So I recently bought a 2001 Cobra and the drivers side taillight had a LOT of moisture in it. I took the taillight off already and dried the moisture out. The moisture caused the chrome paint on the inside of the light to turn black. My idea was to take the housing from a regular GT and pop the lense off and then put my amber lense on. I know that I would need to modify where the amber light is to put the turn light in. Has anyone ever done this? If so is there a tutorial or something that I could use for reference?
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GT to Amber taillight conversion?
- Thread starter SVT_Colin_01
- Start date
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You're in luck. I've actually done this. There's 2 ways to do it. The first one I don't suggest, because if you ever want old 99/01 Tail lights back, it'll be a hell of a refit. The first route entails getting a GT flasher relay, then you have to rewire the pigtails. I don't suggest this route, it's imo, ruining the uniqueness of our cars.
The second option is the one I chose. I purchased a pair of used GT tail lights. Wet sanded them. Fully cleaned them up. I chose to VHT Nightshades them after. So after 3 coats, I wet sanded the VH free of orange peel, then you would use, a compound to polish them nice and shiny. You can clear coat, I used a spray can clear coat for automotive paint. After I layer the 3 layers of VHT Nightshades, I wet sanded the last layer, then sprayed on the clear coat. I used about 3-4 layers of clear. Then wet sanded again, then used a compound and polished the clear coat shiny, to an automotive mirror like finish. After you decided if you want to smoke them, or leave them as is, here's the final step.
GT conversion time. On the back side of the tails, where your 5th pigtail blinker bulb will go in, look on the GT taillights. There's a spot with a little notch sticking up and a circle. I used blue masking take, placed it on my old cobra tail light, cut it out, placed it on the GT lense in the premade spot where the Cobra taillights already has, an already drilled out and hole for the Amber bulb to go. Drill that out using a 3/4" drill bit. I used a wood drill bit. (Go slow and steady, plastic will melt, but that won't matter, just get the giant hole drilled) After I drilled the larger hole, using your blue tape as a rough guide, I drilled smaller tiny holes in the section. I cut them out, after I drilled them. Then, I used a a half oval file, to match the circle sections up. Stopping occasion, to bring the taillight to the car, to match the bulb housing and see how much more needs to be filed off. Do this for both sides. Each side took me roughly an hour, give or take. Once I was finished, they installed just like on the cobra taillight. It shares the same housing as the upper bulb, but works perfectly. I have pictures, but don't have phootbucket to upload them. I can email the photos to you if need be. This method is best imho, so you can swap taillights without issues ever. Once you're done drilling, they fit snug, blow the taillights out with either an air gun, (I have a compressor) or use your mouth. Or hell, take them to a gas station and use their air Chuck.
Tools needed:
- Ratchet
- 11 mm deep socket
- drill
- small drill bit
- 3/4" drill bit (wood drill bit for large holes)
- 1/2" drill bit to take off sections
- Dikes
- Half oval, metal file
Filing plastic is easy and fast with a metal file. Makes the filing cake work. You'll need patience, and checking the pigtail on the car after a bit of filing each time, after you start the drilling process.
It's worth noting, the 3 upper bulbs have a 3 point configuration, where as the blinker bulb, and reverse light, have a 2 point configuration. Good luck, questions, feel free to ask.
Those are your only 2 options though. Convert to GT with a relay, and rewiring your pigtails, or drill the holes on GT Taillights and plug and go.
The second option is the one I chose. I purchased a pair of used GT tail lights. Wet sanded them. Fully cleaned them up. I chose to VHT Nightshades them after. So after 3 coats, I wet sanded the VH free of orange peel, then you would use, a compound to polish them nice and shiny. You can clear coat, I used a spray can clear coat for automotive paint. After I layer the 3 layers of VHT Nightshades, I wet sanded the last layer, then sprayed on the clear coat. I used about 3-4 layers of clear. Then wet sanded again, then used a compound and polished the clear coat shiny, to an automotive mirror like finish. After you decided if you want to smoke them, or leave them as is, here's the final step.
GT conversion time. On the back side of the tails, where your 5th pigtail blinker bulb will go in, look on the GT taillights. There's a spot with a little notch sticking up and a circle. I used blue masking take, placed it on my old cobra tail light, cut it out, placed it on the GT lense in the premade spot where the Cobra taillights already has, an already drilled out and hole for the Amber bulb to go. Drill that out using a 3/4" drill bit. I used a wood drill bit. (Go slow and steady, plastic will melt, but that won't matter, just get the giant hole drilled) After I drilled the larger hole, using your blue tape as a rough guide, I drilled smaller tiny holes in the section. I cut them out, after I drilled them. Then, I used a a half oval file, to match the circle sections up. Stopping occasion, to bring the taillight to the car, to match the bulb housing and see how much more needs to be filed off. Do this for both sides. Each side took me roughly an hour, give or take. Once I was finished, they installed just like on the cobra taillight. It shares the same housing as the upper bulb, but works perfectly. I have pictures, but don't have phootbucket to upload them. I can email the photos to you if need be. This method is best imho, so you can swap taillights without issues ever. Once you're done drilling, they fit snug, blow the taillights out with either an air gun, (I have a compressor) or use your mouth. Or hell, take them to a gas station and use their air Chuck.
Tools needed:
- Ratchet
- 11 mm deep socket
- drill
- small drill bit
- 3/4" drill bit (wood drill bit for large holes)
- 1/2" drill bit to take off sections
- Dikes
- Half oval, metal file
Filing plastic is easy and fast with a metal file. Makes the filing cake work. You'll need patience, and checking the pigtail on the car after a bit of filing each time, after you start the drilling process.
It's worth noting, the 3 upper bulbs have a 3 point configuration, where as the blinker bulb, and reverse light, have a 2 point configuration. Good luck, questions, feel free to ask.
Those are your only 2 options though. Convert to GT with a relay, and rewiring your pigtails, or drill the holes on GT Taillights and plug and go.
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