gc86

Has anyone tryed using a spray on taillight tint? I bought this taillight tint that is in the form of a film and I totalled fuxed up putting it on. I think it would be easier to use a spray. I know this can be done professionally but is there a cheaper alternative you can buy at Kragen or other parts stores? please chime in

stheman

I would get it done professionally cost about $50 if you prep the lights your self. It also last longer then the do it yourself spray because they will spray it with same clear they use to paint cars. Since they spray lights with clear you can wax them when you wax your car and you will get a high shine.... also the do it yourself will fade over time.

gc86

Thing is finding a place to do it for that cheap... I'd think most shops would charge 100+ and I definitely dont think thats worth it. What if you used a tint spray than used a clear coat spray after? don't you think it would preserve the color?

rbeermann

i've tried to do the spray tint with clear coat, and it faded rather quickly. only took a couple months before i had to redo it. get it professionally done.

gc86

I see.. I guess i'll have to save up if anyone cant convince me otherwise. It seems like such an easy to do mod thats cheap....

stheman

If you prep them before you take them to be sprayed they shouldn't cost no more then $50. Take out your tail lights and wet sand the shit out of them with 1500 grit then take them to a good body shop. You can pick the color of the tint also the tint is just candy mixed in clear. Well worth the $50.

gc86

I'll have to look into it... what if I wetsand with 1500 grit than spray them myself? :P

stheman

No wet sand them and take them to have them sprayed. Won't turn out the same if you do them your self, unless you have a paint gun and you have good clear. I like using PPG's clear just painted my girls 99TL today hands down best clear for the money.

gc86

Well aren't the aerosol cans good enough in a controlled environment?

stheman

No the aerosol cans don't have the same hardeners that make the clear strong like the clear on your paint. The aerosol clear will normally fad in less than a year if you wash your car regularly giving your tail lights that ugly hazy look.

gc86

I see... well I'll leave this to the professionals than and just go paint my calipers

Im itching for a new mod as you can see

stheman

You still can prep them your self to save money just be sure to tell them what you did. Steps are below.
1) Take out tail lights
2) Wipe them down with paint thiner/lacker thinner (Not striper be sure to pour the thinner on a rag don't pour it directly on the lights). This is done to remove the road grime, polish that may have gotten on the lights ect.
3) Use 1500 grit wet sand paper use plenty of water and sand the lights real good should take about 20min to do each light
4) Finally tape up the back of the light using green painters tape and newspaper.

After this is done all the shop that is going to spray lights has to do is scuff them and spray them. Should safe you about $50 - $70

gc86

Thanks for the help bro... wonder how long it takes to dry before I can install them back on?

stheman

Well if the shop sprays them for you they will do it in a both then back them. So soon as you pick them up you can install them.

stheman

They will bake them sorry typing is off today. So soon as you pick them up you can install them.

6MTUA5

iTrader: (2)

Any reason you are against the tint besides messing it up?

Remember that the spray cannot be reversed, so if you get tired of the look or have some type of legal problems with them and get a "fix-it" ticket, you would have to get new tail lights instead of just removing the film from them.


If I were you, I would go for the tint

gc86

I've gotten the tint and tryed it but messed up bad luckily the ebay seller refunded my money without me needed to return the "messed up" product.

sistom

I had a hell of a time getting my tail tint's to work to but finally after persistence I got them and I love them now. Think about giving the tint another shot before you do something perm to them.

FL3.2TL

Do the tint, if you ever sell your car, you going to have a problem, if the cops ever pull you over, your going to have a problem.

6MTUA5

iTrader: (2)

You were real lucky to get a refund back on those just because you messed up install. Go for it again

EL19

iTrader: (4)

i used the aerosol can and dont have any problems...i know most ppl dont agree but it works fine and its on 10 bucks...i wet sanded them and then used the tint spray and use auto clear in a can to giv it that car gloss..they still look brand new...i did that a year ago

duhjeenyus

iTrader: (2)

Same here, I used the aerosol on my Civic's tail lights Spring 06 and they still look good. The only reason I had to start over is because I sprayed too much tint on and completely blacked out my tail lights when I was just trying to get a dark red look.

gc86

Both of you need to give me some more info.. please lol, what aerosol did you use and what grit did you wetsand with?

6MTUA5

iTrader: (2)

Another reason to not do the spray. Make sure you practice on cardboard or another piece of scrap to make sure you figure out the spray pattern to make sure you get it how you want it and not mess up your lights .

02AcTLS

There is a spray tint, I believe it's called VHT Nightshades. If you can pull apart the tail-lights, it's best to prep inside, then spray the interiors. You don't have to worry about a lot of the bleeding/fading hassles with this method.

That is, if the tail-lights can be pulled apart.

stheman

Bro your best bet is getting done professionally. The aerosol will fade eventually but if you want to try it go for it. Use 1500 grit wet sand paper to prep.

duhjeenyus

iTrader: (2)

I wouldn't pull apart your tail lights and spray the inside, that's just unnecessary hassle. Then you have to worry about the glue that keeps your tail lights together. As a matter of fact, I didn't mean to make an endorsement out of my statement, I just wanted to clarify that if done correctly it will look pretty badass. That's not to mention the 6 hours I spent on tinting my tail lights.

I would recommend getting them done by professionals, it's a lot less worry if you get the right shop/person to do it.

02AcTLS

I gotcha on that, I'm just used to doing work on my car myself. Not everyone has the bank to spend on shop time and such.

If you know what you're doing when you open lamps, you can get them back together, and usually a good silicone based adhesive will give you trouble free use if the adhesive they used doesn't hold.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

vht nightshades is good...justsearchon ebay for spray tint...i wet sanded wit 1500 grit by the way and the put ona coat wet sand again the another coat wet sand again...andthe like 3 more coats...looks pretty dam good...i have to redo them cuzsum1 scuffed em wit there truck a holes

EL19

iTrader: (4)

professionally done is the best but if ur savin dough then go wit the spray tint

6MTUA5

iTrader: (2)

I heard that the stuff from Nissan works the best for resealing the lights

Ramojr

A really good DIY on the spray stuff..

http://www.350z-tech.com/zwiki/Tutor...king_Taillight

gc86

I'll just save up and have it done professionally... I just painted my brake calipers and they match the taillights quite nicely might not end up getting them tinted... we'll see. Btw Ramojr the link doesn't work.

02AcTLS

Definitely good to know.

Ramojr

Thats odd.. I just hit the link and it worked fine?? cue Twilight Zone theme..

gc86

Maybe you need an account?

Ramojr

Nah, i was just messin around one day and came across the page.. Didn't have to sign up for anything.. Weird.. Maybe this one will work..

http://www.350z-tech.com/zwiki/How_to_Smoke_Taillights

WDPTLS

i used film on my tail lights and it took me all of 25 minutes for both lol