HOW TO: Tinting tail lights, The right way (PICS)

good job brutha! diggin the tint depth, i think ya nailed it

 

Really great write up! Thanks so much! I did my 05 Speedway Blue, and got rid of my dreaded pink tail lights!

 

very nice looking and nice write up. I will have to find a second set of lights to do this to, I like to keep the originals of everything original. I will be giving this a go once i get some lights for sure

 

Just started my tail lights on my pyrite mica. I'll post pics later. Great write up!!

 

I just finished spraying the lights and am now waiting for them to dry. How long should let them sit before repeating the wet sanding process?

 

Look on your paint can and go by the instructions. They should be listed for the sanding wait times.

 

not listed on the clear coat anyway. Says may take up to 7 days to fully cure. Dry to touch in 1 hour and may be handled in 3hrs. This is Duplicolor automotive enamel clear coat by the way.

 

I waited about an hour after the very last coat to sand.

 

great write up.... just about the same as i did mine. sanded with 2000... taped off what i wanted to keep clear (brake/running light and back up light). then nite shaded... untaped.. then i used good PPG glossy clear coat sprayed out of a paint gun. I like the good quality clear better then the aerosol clear just because it will last longer... and i didnt need to wetsand and buff/rub to get it smooth (it lays down really nice).

so you can do all the nite shading yourself but it's always a good option to pay a bodyshop just to shoot some clear on the lights.

i did my mirror side markers, 3rd brake light, and tails at the same time. I used 3 light coats on the tails and mirrors, 3 heavy coats on the 3rd brake light







used the same system to do my old jeep tails/3rd brake light... only used PPG flex&flat clear (flat clear coat) same as i used over the green base coat on the jeep its self


can use aerosol flat clear to get the same effect.

 

that looks sick, nice job.

 

looks great! What technique did you use to get such a tight tape line around the brake lights?

 

Picked up a set of 09 tails and tinted them red. I decided to use tint instead of painting them so removal would be a breeze if I ever decided to change the look.

 

Where did you get the red tint?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330569312886

 

For taping off the brake light i got an old school drafting compass (the tool you used in highschool to measure angles and draw circles) and put the point of it in the middle of the brake light (theres a little dimple). Then put the end with the pencil to where i wanted to tape off.. tightened down the compass so it didnt move. Then got some 2in masking tape and put it on a plastic cutting board.. used the compass to draw my circle. cut out the circle. put it on the tail light where you want then marked the straight line with a roller and used a razor blade to cut the straight side of it lightly (just enough to cut the tape).

to tape off the back up light i used 2 inch tape to tape off most of it close as i could to the edge then used some flexible 1/4 inch fine line tape to do the edges.

you can see them taped up in one of my photo's above.

 

Brilliant! thanks for the tip, what you did looks sharp. I picked up a set of the led oem's. I may have to give this a go.

 

I dont have patience for that shit lol i give you guys props... anybody charging people to do it??? Im down to pay someone to have mine done.. or if your nice and wanna do it for a 30 pack of beer lol

 

I followed his write up to the T, they don't cure darker. Remember to prep well and get all the edges, those will show up the most at the end, sand great, buff amazing and it goes smoothly, probably took me about 2-3 hours to finish.

Great write up

 

Took me 3 hours too. I did this process but, two coats of night shades, like 6 coats of clear after that. I haven't buffed or anything else yet because I don't have that stuff.

 

I agree with the note on your back window... Good job! Looks like you taped off the back-up light too.