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You don't need to take it apart. There are several methods that can be found in this thread. Lots use a syringe or something to squirt paint in there then tilt it around to make it run and spread itself out. Mine wouldn't run too much so I added a few drops of water to the bottle of paint, shook it up, and then squirted it in. It ran a bit and I touched it up with the thinnest brush I could find.
It's really just trial and error. Everyone has different results. Just read through some of the posts here and you'll be good.
Awesome thanks a lot! I will go buy one of those syringes today.
Just did mine today and used puffy paint from walmart. It's in the craft section and is a fabric paint but says it will adhere to any surface. It has a squeeze bottle with applicator tip it's not as good as a syringe I'm sure but it fits in there pretty good. I just shot a bunch of it down in there and used a brush to push it all down in the crevasses. Its not an outdoor kinda paint so I went over all of it with a heavy bead of black sealant from advance. The sealant is a shade darker than the paint but unless you get right up on it it isn't noticeable. The paint is runny enough to get down into the tight spot but still thick enough you can stand the light up on its side without it running all over the place.
Just thought I'd throw out another option. Online it says 97 cents but I think in the store I paid 2 bucks for it.
Thank you to everyone on here who posted their advice on doing this simple mod! I broke down and did this last weekend and could not be happier with the results.
I used a can of plastidip (not spray but open top can) and a small hobby grade paintbrush. After 20 minutes of hating this project I remembered the advice to use a syringe. Grabbed an extra baby medicine syringe from my bathroom and did both lights in the next 20 minutes.
There are still a few spots I want to redo as when I get close I can see a tiny spot that didn't set right, but from 2' or more they look perfect to me. Sadly I forgot to take before pictures, so you only get the after shot.
Thanks again for the encouragement!
(FYI - the top of the light is black, just like the rest of the edges. It only appears clear as the light was reflecting just right)
Nice job, Jake, looks good. Welcome to the club lol. I have a spot or two I should touch up as well, but I just don't care enough... like you said, can't see it unless you're looking for it and your face is right up against it. That mentality has made me put it off all of last summer and fall, probably next spring, summer, and fall as well lol.
Got my tails painted this weekend, probably still want to upgrade to the FX4 tails some day, but these are a step closer and toned down now.
I'll say this - if you get the right tools this is a very easy task. I did NOT use a brush at all, and I used a single coat that covered well. Thanks to many of you that tried different things before me - I got 3 items that made this very easy. I used the Finesse pinstripe paint suggested by mbullock and I bought two items from Amazon - others in this thread had used these two tools, sorry I can find the exact post to thank them.
Bottom line I used the syringe to fill the small bottle with the metal tip on it - I never used a brush once. I applied the paint heavily and just let it run down into the groove. Also - I used the tip to go back and even paint the outer edge that is about 1/16" wide - did it all with the bottle and tip.
The bottle comes with 4 size tips - use the smallest one (green color - you can see it in the background of the first pic) and you can very easily even get in the tight groove on the tail gate side of the light. I used the pink one for the rest of the light as it put out a little more paint.
The only key here is just take your time - use enough to let the paint run down into the groove and cover completely and if you get a bit too much - just tilt the light so it can run on down the groove and then pick back up again.
This was a much heavier application than with a brush so it took about 24 hours to completely dry - but that paint does a great job of covering - you won't need to worry about 2 coats or anything else behind it. This did a great job.
One question for all you guys doing this. Are you doing any prep to the grove before painting? Since these are coming off the truck I am assuming there will be some dirt in this groove, is it worth trying to clean or wash it out first and letting it dry or don't worry about it and just paint?
I used qtips and some alcohol - could barely get the qtips in some of the places - so didn't do a perfect job of cleaning, but did a little to say the least.
Alright, I made it through this whole thread. Something that would be helpful for me (and maybe others?) is for those of you that did this, post up what paint you used, how many months ago and how it's holding up now.
I did see a couple of updates, but for as many people that did this it seems like there should have been more than just a few.
02-05-2016, 01:34 PM
