What's up guys, I'm sure this has been covered, so if you could just point me in the right direction that'd be cool.

Otherwise I was just wondering some of the opinions circulating here about blacked out / smoked / tinted / painted tail lights? - I was thinking about tinting them?

I have a silver truck, any opinions about what they would look like? Can you tint the headlights?

Pics of a silver truck with black lights would be cool. My silver '04 is in my Avatar, and sig too.

 

I recommend just getting some AVS Nightshades off the internet, or at a local autoparts store, and spraying them. As far as the headlights go I would check your local laws if thats what your concerned about. I have seen people do it, and want to spray mine, but havent had the time lately... I think that the smoked lights look really good on the silver trucks. However I dont have any pics of a silver truck with smoked out tails, Just the pics of my charcoal grey with the smoked lights.

 

its VHT nightshades, AVS is auto vent shade they make the plastic covers that fit over the light.


you could always take your headlights apart and paint the chrome part.
i think blacked-out tail lights are the only way to go, no matter the color of the paint!

 

Personally I wouldnt black out the head lights...BAD idea, you wont be able to see SH*T, the tail lights are cool looking but will get you pulled over easy

 

Is it hard to do without ****ing it up? The tints just seemed easier to me.
Where r the pics of the grey and smoked lights?

Ya i saw ur white one with blacked out tail lights, looked pretty sick. How are the avs's? Worth checking out, or should i stick to the paint?

I like the idea about painting the chrome...hmm.

I've seen it a couple of times, but never driven a car with them.
Are blacked out tail lights illegal? Lol, didnt know that.

 

how to
Ok, many have asked how to do this, so i figured i would show how to tint your tails, ONLY using VHT Nightshades and clearcoat from your local autoparts, and get great results.

now thru this i used no power tools or anything you cannot get locally and cheap from the autoparts, except the VHT nightshades, i ordered off the i-net

this is what i did, im sure plenty have their own methods, but that is them and this is me,

ok gather your materials:

1 - can of nightshades
1 - can of clearcoat (duplicolor was at my autozone)
1 - pack of 600 gritt wet-sandpaper
1 - pack of 2000 gritt wet-sandpaper
1 - bottle of a good rubbing compound ( meguiars ultimate compound is what i used)
few - paper towls
1 - rag to polish when done
1 - bucket with water

ALWAYS HAVE THE SANDPAPER WET WHILE SANDING!

ok to start ill show you pix of the products i used:




1st step - Wet sand your lense with the 600 gritt wet-sandpaper, i only use up and down and side to side motion, no swirling, make sure you have the entire lense dull, anything shiny will not grip the paint to well.



2nd step, you will need to wipe down your lens and make sure all residue from sanding is removed and you have a clean surface to paint.

3rd step - spraying the VHT Nightshades, i use thick heavy coats so that it is semi glossy after each coat, I let it sit for a few minutes, inbetween coats, this stuff dries fast so dont worry.

Pix of each coat of paint:

1 Coat


2 Coats


3 Coats


4th step - the clear coat, after about 10 min i started with the duplicolor clear coat, i spray it the same way as i do the paint, thick and heavy.

Pix of Clear Coats:

1 Coat


2 Coats


OK NOW FOR THE HIGH QUALITY PIX

when you are done you will wind up with a semi shiny set of tails, more than likely they will have a moderate amount of orange peel to them. (see pix)





Step 5 - sanding with 2000 gritt sanpaper, after you have let the tails dry in the sun for about an hour, mine were fully dry, so to remove the orangepeel what you do is get your sandpaper and start sanding the clearcoat, be careful not to go thru the clear coat, but while sanding, wipe them clean frequently, so see how your doing, you will notice when you start sanding you will have a bunch of tiny shiny dots with a dull area around them, you are wanting to sand until all the little dots are gone and its perfectly smooth. (see pic)



Step 6 - the final step - Polishing, i find it best to put em on the truck to polish them, now keeping this simple i polished by hand with my polish rag, use a generous amount of compound the more you polish the better your outcome, so dont be shy, after your done polishing, wipe em down with a clean cloth and stand back and admire your work.

Finished Pix:




Compare to the untinted lense

 

tint tails, pull your heads apart and paint the chrome or just by a prepainted set from ebay. i followed demons write up and became a pro in my eyes. i have done 8 different set of lights in the last year. easy easy. you can get the night shades at advance auto for 12.00 a can.

 

im thinking about doing mine now lol

 

it is really easy. the only thing i changed is i used 1000 grit for the initial sanding. just make sure you have plenty of time to do it right about 1.5 hrs to paint and a few to dry before you try to sand and polish. just follow the write up it is a good one. i think i am going to pull mine off and make them darker. check the sig they started of chromies off of ebay.

 

im trying to find a cheap set and then will do it. see if i like it, if not ill sell it