Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

[Mighty Thor]

I found this site. It seems pretty cool. It has an instruction too on how to do it yourself.

http://letstalktints.com/products-page/

I'm sort of tempted to try it.

I have current have the AVS tail light covers, but my wife told me that when she was driving behind me that she could barely see my brake lights go on. She said it's kinda dangerous.

I was wondering if any of you guys have tried it?


BTW I prefer this over NightShade. The spray thing doesn't look good for me, because it lacks the glossy look. Plus I'm sure it would be hell to remove it.

[bigairboarder44]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

My friend recently got that with about 35% tint I think it was. It looks ok, pretty good from a distance but if you look up close, it's a little rough..that might just be his job though. In his case, it made his tails look a lot deeper red than before.

[akcamaro02]

I blacked out my taillights, third brake light and marker lights in the rear. I bought a can of VHT nite shade, can of clear coat, some fine grit sand paper, scotch bright pad, mr. magic glass cleaner(or any amonia based cleaner) and that's just about all you need, plus a rain free day and a day you don't need to drive your car much. If you would like my writeup on how I did mine, I've blacked out my camaros lights, friends silverado lights, and friends ranger lights. You can get them to look good, just need more effort in the prep work and know the proper technique. IMO, mine look better than the covers, plus noone can steal them off my car :) and quite a bit of light still goes through so ppl know when im braking.

if you can clean, sand and paint, you can do it my method. plus it cost 11 bucks for niteshade, 3 for clear coat, had sand paper at house(sander really helps), had amoniea(sp?) cleaner at home, had scotch bright pad at home.

mod note: posting pictures that "look a lot like mine" won't help in this case, as it can be deceiving. If you have pictures of your actual tail lights, feel free to add them to this post.

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

From the pictures I'm seeing on that site, they aren't very dark or shiny. Take a look at my tail lights:



I really do think mine are as deep, glossy black as they could ever be. And yet with the sun shining directly on my rear end, my parking lights are still very visible, brakes are clear as day. Obviously there is a bit of difference being that I have LEDs, but if your looking for dark shine that is still see-through, I would go my route. I had a paint shop mix up black and clear paint to put the tint coat on the lights, I really couldn't be happier.

[hockeyman]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

I've tinted three sets of tail's for fellow GTO owners.

I start by lightly scuffing the plastic lense with 800 grit, wash with water, let dry for a few hours, cheese cloth the surface, then use automotive clearcoat and phantom black metallic (a GTO color).

I start with 1/2 cup of clearcoat / hardener, then pour very small amounts of PBM in it until I get the desired tint. Spray with a DeVilbiss Gun at about 20psi.

Go too heavy with the black and it'll be like 5% tint. I normally go with about 30%-40% tint. Looks good and doesn't attract too much attention.

Dries to a mirror finish within 3-4 hours and looks great!

[akcamaro02]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

mine look just like those, deep glossy black,,it's all about the prep work in my opinion..and if u don't use clear coat, don't expect gloss.

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

mine look just like those, deep glossy black,,it's all about the prep work in my opinion..and if u don't use clear coat, don't expect gloss.

Believe me, I know how good clear coat over spray paint can look if done right. That's how I got the name "Spray Can King." But having had both Niteshades and high quality automotive paint on my tail lights, I would take the automotive paint any day of the week. I'm not bashing Niteshades, but I am saying that you can get better results with automotive paint. Thor seems to have already ruled out Niteshades anyway.

[akcamaro02]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

are you refering to the covers?
I did spray paint mine, with VHT niteshade..it's nearly the same stuff as the automotive shops would do..plus i enjoy doing mods myself if i can. saves money, gain experience.

[BallerMaro13]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

Schlotzky your 'maro is one sexy piece of @ss haha. tails look awesome.

ever consider more polished/chrome pipes?


as for being on topic--niteshades takes some time and effort, but you can see it works out quite well.

[ssms5411]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

I did all my rear blackouts and they turned out pretty good, I should of prepped a little better but they came out decent.

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

Schlotzky your 'maro is one sexy piece of @ss haha. tails look awesome.

ever consider more polished/chrome pipes?l.

Thanks baller! Yeah, I do wish they were a bit more shiny. They are machine polished stainless steel. I should have taken them to my buffing wheel while they were off the car, but I may just get a portable buffing wheel and go at them on the car.

[Mighty Thor]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

I'm still thinking about this.

I might just go ahead and buy the tint and follow the instruction on the video. It looks simple enough. Niteshade for me looks a bit more challenging. If you make a mistake you'll have to scuff it off. Whereas tint you could rip it off.

Just thinking. If I do buy this I will try out first on my 89 bird.

[hockeyman]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

Niteshade for me looks a bit more challenging. If you make a mistake you'll have to scuff it off. Whereas tint you could rip it off.

I've use the VHT before, and didn't like the results because it "ran" like crazy! It's almost like spraying tinted water :mad: I tried light coats, but even those were running. Also, the dried finish was kinda dull and I didn't feel like clearcoating it.

Anyhow, I removed the dried VHT with some Laquer Thinner. Took it off with relative ease, and didn't harm the plastic. Just wear rubber gloves if/when doing that. I had tinted hands for few days afterwards because I didn't wear gloves. Funny...it didn't "run" on my skin :rant:

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Has anybody tried tinting their tail lights?

I have tried tinting a tail light with regular window tint. I was unsuccessful because my hairdryer didn't get hot enough to shrink anything. I'd suggest a heat gun, but be careful as they will surely melt the tint and tail light if you let it sit long enough. I've got a scar on my arm from a heat gun slipping from years ago. :P