Appearance & Detailing Interior & Exterior Appearance Modifications

Third Brake light Stencil How To

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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 07:14 PM
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Default Third Brake light Stencil How To

So I just finished making my own "LS1" brake light design after the vinyl overlay i ordered did not fit correctly.

This is what you need:

3-4" tape

red scotch brite pad, or sandpaper. (the grit doesn't matter too much, put the finer it is the better the finished appearance will be)

Duplicolor trim paint (in rattle can) or any rattle can that will go straight on plastic

Clear coat in rattle can (i used krylon fusion clear)

a computer and printer

razer blade

Step 1:
print off a letter series such as "ls1" in a font you like, i used courier, 140 pt, bold and italics and it fit perfect.

Step 2:
sand the brake light, i took mine off of the car for ease. after sanding wipe it clean! make sure there is no dust.

Step 3:
Tape the brake light off and then line up and tape the font like so:
Third Brake light Stencil How To-2wyorl.jpg

Step 4:
start cutting the letters out with the razer blade as above.

Step 5:
Peel all tape off besides the letters like so:
Third Brake light Stencil How To-h8ibal.jpg

Step 6:
Start spraying with light even coats, waiting about 5-10 minutes between each coat. Spray until the light is covered well. This took me 5 light coats.
Third Brake light Stencil How To-gidxsl.jpg

Step 7:
Pull off the tape CAREFULLY after waiting 10-15 min after the last coat.

Step 8:
Apply the clear coat the same way you did the black. it will turn out as so:
Third Brake light Stencil How To-vo5ool.jpg

Step 9:
Install after waiting 30 min for the clear to fully dry!
Third Brake light Stencil How To-l7b4tl.jpg
enjoy!
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 09:10 PM
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Interesting. You could have used plastic detail tape to make those lines much smoother.
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 09:27 PM
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Nice. I may have to do this, thank you. I bought a custom brake light vinyl off eBay for pretty cheap and it fit good, but it hasnt even been a yr yet and the vinyls already cracking and looking bad. plus they only had like 3 designs to pick from, and none of them said ls1 which i would of loved to have. can we get some better pics of it installed from farther way?
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 09:39 PM
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Looks good but I personally isn't into stuff like that. I mean I like how you took and made out this How-To but just isn't my taste.
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 09:52 PM
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Thats a great DIY idea! I would like to see pics from a distance.
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Old Dec 28, 2010 | 01:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Snake_Skinner
Nice. I may have to do this, thank you. I bought a custom brake light vinyl off eBay for pretty cheap and it fit good, but it hasnt even been a yr yet and the vinyls already cracking and looking bad. plus they only had like 3 designs to pick from, and none of them said ls1 which i would of loved to have. can we get some better pics of it installed from farther way?
Thank you!

Sorry for the quality, it looks perfect in person but my cellphone camera is hard to focus and my other camera is dead. I will charge it tonight and post a picture tomorrow!
as requested:
Third Brake light Stencil How To-ptteil.jpg
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Old Dec 28, 2010 | 01:07 AM
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Originally Posted by Ls1CamaroGuy87
Interesting. You could have used plastic detail tape to make those lines much smoother.
the lines turned out pretty good, but my camera had a hard time focusing. I will use a better camera tomorrow and take some pictures.
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Old Dec 28, 2010 | 03:49 PM
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Default New pictures!!!!

Got my camera and here are some better pictures!

https://i.imgur.com/Q6i34.jpg
Third Brake light Stencil How To-q6i34l.jpg

http://imgur.com/knun6
Third Brake light Stencil How To-knun6l.jpg

http://imgur.com/hKlPc
Third Brake light Stencil How To-hklpcl.jpg

Last edited by dontbl1nk; Dec 28, 2010 at 05:42 PM.
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Old Dec 28, 2010 | 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by transam5.7lt1
Thats a great DIY idea! I would like to see pics from a distance.
thank you! i posted some links, here you go:

https://i.imgur.com/Q6i34.jpg

http://imgur.com/knun6

http://imgur.com/hKlPc
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Old Dec 28, 2010 | 04:34 PM
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Not too sure if this is my taste either, Ive thought about doing this before with FTP on it but than when i get pulled over...yeah lol. Nice how-to thou!
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Old Dec 28, 2010 | 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted by The Mighty Texan
Not too sure if this is my taste either, Ive thought about doing this before with FTP on it but than when i get pulled over...yeah lol. Nice how-to thou!
haha! thank you :]
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Old Dec 29, 2010 | 11:19 AM
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I did this to a buddys dodge neon and truthfully it looked a lil too cheap for me but i did it with my wifes crickcut thing she has for scrapbooking and it turned out the letters great in a peice of window tint and worked great for the few weeks he had the car then he blew it up when i got my z28
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 02:26 AM
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neat idea, not for me but very original. great how-to thread!
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 04:53 AM
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Nicely done!
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 08:57 AM
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I think it's a good idea but a straighter edged stencil would look better IMO.
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 10:22 AM
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cool idea, nice writeup Idk if its my taste but cool idea nonetheless
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Old May 5, 2011 | 10:22 PM
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Originally Posted by cfallsguy
I think it's a good idea but a straighter edged stencil would look better IMO.
It has sharp lines in person, the way the camera was focusing on the light gave it that weird look though.
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Old May 5, 2011 | 10:25 PM
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not too shabby. good job
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Old May 6, 2011 | 01:09 AM
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not to bad! i like it
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Old May 6, 2011 | 09:35 AM
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I've done this on my last two fbodies... But I got a lot more detailed.

I've been pulled over on many occasions through the years and nothing was ever said by DPS about it. Also I've never had any trouble getting it inspected because of this mod either. I'll try and post a picture up of the one on my TA before it goes to the shop next week.
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