Tail Light spray tint

[stankydanky]

I am fixing to tint my tail lights with the spray on tint and I've seen the write up on here on how to do it but the write up never said anything about using sandpaper on the tail light prior to spraying in order to get off the gloss from the tail light.

On the different write ups I've seen for other cars it says by using wet sandpaper it'll have the spray stick better.

So is using sandpaper necessary to spray tint them?

Which route would yall take?
Modified by stankydanky at 1:34 PM 8/7/2009

[LongBeachCoupe]

You always sand before applying paint of any sort... AFAIK...

Check the interior/exterior section.

[Rob.Vegan]

I painted mine,

I used like 1500grit or something like that, nothing too rough but it's just used to scuff up the surface for paint adhesion.

Then do your paint and add clear coat if wanted and possibly buff out for a gloss.

[stankydanky]

I painted mine,

I used like 1500grit or something like that, nothing too rough but it's just used to scuff up the surface for paint adhesion.

Then do your paint and add clear coat if wanted and possibly buff out for a gloss.

how long have you had urs painted?

how has the paint held up so far?

[rabbitz]

i used a red tint spray for model toys (from a hobby shop)

no sanding at all, lasted for about a 6 months or so now and still no signs of chipping. i sprayed it with a clear coat though... so its a bit "frosted"

i can get some pics if u want

[stankydanky]

yeah if you can show me some pics that'll be great

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

Dont use the model tint spray itll suck after winter trust me i know.....if you wanna do it go out and buy some VHT NITE SHADES its PERFECT and it looks real clean

[stankydanky]

correct me if I'm wrong but you painted yours right? how long has it been and have you had any problems since like chipping or anything?

[rabbitz]

wait ill get it tomorrow... its night right now lol

also... ive had my tints on thru winter/rain (its canada.. horrible weather) and it seems alright.. but then again i have the clearcoat on top and i dont think many ppl would go for clearcoat

[Rob.Vegan]

Mines clear coated too, I've had mine painted for about a year now and they have held up wonderfully.The only marks I have on them is

Tails: Stuffing my bike into the trunk, the handlebars scratched them a littleHeads: Got in an accident and my fender got pushed up and cracked the paint a bit

But they are amazing and I don't plan on getting rid of them. My friend painted his but changed his mind about them so he took the paint off. He said it wasn't hard at all. Just poured some solution over it and it dripped off. Then sand and clear coat and his look as good as new (almost)

[stankydanky]

Mines clear coated too, I've had mine painted for about a year now and they have held up wonderfully.The only marks I have on them is

Tails: Stuffing my bike into the trunk, the handlebars scratched them a littleHeads: Got in an accident and my fender got pushed up and cracked the paint a bit

But they are amazing and I don't plan on getting rid of them. My friend painted his but changed his mind about them so he took the paint off. He said it wasn't hard at all. Just poured some solution over it and it dripped off. Then sand and clear coat and his look as good as new (almost)

was it hard to keep the reverse light from getting painted when you did yours?

I wanna keep mine because I talked to my friends dad who is a cop where I'm at and he said they usually don't care about the painted tails as long as its not completly black and having the reverse light clear would help insurance wise incase someone crashes into you from behind

[NJAltcoupe812]

I did the whole tail light with two coats, semi dark but still see the red. I also upgraded the bulb to a brighter one. They have held up perfectly over the months and washes. DO IT!!!!

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

I did the whole tail light with two coats, semi dark but still see the red. I also upgraded the bulb to a brighter one. They have held up perfectly over the months and washes. DO IT!!!!

sooooooo clean

and mine are ok kinda s***ty bc i didnt clear em or maybe i did i forget ima redo em soon just gotta go do it maybe this week if i feel like it

[6SpdAltima_Coupe]

damn it looks so nice..tht looks better than any ebay lights in my opinion..i think im gona try to copy you soon sorry lol

[NJAltcoupe812]

no thats cool just do a light coat, wait 10 min do another coat let dry for 1 hr then clear. If you want a haze look then don't wet sand. if you want a gloss wet sand then buff it out. I did 4 coats of a 2 part catalyst clear spray. It had a hardner in it

[stankydanky]

what brand of

I did the whole tail light with two coats, semi dark but still see the red. I also upgraded the bulb to a brighter one. They have held up perfectly over the months and washes. DO IT!!!!

What brand of spray tint and clear coat did you use?

Yours came out real nice

[Rob.Vegan]

Ya when I painted mine they were about this dark and I loved it, but then I went over it with another 2 or 3 coats to make it black.

It wasn't hard to leave the reverse light at all, I just got some blue painters tape and taped it off, I thought it would be a lot harder from it being a circle but it wasn't hard at all. Took about 5 minutes to tape off both reverse lights.

No Gloss (with some morning dew):

Lights in early morning:

Reverse:

Lights Finished:

[srwong]

i'm thinking of redoing my tails too, i have the 60% overlay on them but it's not as dark as i would like it to be....

how many coats would you guys say to do if i wanted it darker than this...

but lighter than this...

and what kind of paint?

[NJAltcoupe812]

I used vht niteshades and aeromax clear coat see link below

http://www.levineautoparts.com/aeromax.html

To go darker than mine but lighter than vegans I would do 3 coats 2 lite and one ticker

[srwong]

I used vht niteshades and aeromax clear coat see link below

http://www.levineautoparts.com/aeromax.html

To go darker than mine but lighter than vegans I would do 3 coats 2 lite and one ticker

ticker?

[iammai]

Here is a sweet tutorial.

http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=255365

[Rob.Vegan]

ticker?

I'm sure he meant thicker.

And ya about 3 or 4 coats should be nice.When you are actually painting it you can see a pretty close version of how your lights will look when finished.

Just make sure you do EVEN coats. my headlights weren't that even and at night you can see darker spots with the amber lights on

[adams34jordan]

SO i got a delemia i got a 2009 altima and the color is the dark slate... i wana paint the tail light myself, WHAT DOES EVERYONE RECOMMEND???? I heard the niteshade was great but i want to match the color of the car!!! any help?????

[downedzephyr]

match the color of the car? wtf?

[srwong]

match the color of the car? wtf?

[adams34jordan]

yes, match the color of the car.... i dont want it black, ive seen it before on the same color car i got in arizona so i know there is a way to do it.

[downedzephyr]

yeah it's by painting your tails or getting overlays. i'm wondering how you're gonna do it, gtr style?
personally i think it'll look like s***, but it's your car and as long as your happy then go nuts.

[adams34jordan]

what do you think would look good??

[trigger_storey]

I think color matched on anything but black would look horrible. Just tint them semi dark, wet sand them, buff them out and call it a day. It will look good that way on no matter what color your car is. Color matching will just make it look wierd.

[downedzephyr]

I think color matched on anything would look horrible

fixed that for ya