[Jpar]

I got my 95 trans am a couple weeks ago and already looking for parts...
Found a lot of stuff on hot performance but I just couldn't see myself paying $899 for a set of tail lights. My passenger side one that's a pretty significant crack around the corner of it and a couple big fat chips out of the top... I looked on eBay just for the one light on the driver side but didn't really see anything that matched... I said what the heck and started looking on Craigslist last night and found this pair of 98 to 2002 set for 200 bucks...
There's put a few scratches that I'm hoping I can buy for polish out and one of the retaining posts is broken but I'm pretty sure I could repair that....

 

[Jpar]

I went the same route about 13-14 years ago. I got a great deal ($150) on a pair from a 98-02 car. They look great! 😊

Well I'm pretty sure my deal was just dumb luck. It was a little bit of a drive but not a super long one. I've went a couple hours for the parts that I wanted in the past... Sometimes a bit of a drive is a deterrent for people and then the price was so low I wasn't even sure it was true until I got there and got them...

 

[Jpar]

Well rats! It turns out my deal wasn't all that great after all..
Well they're both beautiful tail lights they're both for the right side! LOL...
Of course I called the guy just in case he gave me the wrong one but he played stupid and just said it was part of the package that he got and didn't notice it... Right.,
Hey that was a pun right LOL...
Oh well I'll survive...

 

[Jpar]

You know, I thought it looked like you might have had two right hand tail light assemblies in the picture, but I thought, "Nah, the other one is just upside down. No way he bought two of the same side." 😄

Just just to clarify I have three good right tail lights and one broken left one LOL...
I did order the blackout covers the night before and I was going to send those back but what I did was ordered a bunch of ultra bright LED lights for the back and I may just go ahead and use them..

 

[Jpar]

I had blackout covers on my tail lights before I found the replacement 98-02 lens assemblies. They looked really cool, but at the time I was driving the car pretty much every day and I wasn't so sure they were legal or even a good idea because they darkened the illumination of the bulbs. Now that the car is a registered "historical vehicle," I have highly considered getting another set of blackout covers just for the looks. The ones I had snapped on to the lens assembly - they didn't use any Velcro or anything like that. I believe they were made by Auto Vent Shade (AVS).

Yes they say AVS on them... I ordered $60 in LED light bulbs and if I'm not convinced that they are bright enough the next step would be some strategically placed holes in the covers..
Why they haven't came up with a set with small Firebirds laser cut into them I have no idea. I've seen Dodge ones with rams lasered into them..

 

[Jpar]

I know for me I'm not opposed to buffing them and I did buy some buffing compound for those two right hand 98 to 2002 lights..
They look pretty good...
My problem is my left one was broke in half like the far left side of the left tail end was broken off and a rotten job of glowing it back on was done. And at the top there's these two and a half inch long half Moon chips that look like they may have been glued back on.
So what I did today was installed all new LED lights and put the darker covers on which pretty much equalized everything. When I had one light with old bulbs and no cover it was the same brightness as LEDs with covers...

 

[Jpar]

After 27-1/2 years (bought it new) and with nothing more than an occasional touch up with the Meguiar's #17 clear plastic cleaner, followed by their #10 clear plastic polish. Better than new.

The linear theme really seems to complement the lines of the spoiler and bumper. Never even considered the honeycombs. The Formula didn’t get a decal on the center filler piece.

View attachment 233162

Those look really nice!..
I just inherited what I inherited so I'm going to have to work with what I have for the moment. After 9k on the car and another one and a half to get registered and all the small parts and service work poking out another $900 for tail lenses just staying in the cards..
I'll just keep my eyes open...

 

[Jpar]

This is what I ended up with...

 

[Jpar]

I did a few little strips of Velcro instead of two sided tape... And of course LED lights..
Question: why does every challenger and charger out there want to race me..??...
This is my going to work car not my race car... When I am driving my dual quad duster they don't even try it...

 

[Jpar]

Food for thought. Depending where you live the covers may be illegal. Many states address the covers by stating the distance over which the lights must be visible, some specifically stating “in sunlight”. Some states require that the reflector portion of the taillight be visible. Seven states do not allow covers or tinting at all.

The issue may not arise until someone rear ends your vehicle. A forensic engineer can make a good case for blaming the covers on your lights.

A decent summary of state requirements:

Are Tinted Tail Lights Legal: Your State-by-State Guide | Low Offset

Tinted tail lights are legal as long as they fall under the manded minimum visible range. Find everything you need to know about these laws in this guide.

low-offset.com

Thank you I read that as I was taking all this under consideration when I put them on. Maybe I should remind you here at this point I live in Portland Oregon LOL they got much bigger fish to fry here than my blacked out lenses...lol.. the last time I got in a wreck I was driving my wife Durango and a challenger ran a red light and t-boned me in the driver side sent me flying and the big old wrecked scene in the middle of the intersection and when a police officer finally came and I was standing on the curb he pulled up look through his passenger window passed if anybody was bleeding I said no and he said okay the wrecker will be here soon and took off.... Didn't check to see if the guy was drunk didn't get out of the car nothing. And of course his insurance tried to say that it was my fault LOL.. I was the second car in line leaving the green light...
I put two brand new LED lights in the brake light and I'm not going to block that one out...