gec

Over the past few weeks there have been numerous threads relating to tinting tail lights and who did what and how. I have chimed in here and there trying to pursuade those who were doing it to professionally darken them to their liking. I fell on deaf ears here and on mirc, mostly because you need painting experience or you need a good body shop painter to finish the look. Well, mine are now complete and can display the result for you. I am by no means bashing anyone who has either used vinyl or spray tint, I merely want to have all the options displayed here. Obviously, my way is much more involved and would cost more and not a DIY mod for a novice. Hopefully, the rest of you who have done something different can post up your pics and maybe the pro's and cons so other members can decide which route to take.


Process
1. Fine Sand
2. Clean thoroughly
3. Tape off
4. Spray multiple layers of light coats until desired shade is accomplished
5. Smooth out any defects
6. Shoot the clear coat
7. Heat Cure


Pro's
1. Perfect flawless look
2. Will never Fade or Peel

Cons
1. Not Removable
2. Most cost for this mod

99 GT vert

looks really good man i need to do mine but have no time

hpwrestler220

that looks really good!!! its a really nice "smoke"..

put it on your car and take a pic of it directly in the sun, and in the shade!!

i think you definitely made up my mind to have them professionally painted. im sure the guy who paints will know how to do it and what im talking about, but how much black/clear did you use?? id dyou mix black/clear and keep going to desired shade, and than clear coat over that??

Novanutcase

Looks great but, as you said, for the novice, this would be an iffy and costly experience if not done right. Even taking it to a pro painter has it's drawbacks as what you consider "medium" and he considers "medium" can be two different things.

I still think that vinyl tints are better for street driven cars since it gives the option of pulling off the tint if you need to, for whatever reason, along with the low cost.

For a show car that's not driven on the street and will have tons of people scrutinizing it then this method would probably be better since it is seamless.

John

kadoi

looks beautiful. I wish i had the experience to do this. Maybe i will just yank some tail lights off of some random car in the junk yard it give it a go.

562cobra

Damn GEC, nice work. Did you mix the black paint and the clear and then another coat of clear? or how did you do it?

gec

I will bud as soon as all this snow clears up...lol

Didn't take much paint. Just 2 small tail lights. Yes, that is exactly how its done. Those are 4 passes of black/clear mixed then 2 coats of clear.

15 bucks a piece at the junkyard

hpwrestler220

hmmmm.. did you wet sand? what grit?

gec

Always use water when sanding. If your gonna bring it to the painter HP he will know. The orginal sanding is to remove the clear the factory put on there to get to the bare surface of the light. 1000 was sufficient.

I fugged up the first try myself and had to have the painter (cousin) correct it. Again, I can do this but not without help. Anyone of us can prep and spray..using nightshades in our garage...but mixing the paint to get the effect and fixin fug ups not my area of expertise. My only advantage is my cousin is a pro and I'm willing to go into the booth and make mistakes myself in order to learn and become better.

hpwrestler220

how does the light shine through the tail lights when painted??