Little help with tinted taillights!?

Okay well, I got off work pretty early this morning and had nothing planned for the day. I always wanted a little bit of tint to my taillights and thought about taking them to a shop to have them done, or having a buddy who does them do them, but figured I know Im more then capable of doing this, so, I had at it!

Now i followed this thread...
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/84694-how-tinting-tail-lights-right-way-pics.html

And i did just about everything just like it. They came out pretty good, but not good enough for me! I'm a perfectionsit and stuff that I work on has to be pretty good!

The problem is, it looks like theres still some orange peel, and the len's arnt as clear as I want them...so, what would fix this? I think maybe i went to light on the wetsanding and maybe I should try that again? Thats the only thing I could think of. What do you guys think?

Sorry for no pics

 

I also followed that thread write-up but after my last clear coat and letting it dry overnight, instead of going back to the 800 grit sandpaper, I started out with I believe a 1500 grit, then a 2500 grit, then a 3000 grit. 800 just seemed to coarse at that point in the project. But after the wet sanding I followed the rest step-by-step and they came out pretty darn good. I'm sure I would have gotten more shine out of them if I had an electronic buffer but I buffed everything out by hand.

 

Oh, I gotcha man. Yeah I wasnt really feeling the 800 grit, but did anyway! I used a mothers power ball to polish, and it worked out pretty good, but like I said, i still have that orange peel look. So I think tomorrow Ima sand with like 1000, 2000, and then finish it with 3000 and make sure the orange peel is gone, and then start the step by step polishing again.
Hows that sounds guys? Thanks for the info to man!

 

Yeah you should be fine as long as you put enough clear coats on so you dont sand down to the nite shade stuff. Oh and I did use less force when I started re-sanding like it said in the directions. But like I said, they arent super shiny so try not to expect that. But I didnt want it super shiny so it worked out perfect.

 

Yeah, I put a good amount of clear coat on. Im not looking for super duper shiney, I just feel like there should be no orange peel and they should be a little shiner! so, will see.

Question, should i remove all the wax and polish before starting to sand again, or should i jump right onto sanding? And if so, what should i remove all that with?

 

If it where me, I would just put some dish washing soap or windex or something on it before I started wet sanding, if not you should still be fine cause the sandpaper will take it all of anyways before it hits the clear coat.

 

Thats what I was thinking...thanks for all the help man!

 

hey Dr
wet sand! when i first sprayed mine...they looked like an orange. wetsand...clear...then wet sand...one last shot of clear. worked great for me and they are holding up fine.
*used 1500 grit sand paper for mine

 

See now you got two TW TOTM's helping you out!!! Cant go wrong there!!!

 

Hey so did you tint our your stock 08's? When I did the first set, my 06's, they cured pretty dark!! But I think its because of the red and pinkish lenses. The 2010's didnt come out as dark cause they have the clear lenses.

 

Haha, very true man. Well Ima wet sand tomorrow and ill clean her and post some pictures! thanks for all the help both of you!

btw jonny, your trucks so clean, my inspiration!

 

thanks man

i only did two light coats just to get rid of the pinkness haha. but i used tamiya rc car smoke spray. then clear coat. they look more of a dark red than black

 

Alright guys, well I'm off to go start on them now, so ill post pics in a little bit. Again, thanks for all the help!

 

Sweet!!! Good luck and remember, take your time, dont rush it brotha!!!

 

Well guys, they came out great! They cleaned up nicly, I took my time wet sanding, lol, and then used a faster drill to buff! Im very happy with them, although, i do wish they were a little lighter, but its okayy. Thanks a ton everybody! Heres some pictures...

before I even started...


after the first time...


left one done right one not...


finished...




btw, i never got around to washing her so thatll be sometime soon and ill take some good pics!

 

Sweet!! Good job man!!!^^^ Yeah my 06's turned out darker then I wanted to but I think its almost impossible to get them any lighter then what we got them too. Oh well, looks great though bro!!

 

thanks alot man!

 

they look great...but one problem
the only flaw i see is that damn nautical star sticker!

just kidding Op
they look good man