To tint or not to tint?
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3646 Registered: Mar-07 | I'll be helping a friend of mine re-tint his windows this weekend and he said I can have the extra to tint my tails. I talked to a korean friend of mine and he said I should use the same tint a friend of his bought off of ebay. The reason is because it's thicker and looks better. My question is, will I be okay using autozone stuff to tint my tails and not have to worry about bubbling and peeling? Also, if it looks like poo, will the tint come off fairly easily? Thanks for the input in advance. |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3241 Registered: Mar-06 | From personal experience I would only use VHT Niteshades. Ive seen film peel, bubble and it isnt made to be exposed to the elements. The VHT is made for tinting tail lights. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VHT-Nite-Shades-Niteshades-Taillight-Tint-Blackou t_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1171Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1308 Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem280316208617 QQitemZ280316208617QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories |
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Gold Member Username: Goodie_goopMid town, Texas U.S. Post Number: 1130 Registered: Oct-06 | ya that vht stuff is awesome...you just spray on in layers and you can have it as dark or light as you want...i did 3 layers of spray on my old mustang lights and they could still be easily seen at night |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3649 Registered: Mar-07 | damnit, always with the good input and faulty links capps!!! but I'm sure I found it here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VHT-Nite-Shades-Niteshades-Taillight-Tint-Blackou t_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38661QQihZ018QQitemZ280316208617QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZ WDVW if this is correct, I'm down to buy it today. do I just tape off the what I don't want painted and then spray thin even coats? also, did you say you can get projector headlights cheap capps? or just hids? |
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Platinum Member Username: WingmanaliveWww.stainles... .ecrater.com Post Number: 19993 Registered: Jun-06 | And don't spend hours with all kinds of chemicals like I did when I had to remove my tint. Warm soapy water a sharp razor blade pulls it off like wet toilet paper.  |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3245 Registered: Mar-06 | Your link isnt working for me either. Haha. If it says VHT Niteshades and the majority of the can is purple, thats it. Works great. Take the tail lights off the vehicle, lay them flat and make the coats VERY VERY VERY light. Let it get tacky and spray another light coat on. Repeat that until they are as dark as you want them. SOme people clear them, some dont. If you look at my hit and run thread, the last picture I posted has my tail light done up with the VHT |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3246 Registered: Mar-06 | I can get more pics if youre interested |
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Gold Member Username: Mrskullz1Brooklyn, New York Post Number: 1071 Registered: Feb-07 | andrew, can you please most more pics of ur tail lights? im debating on whether to VHT or not. I've googled it up but didn't come across much. thx |
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Gold Member Username: Mrskullz1Brooklyn, New York Post Number: 1072 Registered: Feb-07 | your truck's tail lights *** |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3663 Registered: Mar-07 | more pics would be cool, I just ordered a 10oz can last night. how many coats did you put? your tails look pretty dark. if I stick with one or two coats, can I add additional later, say a few months down the road, if I so choose? |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3249 Registered: Mar-06 | Yeah. You can tint them later and you will be fine. I can go ahead and tell you, if you do the coats LIGHTLY like you have to, you will need 3ish before you can even tell a difference. I did 10ish to get them pitch black. Again, I cant stress enough. LIGHT COATS or you will be looking for lacquer thinner to get rid of the runs well pics tomorrow. I just realized I dont have any.  heres a vid though to hold you over... Not a good one of the taillights, I know, but oh well |
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Gold Member Username: Goodie_goopMid town, Texas U.S. Post Number: 1131 Registered: Oct-06 | 10??? dam I must have been doing my layers a good bit thicker cus I think I only did 3-4 and they were dark I'll see if I can find some pics when I get home |
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Silver Member Username: Armykyle1Ms Us Post Number: 471 Registered: Dec-08 | I GOT UR PLATE NUMBER PUNK!!! |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3252 Registered: Mar-06 | here it is again. haha  hello finger    |
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Gold Member Username: Mrskullz1Brooklyn, New York Post Number: 1073 Registered: Feb-07 | nice, u recommend doing headlights with this stuff? |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3667 Registered: Mar-07 | damn that is pitch black, I may not be going that dark, but I'm definitely impressed, thanks Capps. |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3254 Registered: Mar-06 | nope but thats just me. A few light coats would probably be fine but not more than that. Just do like I did to mine and bake them apart and paint the inside |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3670 Registered: Mar-07 | can I just do the exterior and be fine with that? |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3256 Registered: Mar-06 | Im gonna say no just because Ive never done it/seen it done and it might fu(k with the light but you could try. Its not fun to take off and the laquer thinner fukks up the coating on the headlights |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3671 Registered: Mar-07 | so the pics you posted are pics of just painting the inside of the tail light? |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3257 Registered: Mar-06 | no. Heres how I did it 1) Remove tails from your vehicle. 2) Tape off anything on them that do not need to be painted. 3) Cover area uner the lights. Its a biotch to try and get this crap off the garage floor. 3) Scuff the OUTSIDE of the tails with scotch brite (green/tough side) 4) Clean with a good degreaser. I use Greased Lightening. 5) Wipe with a wet cloth to get ALL your degreaser off. 6) Make sure the side of the light you are painting is flat. I had to paint one side at a time and put something under one side to make the top of the light flat. 7) Do LIGHT even coats across the flat side. 8) Take the tails into sunlight after the first 3-4 coats, after they dry, because they look completly different under florecent light vs. sunlight. (After the first 3-4 coats, take it outside ever 2 coats to get a look at it) 9) After you get the desired darkness, let them dry a good bit and, if you want them flater looking, out them back on (like I did) but if you want a gloss look, throw a clear coat on them and then put them back on. BTW, I painted both lights at the same time just so I made sure to do the same amount of coats on both. Any other questions, let me know |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3675 Registered: Mar-07 | okay now I see, I was confused because you were talking about the headlights. lol. my bad. that being said, according to your description above, I'm going to be painting my tails in two steps. cause you said I should make sure the surface is flat, I would paint the side of the tails and then the rear of the tails (what you see directly behind the vehicle). Right? |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3258 Registered: Mar-06 | exactly. Make sure you paint just the top then just the side and if need be, put the corner pointed up to blend the side and back |
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Silver Member Username: Wolf_houndPhoenix, AZ Post Number: 811 Registered: Sep-05 | I thought about doing this to my lights but thats just another reason for me to get pulled over. Looks great though |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3680 Registered: Mar-07 | It's in, I just have to make time to go pick it up from my office. I'll prob do it over this spring break |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3264 Registered: Mar-06 | Ive never been pulld for it but I have gotten harrassed when cops come to the car... I just tell them it was like that when I bought the truck and they normally tell me that I need to take it off but dont write me a ticket... |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3686 Registered: Mar-07 | unfortunately the first couple coats were way too thick, so the last several were light and def flattened everything out. turns out they are almost black lol. you can see them just fine at night but during the day they are pretty faint.. so what I'm thinking now is either stripping the paint off and doing it again or crafting some LED brake lights. the problem is, my brake lights are my blinkers. I have heard unless you buy the kit, there is no way to get the LEDs more current when you depress the brake or use the blinker (making them brighter obviously lol) |
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Gold Member Username: Mrskullz1Brooklyn, New York Post Number: 1090 Registered: Feb-07 | Thieves.....PICS NOW!!! |
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Gold Member Username: Big_edge_headMilwaukee, WI Post Number: 3582 Registered: Mar-07 | Capps aren't you a cop? Aren't tinted tail lights illegal? lol |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3273 Registered: Mar-06 | I warned ya about thin coats. Haha. If you take it off, laquer thinner will do it but it will take the shine off the tail lights (if youre re-tinting them, it wont really matter) There is a way to make the LEDs brighter/dimmer but I cant remember what its called. I would bet M.S. could tell ya. And yeah, Im gonna be a cop but stuff like that is overlooked unless youre a d!ck to the cop. Plus I know most of them. |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3688 Registered: Mar-07 | I'll try and get pics tomorrow. I think my girl has convinced me that stripping it and repainting them would be easier than crafting some LED brakes lol. Also, when I do repaint, I'll prob tape off the reverse lights and leave them unpainted, so that I can see behind me when I back up. I already have limo tint on the windows, I think I should leave the reverse lights alone, plus I think it will look purty good. I don't think tinted tails are illegal everywhere. |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3275 Registered: Mar-06 | Yeah, LED tails arent fun. I have my LEDs and an extra set of tail lights but I cant find 5mm perf board/PC board to mount the LEDs in to do mine. Ive seen a few tail lights that I liked with the reverse untinted but I like black so I had to paint the whole thing... Make sure you do your 3rd brake light if you have a truck or SUV with the light outside the vehicle. If thats red and the others are black it looks tacky IMO |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3690 Registered: Mar-07 | Well I actually didn't paint my third brake light for the fear of the others being too dark lol. so I'll repaint the tails as I described most likely and then paint the top third light a similar darkness. I think the reverse unpainted will look just fine, as it's already clear/white be itself. regardless, I do need the light at night lol. I think i'll also do my front blinkers but I'm not sure on that one yet. |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3692 Registered: Mar-07 | maybe instead of stripping it all off, just strip off a chevy bowtie in the middle of both tails, that way the red is the bow tie, everything else blacked out. what do yall think? |
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Gold Member Username: JtownTexas Post Number: 3695 Registered: Mar-07 | bump for input? |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesAndrew Capps, NC US Post Number: 3276 Registered: Mar-06 | IMO that would look really bad but thats just me |