B4 corner marker project

I recently lost a lens, somewhere on the road. After I went through my spares, I found a decent set that needed to be resealed. The lenses were still attached, but I could see dirt and grime making its way into the edges. Cleaned them up with a nylon brush and degreaser and they came out pretty nice.






Scuffed up the edges with a gray Scotch Brite, taped off the lenses, ran a line of "fine line" and standard tape, leaving me about 1/8" of lens and housing exposed. Ran a small bead of clear silicone, tooled it smooth then removed the tape leaving a nice straight line of sealant. Tossed them in the cook box for an hour to cure.






These aren't perfect and I had some time to kill, so I started screwing around. I decided to spray these 100% orange, getting rid on the goofy 2 tone. Scuffed up the lenses and put a few coats of orange just on the perimeter. Watching paint dry is pretty boring, so I started drunking...








After about 4 or 5 perimeter coats, I sprayed the entire lens, blending it out. I think think I did 3 med heavy coats. I ran out of paint on the last coat, after I finished one of them. You can see difference, between the 2. At this point, I was pretty drink, so I packed it in for the night.




Ran to the store today, for another can of orange, came home, scuffed up the remaining lens and applied the last coat.

I lost my recoat window for the clear, so I sprayed a clear side marker. I'll let it cure for a day or so and clear it, to see if it crazes.

-Todd

Nice project. I'd be interested to see if the paint chips off at all.

I swapped lenses with some clear corner markers and used yellow bulbs, for that European look. I think they came out well but the silicone caused the inside of the lens to fog due to the offgassing, so a different adhesive with lower VOC's is needed.

Only time will tell, but I think they'll be fine. Other people who sprayed them said they still looked good after a year, and I don't think they cleared them.

Scuffed up the test side marker and sprayed 2 medium wet coats of clear on one area. Came out decent, but with a little orange peel.




Went heavier on the corner markers and it laid it nicely. Shame these markers have some cracking, but when on the car, I doubt anyone will be inspecting them.

They'll cure for a few days and I'll take pics, when mounted.

-Todd

The sidemarkers on the '98 B5 were orange from the factory. I'm running them on both my B4's.

I've got a set of them on my wagon, but I think I bought them new. I've never come across them in a JY. I find the clear ones all the time.

I wasn't planning on using the test piece, but I may strip and respray it, since I have the paint.

-Todd

I'm wondering if the coats of paint and clearcoat may give it a little extra strength from getting cracks that they so easily seem to get.....

Installed them today.








Not sure how I feel about it, but maybe it just needs to grow on me. Thinking it'd look better if everything in the bumper were orange, too....

-Todd

I think it looks fine, pretty much how the NA import B3 cars looked.

steve

I also like them. What do they look like after dark?

They're growing on me.

They're definitely not as bright as if they weren't sprayed, but they're definitely bright enough. I'll see if I can get a decent shot of them, but night shots are always not true to life.

I'll likely spray a set of dummies. I think it'd look better, with more orange. May pull the fogs... I never use them.

-Todd

Nice write up. If you notice the paint chipping in the future, various places online sell the optically clear paint protection film in bulk; which definitely would keep them looking new for a while.

I was thinking the same thing. I run 3M film on the e-codes and on the fog lights, on both cars, although I think one of the fogs is cracked...

Anywho, here are pics taken at 5:30 EST. the corners are plenty bright, although I'm running LEDs in them. 5x5050 SMD drop ins, with 3 emitters on each chip.

-Todd

nice job...I have a set of corners I've been waiting to put on. Always thought the 2 tone was kinda strange.

the side fender markers...are all the cars wired for them? I've thought about installing some in place of the emblem

No prewiring on my 96 or 97.

Found a clean set of bumper dummies. They're next.

-Todd

bumper dummies?

The panel next to the turns, if your car doesn't have fog lights.

-Todd

Not a bad look. Some of us have gone all clear, but that gets rid of the retroreflector.

Time to move forward with this. The corners still look fine, with no dulling, failing paint, etc.

Found the bumper dummies in the classifieds roughly 8 months ago. Seller said they were in great shape and he wasn't kidding. They're near perfect!

Everything got cleaned and scuffed with a gray pad.




Needed to get another can of orange paint and more silicone. Mine was dried up.




Used the same tape method and sealed the edges. The dummies will need to get done in 2 stages.




-Todd

I lost count, but I believe I sprayed six coats. I stopped when it looked like they matched the corner markers.




They're now cooking in the wagon. I'll scuff them up and spray the clear in a few days.

-Todd

Wet scuffed the lenses. The turns have some wear that can be seen.




First coat of clear was was laid medium and the second coat was laid medium heavy, with about a 50-75% overlap. Laid out very smoothly with virtually no orange peel.




The turns have obvious divots, that the clear wouldn't fill. They wouldn't show up in pics. I'm less than 2' from them, so I doubt they'll be noticed on the car.

I have a feeling these will get blasted with road debris. I may let them cure for a few weeks then cover them with 3M film.

-Todd

My vote is to add the laminate film.

I added 3M film to all front lenses approx 8 years ago and they worked flawlessly to protect all lenses from chips etc. I had installed Hella e-codes at the time and wanted to protect my investment and the 3m film worked as advertised. The e-codes are still chip free and the the film is still clear after all this time.

I've had the film on my ecodes, fogs and dummies for years. Not too long after, I noticed one of the fogs had gotten a cracked lens, and I never turn them on.

I think the glass is just fragile on these.

-Todd

I like the amber treatment, especially on the marker lights and the park / turn lights.

I'd like to get a set of the amber turn signal lights for the B3V, unfortunately the NA park turns won't work with the European headlights, the mounting is completely different.

I should probably think about the film for the ecodes, I really don't want a stray rock to bust a lens.

Steve

You can't spray what you have?

-Todd

I recently found a 3 position headlight switch without fog lights. I never turn on the fogs, so the plan was to yank them.

I was finally ready to install my sprayed parts and complete the amber look, but I lost one of the corner markers, somewhere on the road... this was noticed Friday.

These corners are garbage... the clips on the rears were intact, when I installed them.

I've got to get a few rust bubbles taken care of on the front passenger door, so the new plan is to take a set of euro corners to the body shop and have them sprayed black.

Will revisit this later...

-Todd

Figured some electrical tape would give me an idea of what black would look like.






Not sure how I feel about it, but I was also on the fence about the amber and it grew on me. Opinions?

-Todd

I think I'm sticking with amber. Even if the corner is painted with the correct diamond black metallic, it's gonna look like a painted marker light.

I have a new set I'll prep and paint.

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

I think I'm sticking with amber. Even if the corner is painted with the correct diamond black metallic, it's gonna look like a painted marker light.

I have a new set I'll prep and paint.

-Todd

Click to expand...

I'm pro amber, I prefer that to any other option. I've seen painted / tinted markers on other cars, does nothing for me.

If I was ambitious and didn't mind dismantling the B3V I'd so the same thing to the clear park/turn lights on that car.

Steve

Not a lot of progress. Got another can of TS-73 and started prepping the corners. Started with a new set and did the same as before.




Scuffed with a gray pad, taped off and tooled some silicone into the edge. Tossed them in the back of the wagon to bake. Pics look the same as last time.

I supposed the next update will be of the parts installed.

-Todd

Since I got heckled by Steve, I had to get back on this....

I started making the dummy lights into function blinders a while back and didn't like how it was turning out. Patched in a piece from a broken dummy and it's barely noticeable from the front.

Added a support rib, made from scrap .125" ABS plastic. Heated, bent, sanded to fit, then CAed into place.




Started making some templates for protection film.






Soap, water, alcohol and the heat gun for application. Moisture needs to cook out... placed the parts back in the wagon.




I'm not going to cover the corner markers. They're not usually broken by road debris. I don't like the way the film doesn't lay flat over the raised letters on the other parts. I'm not going back to sand them smooth, and they're low enough that I won't notice it.

-Todd