Tail-Light Question

[SHO#7]

Ok, this is going to be a really stupid question, but I have found no answers to my question anywhere else.

I just bought a 96 SHO. It is toreador (sp?) red. I personally do not care for the amber turn signals on the 96-97 Taurus, and would like to change it to the all red signal, like on my 98. However, my question is this.

I have a 98 SLO that I can steal the lights from, but the outer ring of the tail light is brown. On my 98 SHO it is black. I tried to buy some 98/99 tail lights from Ebay but all everyone had were lights with a brown outer ring. And I do not have the car here yet, so I can not verify that 96-97's do/don't have a black outer ring around the light even with a non-black SHO.

I guess I am saying that I want red turn-signals, but do not want to buy them if my brown ringed SLO ones will work. So, if someone who has a 96-97 SHO would let me know the color of the outer ring of their tail light, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for reading. I hope I did not give anyone a headache trying to read this.

 

[robb65]

You know what i just painted mine and I really didn pay that much attention to it and my SHO is black. Dang, I want to say the outer ring was a faint brownish color but I don't want to steer you wrong. But I was going to ask if you considered masking the lens and just paint the outer ring black on the lights you already have?

Either way good luck.

 

[SHO#7]

I would rather buy the correct thing. I want the 96 to look stock. Like a stock 98 that is.

I do not want to paint them. I used Nightshades on my 98. That turned out nice. Ever since I saw Mike Holnuts on his Ex-SHO way back when. I decided to do it to mine.

 

[99V8SHO]

Mine have a light brown ring.

 

[mcgilles]

I do believe that there is no difference between the SHO and SLO for the taillight assemblies themselves. now the light bar in between the tail lights is differenct the SHO's is slightly different shaped and is painted body color. where as the SLO's is unpainted browish plastic. but the tail lights are no different. swap over the tail lights you have. I would highly recommend painting them to make them look better, its a subtile thing, but it looks good. if you want to do a bit of extra wiring and work, you can greatly improve the looks of them by extending the brake and running lights into the extra lenses. I did that to mine and I still can't get over how much better it looks. I did a write up on it, its on my web site (I think!) let me know if you want a link...

 

[mholhut]

I had some leftover paint from when I had my old '96 painted, before I sold it. I had a set of all red tail lights that I got from Kirk, so I taped off the all the lense areas and sprayed the brown plastic portions ebony satin. Never made it onto the car as Kirk needed them for another project. Just tape them and spray them. Paint from www.paintscratch.com is relatively inexpensive.

 

[2 4shofast]

I do believe that there is no difference between the SHO and SLO for the taillight assemblies themselves. now the light bar in between the tail lights is differenct the SHO's is slightly different shaped and is painted body color. where as the SLO's is unpainted browish plastic. but the tail lights are no different. swap over the tail lights you have. I would highly recommend painting them to make them look better, its a subtile thing, but it looks good. if you want to do a bit of extra wiring and work, you can greatly improve the looks of them by extending the brake and running lights into the extra lenses. I did that to mine and I still can't get over how much better it looks. I did a write up on it, its on my web site (I think!) let me know if you want a link...

I would like the link!

 

[mcgilles]

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/migilles/taillights.html

there you go, you'll need an extra set of the 3 pin bulb sockets to do this, since I bought my 99 tail lights on ebay, I asked the seller to include the bulbs sockets, so I'd have an extra set of what I needed same exact thing that was used on the SLO. to they are all over the place. you'll just have to find an extra set. its worth it though, I really like the way this looks!

it would also be very easy to convert this over so that both lights will flash with the turn signals, including the brake light on whichever side the signal is on. but I decided that I like it this way better, with the dedicated brake light and the separate turn signal. after completing this mod, both lights will turn on with the parking/head lights, and both will light up bright with the brakes, and just as with the amber/red tail light modification, the turns signals will still be functional. let me know if anything on there isn't clear. good luck!

 

[SHO#7]

Thanks for the replys so far. However, I realize that the center ( trunk ) section is going to be body color. On a SLO it is a dark brown. However, my 98 which is black. Has black rings around the red on red turn lights. I just figured that it was how they came on the SHO. I never thought any different. I know that they have never been replaced. Is it only a 98 Black SHO thing to have the black ring around the light. Is everyone else's brown?

 

[SHOGrabber]

SHO#7 Is it only a 98 Black SHO thing to have the black ring around the light. Is everyone else's brown?

NO!!!
At first when I read this I thought you was talkin about the rubber gasket around them. But right when I hit reply, I realized(I think?) you are talkin about the area in between the gasket and the part that lights up.
Well mine is a "99" SF and has been painted over for a while. But I'm positive they were black in that area.

 

[mcgilles]

right, you mean the area between the colored lenses and the rubber gasket. that area is unpainted in both SHO and SLO. to try to clarify, they are supposed to be black. but they don't really stay that way. they usually look much more black at first, and the sun has their way with them, so older lights show their true color a bit more. if you don't have anyting to compare it to, you could call it black. but take a close look, its rather brownish. it really shows up on my ES, put something that is actually black next to that area of the tail light and you will see what I mean. I guess saying that its brown is kind of misleading, lets say is mostly black, but compared to actual black paint, it is much more brownish. I hardly noticed it on my white 96 even, they look black on that car, then take a close look up on a black car, and you can easily see the difference.

 

[SHO#7]

right, you mean the area between the colored lenses and the rubber gasket. that area is unpainted in both SHO and SLO. to try to clarify, they are supposed to be black. but they don't really stay that way. they usually look much more black at first, and the sun has their way with them, so older lights show their true color a bit more. if you don't have anyting to compare it to, you could call it black. but take a close look, its rather brownish. it really shows up on my ES, put something that is actually black next to that area of the tail light and you will see what I mean. I guess saying that its brown is kind of misleading, lets say is mostly black, but compared to actual black paint, it is much more brownish. I hardly noticed it on my white 96 even, they look black on that car, then take a close look up on a black car, and you can easily see the difference.

I disagree. I have had my 98 since she was new. And it is Black. I have also remember the difference when shopping in the lot. All SLO's were brown.

I guess I will just have to wait until I get the car. The reason for this whole post is that, I do not want to have the brown trim on the trunk ( between the reflector and reverse lamp ) and black around the tail/turn light.

I just figured the black trim was SHO specific. I guess I now know that this is not true.

 

[99V8SHO]

right, you mean the area between the colored lenses and the rubber gasket. that area is unpainted in both SHO and SLO. to try to clarify, they are supposed to be black. but they don't really stay that way. they usually look much more black at first, and the sun has their way with them, so older lights show their true color a bit more. if you don't have anyting to compare it to, you could call it black. but take a close look, its rather brownish. it really shows up on my ES, put something that is actually black next to that area of the tail light and you will see what I mean. I guess saying that its brown is kind of misleading, lets say is mostly black, but compared to actual black paint, it is much more brownish. I hardly noticed it on my white 96 even, they look black on that car, then take a close look up on a black car, and you can easily see the difference.

I just recently had that part on my trunk repainted as it was getting oxidized BADLY. Seeing that next to my actual taillights, they definately look brown on the outside. And I am 100% sure that those taillights came with the car.

 

[99V8SHO]

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/migilles/taillights.html

Damn, that looks really good, I am very impressed. I just wish I was more electrically inclined...

 

[SHOZ123]

If you want to do nearly the same thing but no extra tail lamps you can easily do it with one wire from the switched brake light wire to the unused #9 terminal.

This makes the turn signals work as break lights but also retains the turn signal functionality.