wanting to tint my tail lights and i got all the materials like 2000 grit sandpaper, dupli color clear acrylic enamel and only thing i need now is nightshade. where do i find nightshade? i went to a couple stores and couldnt find it. Also what exactly do i do. First i want to do the 3rd brake light . Do i unsrew it and wet sand the outside or the inside and then what?

 

I ordered niteshades from summitracing. What I did was wetsand with 800-1000 grit to scarify the lens for good adhesion. Sprayed and coated to my liking, then buffed with an elec. buffer with a polishing compound to a glass like finish.

 

kinda hard to tell since i was taking a pic of the part i was painting. but i had just re-tinted my tail lights (little darker). that is like 4-5 coats of night shades, and 3-4 coats of clear. no sanding, although, im sure it would look better if i wet sanded, then re-cleared. i just dont have luck when i wet sand....i usually mess something up.



too bad your not closer, i bought 2 cans of VHT night shades, but didnt even use half of one. but i lost my receipt, so i can't rturn the other bottle. guess ill just hand onto it until i have something else to tint.

 

i ordered the night shade and also have the other materials already purchased so now im just waiting for the nightshade to get it in and i will start. No one still hasnt answered one of my questions though. I would like to know even though it sounds stupid but do i wetsand the outside of the whole third brake light and tail lights and just throw on a couple coats of nightshade to desire pref and then put the clear coat on there? If someone could go through the process that would be great.

 

i think it all depends on your preference. when i had painted some parts on my jeep wrangler. some ppl told me to sand prior to painting so that way "it would stick better to the surface". i actually tried on headlight bezel on my jeep with out sanding and one with it. honestly didnt make a difference in what i was doing. with my tail lights now, i just used isopropyl alcohol to clean off the lenses. then let air dry for a second, then started spraying light coats onto it. letting it dry for a little then applying more, until my desired tint was reached.

 

Go over them with 600 wet to scuff them. Just try to get the surface dull looking. spray on niteshades, let dry. I used 1500 before clearing them. Once clear has dried use 1500 and then 2000 to make them smooth as glass. Then hit w/ buffer with rubbing compound (I used 3M scratch remover). Then put a coat of wax and call it a day!!

 

Hope this helps: Click Me.

Some people might say to clear coat them with automotive clear. It will give you a very nice and smooth finish, but since you already have the canned clear, give that a try. It's what I used. You can always sand it down and go the auto CC route.

 

automotive clear......

 

Just took new pics for ya.....

 

jlstang351, those tail lights look great!