Redone tails and matte mirrors

[rcboy514]

Decided to redo my tails last night since the VHT was fading after about 2 years and this time I used clear on top so I could polish them later and get more of a gloss finish. Also some vinyl I ordred came in so I went ahead and wrapped my side mirrors in matte black. :-)


Tails..




not polished yet..



Mirrors...I think they accent the roof really well

[AlexN09]

Nice job man. Since you've done your tails twice now, do you have any advice for spraying them? I am trying to achieve more of a 3/10 look, do you think thats possible with spray? I would love to fade a 6/10 tint to a 3/10 tint from the corners into the actually light section and of course mask off the reverse lights. Do you think that this is possible? and could you also tell me your source for exterior vinyl? I want to do my roof, maybe mirrors and rear diffuser in matt and gloss black.

Looks great btw

[rcboy514]

I guess it's possible, but with the VHT stuff it tends to look speckled close up if you don't have enough coats. I'm not sure the exact # of coats on mine currently. When I first did them I think I did 5, but last night I sanded them down with some 1000 grit and applied two coats of tint and 3 coats of clear. They were noticeably faded before i painted them, but there was still tint on them when i re-painted.

I would suggest just getting some of bats 3/10 vinyl and then cutting out the reverse light circle, but you don't need to be too worried about not seeing the brake lights unless your state is really strict. Mine look like the pictures in person and you can still see the brake lights easily on a sunny day.

as far as vinyl the cheapest place I've found is vinyldecals.com I got a 12"x24" sheet for $10 and that was enough to do both mirrors and I still had a cut off some extra.

also as a tip to anyone painting their tails, if you are going to leave the reverse area clear you can use the inner diameter of a roll of duct tape as a stencil to cut out a piece of material to cover the light while you paint. It's like the perfect diameter.

[AlexN09]

Thanks for the tip, I could see how the tint spray would be speckled unless applied completely. Thanks for the tips

[rcboy514]

no problem bro, and to be honest the 6/10 overlay isn't that dark. I used bat's gtr style 6/10 before I decided to paint and since they are way more transparent than paint I don't think you should have lighting issues.

here is a pic from way back when..








but then again the gtr style isn't tinted over the brake light so those pics may not help at all lol

[IBCoupe]

Not sure I like the mirrors, but you did a bang up job on them.

[rcboy514]

thanks! It was actually really easy to work with.

[AlexN09]

I'm actually not worried about brake light visibility at all, I was just going for a certain color that will look good with my paint color. I have that bluish grey (Ocean Grey) and very dark lights are really overkill and don't look good on my paint imo. I photoshopped the look that I want and I think I can achieve it with paint, not sure how to test though.

[rcboy514]

oh gotcha, well there really isn't a way to test out paint without doing it. With paint you will never be able to go back to normal, but with vinyl you will. Either way, or you could pick up an extra set of tails in case you ever want to go back to normal and just experiment with your current ones.

[Blackmobile]

you can go back to normal with paint, just wetsand the paint off. it's a real PIA, but it's been done

[rcboy514]

but then wouldn't you need to clear coat it and polish also? The lens will be dull if you just remove it.

[mattyfo0z]

How hard was it to apply those vinyls from BlueBat? Did you have to remove them from the car or just install while the lights were still attached? Thinking about getting me some....

[AlexN09]

Yeah paint can be removed pretty easily actually if you have the right tools. I've refinished several headlights