok could I purchase the moulds off of you if you still have them? Or should I make my own? Cheers for the response! - Owen