couple more mods done... tint and wrap...

working my way through my list of mods and got a few more things done. 1. window tint 2. gloss black roof wrap 3. taillight tint.

was too dark to take good pictures of the window tint and roof wrap, but here are a few pix of the taillight wrap :rockon:

 

the tails were done with film. they can be off in minutes in case i ever decide to take them off. for now, i am liking them because they look more 'stock' or JDM because they are red and white; at the same time, they look different from any other prius. oh, and the rear turn signal bulb has a light spary of silver paint, so you don't see any orange with all the other prius running around in socal, i think that's a good thing

got the idea from bino, but didn't go as dark of a tint on the clear part.

may eventually paint the calipers after I get wheels and a drop. macmaster05.. did you ever get the lowering springs? what did you decide on? was reading through the forums and have decided what to do yet. will probably go with the eibachs.

here are a few more pix of the tails, the window tint and the black roof wrap. the roof wrap look pretty subtle because the car is dark gray, but i'm liking it more and more each time i see it:rockon:

 

lol.... yes, film. don't think i would want to make non-reversible mods to the car. i got the film from Metro Decals . 2ft of the "Red Out Film", 1ft of the "Light Smoke Lens Film" and a squeegy.

no a big fan of de-badged cars.. just IMO. will probably be painting the badges black and wrap the grill though. Also, it's quite a mess behind the license plate bracket (lots of scratches). Unfortunately, the license plate stays.

the fender gaps and the sucked-in wheels is definitely an eyesore. fortunately, lowering and new wheels/spacers are on the to-do list so they will be addressed

 

it is not super difficult to do, but i wouldn't call it easy either. i have done a couple of taillights before and it still took me over 4 hours.

you basically cut the film larger than the area. spray down the taillight and film with some soapy water. use a hair dryer and the squeegee to apply and conform the film to the taillight. then trim the film with a razor blade. each taillight has 3 pieces of film so there are a total of 7 pieces that needs to be done (including the top-mount stop light).

$80-$90 actually sounds very reasonable. if it where a single-piece for the taillight, then it may be a little expensive. however, for 7 pieces, it's actually pretty cheap.

for the red, you'll need 24" x 24". if you want to give it a try yourself, just order an extra foot or two and see how it goes. it's take a little practice but it is definitely doable. little air bubbles are unavoidable (at least for me). most will go away by themselves. for the larger bubbles, just use a needle to prick a hole in the bubble to let all the air/fluid out.

 

i bought one squeegee with the film and only got one squeegee, so I didn't get an extra one.

you cut the film larger than the area you want to cover. once applied on to the taillight, you then use a razor blade to trim it to size/shape. there is no way to cut it to shape first as the surface is curved.

do the top and bottom red parts first then do the middle smoke piece. the middle piece will overlap the top and bottom pieces. use a razor blade to trim the middle piece where it overlaps. with a steady hand, it's not that hard to get it perfectly even.

as for the 3rd brake light, it's up to you. i did mine so it looks uniform.

here is what my top piece looked like before i trimmed it:



and a little for 3m carbon (Di-NOC) on the car

 

It's a lot easier with the lights off the car. It's just 2 nuts holding the taillight in place: took me less than 5 minutes to get them off.