VHT Nite Shades??

[ARdoller]

that seems to be the general consensus.

 

[OnyxCobra]

dont bother with clear coat, just get yourself some polishing compound, some 1500-2000g sand paper and a small orbital buffer. it will come out much better than clear coat. you have 2 options to shine out tail lights, one being clear coat, the other being just polishing, or even a combination of both. but what most people dont realize is that just using clear coat, isnt going to get rid of all the orange peel. if you want them to finish out correctly, you gotta treat em like paint, where the quality of the job is 99% in the wet sanding.

granted, on those i posted above, i used a 7" variable speed polisher

I'm in the process of tinting my tails but i did a test run with VHT on an old headlight and for the record after my buddy cleared them they looked fucking INSANE. Also for the record if you're treating them like paint you technically shouldn't be sanding the base coat, all the wet sanding is done on the clear unless you have a fuck up and once you sand the clear coat smooth there will be no orange peal. Shooting clear from a gun may be the key but other people have had success with it from a can as well.

Also the VHT i bought actually dries with a glossy finish, thought that was weird cause i was expecting it to be flat black but it was actually quite glossy.

 

[ARdoller]

it depends how much you put on. the less you put on the less it will haze/dull. if you only do a light tint, it will appear somewhat shiny. like i said i experiment with the sets i do, and one of the sets i did, i purposely used too much to see what would happen, and it did exactly what i expected, it buffed out to its darkest possible shade (which ive noticed tends to be the same shade no matter how much you use after about 1/2-3/4 can), but also, when the tint dried, it dried completely white. it was so dull that it dried white...

what you will notice no matter how much you use though, is the texture of the lens, which is what is going to determine how well the light shines through, and end the end, how well the light reflects off of it. its like looking at paint that isnt completely smooth... it may still be somewhat shiny, but since the texture isnt smooth like "glass", its going to pit any reflections, distorting them, and if bad enough, cause them to look dull.

personally, even if you cant tell from any more than 5/10/15ft or whatever if theyre smooth or rough, i like to have em nice and real shiny. and if youre gonna go through the effort to pull them apart and tint them, theres really no point to just stop there, when just a little more work will make em perfect.

 

[justinschmidt1]

I like to apply a heavy wet coat to finish them off...give them a nice shine

 

[ARdoller]

you know what, i started using the Meguiars Swirl remover on them, and that is working much better than the polishing compound. but then again i also switched to a more abrasive microfiber pad than the last one i was using. im wondering if its a combination. although, im probably gonna stick to using the polisher, unless its cutting through the tint too much.

 

[justinschmidt1]

I use a DA porter cable so I wouldnt know what to tell you to do by hand.

Seems like polishing by hand would leave a lot of scratches

 

[OnyxCobra]

i did about 4 coats and each layer kept getting shiner. I got a lot of dirt in the vht layer though so i wet sanded it out and it was hella smooth, but once the clear was put on it was pretty much smooth across the board.


It seems like the process for tinting tail lights has turned into the same kinda topic as which gear should i get or which heads are the best, you can argue about it forever because there is more than one way to get good results.

 

[justinschmidt1]

i did about 4 coats and each layer kept getting shiner. I got a lot of dirt in the vht layer though so i wet sanded it out and it was hella smooth, but once the clear was put on it was pretty much smooth across the board.


It seems like the process for tinting tail lights has turned into the same kinda topic as which gear should i get or which heads are the best, you can argue about it forever because there is more than one way to get good results.

Pretty much

 

[Win]

I dunno i learned alot from reading from what you all put in here. I appreciate all the responses i got. Thanks Guys

 

[JonBeast]

Tape off your reverse lights :thumbsup:

 

[OnyxCobra]

Tape off your reverse lights :thumbsup:

i think that would look funny...

 

[ARdoller]

something i forgot to mention, which isnt a big deal at all or anything, but if youre using VHT in a rattle can (im not aware that they make it any other way), get yourself a Can Gun. theyre like $2 at the parts store, its just a handle & trigger for rattle cans. it makes applying rattle can paint much easier, and helps keep layers uniform. plus you dont have to worry about the paint that might graze your finger as its coming out of the nozzle that may splatter onto what youre trying to paint.