How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights!

Technical info on the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix including do-it-yourself info
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WhiteFiver
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How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights!

Post by WhiteFiver »

So, I figured I would help contribute to this forum a little bit.There are a few different sprays you can use. The most popular is VHT Nightshades. It comes in a standard spray can size and cost about 20 bucks US. The second is to go to your local hobby store and buy model paint. They make a spray paint called "tint" or "translucent black." Its a smaller can, but only runs about 5 USD. Either one of these will do the job and do it well. You will only need one can either way. I prefer the model paint because the VHT leaves a blueish hue to the tint, and the model paint sets up smoother. The third option is an old hot rod trick. If you mix paint (any color) with clear coat, you create a paint that you see through. It was originally used for that DEEP paint job. You see the paint, but you see through the top three coats to the base coat. Its really sexy! Well the same stuff can be used on tail lights. Some part stores/paint stores can mix it up for you in either a pint that goes into a sprayer or in a spray can. The third way is the most professional but also the most expensive. For this write up I'm going to assume you are using one of the first two since they are the most common, but if you have the third style you should be able to use this as a guide.Ok lets get started.Things you'll need:tint (your choice from above)clear coatWindex/rubbing alcoholLint free cloth or paper towellatex or similar glovespainters or masking taperatchet with 10mm (i think) socket1000 grit wet sand paperbucket with clean waterpolishing compound#2 Philips screw driver (to do the side markers)heated workspaceFirst off, you need to remove the lights that are going to be tinted. I don't remember the exact tools needed, but its not hard at all. Open your trunk. on the inside of the light there should be 3 nuts/washers to remove. Once those are off, the light will move. You need to unplug the harness or remove the bulbs. This is all preference based on you. I did the harness. If you don't want to chance breaking the bulbs in the light, you can pull them out as well. Once they are free from the car and in your hands you should move inside. You want the temp of the lights and the space your working to be 65-105 F. Colder or hotter you will have issues with the paint adhering to the lights.Prep work:So here is where most people go and cut corners. I will say this process can be faster, but the results WILL show. Prep work is everything when you paint. Use the tape to mask off anything you don't want tinted. Maybe you want to do a stripe that stays red, or have a reverse light (non G5) that you don't want tinted. Get creative and make these lights your creation. You definitely want to mask off the outer edge and the backs to avoid over spray. Once you are taped off you can start the prep. First you need to make sure that you don't have any wax on your lights and the paint will stick without having a primer. To do that, take your 1000 grit sand paper and set it in the bucket of water. It should sit for a good 5-10 minutes. Once the paper is saturated, you want to lightly sand your tail lights. DO NOT move in a circular fashion. Either go side to side or up and down. If you make circle you will get focal points for the light and have to re-sand your lights and start over. Flush the lenses of the light with plenty of water while sanding and keep your strokes light. You want to sand everywhere that will be tinted. It should all look very uniform when done. You're light will seem a little hazy, and then when wet seem perfect. This will also fix any scratches you have in your tails. Now you need to put on your latex gloves. Take the Windex and clean everything off. It is very important to make sure the surface is clean. Alcohol and Windex will take off the oils from your skin as well, so make sure your bare hands don't touch anything after. Make sure the surface is dry. Alcohol and the ammonia in Windex make for pretty fast dry times anyway.Paint work:Now that the lights are prepared and ready to go, time to get ourselves ready. You can keep the gloves on or take em off. I'd recommend leaving them on to avoid touching the lights and getting paint on your hands. Set the lights on a bench/floor/table that is relatively level. You want to set them down in a fashion that will minimize running and allow free access to all angles of the lights. Generally speaking that means space them out a bit and face them up. Your spray paint is going to specify how to use it. its going to need to be shaken so lets start shaking. While your shaking, lets go over the painting itself. You need to keep the coats light. The tricky part is that you should keep the number of coats to 3. After three coats, the transparency starts to go down. VHT will mention this on the can, the model paint wont. So you need to use some judgment on how dark to make each coat so that after the third coat you are at your desired darkness. The first coat should be the lightest coat so the paint can get tacky and make a sort of primer for the following coats without running or streaking. The second coat can get heavier but don't over do it. The third coat is going on top of two sticky coats of itself. The running will be at a minimum so the coat be decently thick. Just make sure your second coat gets you far enough along to avoid having to over do the third coat. Make sure you spray evenly across the surface during each and every coat. Done shaking as per the paint cans directions? Good, lets do it then. Spray the first coat like I previously mentioned and let it dry for a good 15-30 minutes. After the paint gets tacky, you can spray your second coat keeping in mind that it can be thicker than the first, but the third coat is going to be the one that makes it dark. Let this one set for a solid 30 min. Now spray on your third and final coat. They should look like smoked tails now! We're not done, but they should look pretty good so far. Let them set for a couple hours. The can will tell you how long to set before working. After they are COMPLETELY dry.get your wet sand paper out and make sure its wet. You are going to lightly sand the paint now. Use the same method as before. This will eliminate any "orange peel" in the paint and help to correct any screw ups in the painting. The surface of the paint should look like dark glass not an orange with black marker on it. Once you get it all uniform again, wash it with the Windex again and let it dry off. Shake the crap out of your clear coat as per its directions. Clear coat painting isn't the same as the tint. You can spray lighter coats to avoid running sagging or streaking and you can spray as many as you want. I put down 4-5 coats on mine with total coverage in each. Let each coat set for 15-30 minutes before applying a new coat. Once your done with the last coat, let it sit for a couple hours again. The can is the guide on this again. The light will look bumpy and hazy when your done with the clear coat. Even after it dries completely it wont look right. But your painting is done.Buffing the lights to a high gloss:Once the clear coat has dried, you can buff the light out and make her sexy! This can be done by hand or by machine and a circular motion is preferred. If you do it bay machine, use a very low speed and less abrasive pad. It takes longer to do it by hand, but the control you have is much higher!!!! Only use a polishing compound... NOT a rubbing compound. Scratch X from Meguiars is a polishing compound. Either by hand or with a machine, buff until the gloss matches the one on your paint.Don't look now, but your tail lights are smoked to the desired darkness and buffed to the right shine. You now have you're own little sexiness and it only cost you like 20-30 bucks! Install them on the car in the reverse manor of the removal and take pictures for immediate posting on here! Other lights beside the tail lights that can be done like this? All of them! just need to figure out if its a good idea and how to get them out. That's why I listed a Philips scr
ew driver on the tools list. You need it to pull the side markers.Getting the old clearcoat/VHT off:Sanding:Tacking:Getting ready to spray:First coat!Little darker than you want the finished product to be...Looks darker than it is, since there's no light passing through.I have now done mine a couple times, as well as helped a few people do theirs. If someone wants help with theirs or just wants me to do theirs...... For now, here are some pics of lights I've done.Now a couple shots of my car.Before:After:Stock tail lights (right) and my tail lights (left), Night-time, Exposure dropped right down to just catch light output:
2008 G5. K&N SRI, 16x7 Akita AK-7, Painting, CCFL Projectors, tinted tails.2004 Vibe Base, 160,xxx KM, 37,xxx KM on motor
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Blanco_Diablo
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Re: How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights! (A Psycho Martyr)

Post by Blanco_Diablo »

Can't wait to see 'em. I need to do mine soon as well.
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A Psycho Martyr
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Re: How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights! (Blanco_Diablo)

Post by A Psycho Martyr »

Your taillights maybe, but your headlights couldn't look ANY better than they do now. perfect for your ride
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Re: How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights! (WhiteFiver)

Post by A Psycho Martyr »

Ok, so here's my headlights, fogs, and taillightsHere;s what I'm using. Bought from Auto Zone.Taillights, due to be redone SaturdayzThey feel smooth but have a weird dull sheen so I'm redoin emHeadlights BEFORE....nice and oxidized. Horribly rough and uglyHere they are on the car during the dayAnd the full frontal female nudity!!!!!!
bull77
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Post by bull77 »

looks great with white did you put any clearcoat on them? I guess tinted headlights are legal in Alabama
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Re: How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights! (A Psycho Martyr)

Post by keithvibe »

my gosh... I hope you never have to drive at night. Looks good, but not very functional.
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Re: How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights! (keithvibe)

Post by BlueCrush »

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »my gosh... I hope you never have to drive at night. Looks good, but not very functional.x2...That is dark!
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lovemyraffe
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Re: How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights! (BlueCrush)

Post by lovemyraffe »

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »x2...That is dark!x3...looks great, but I'm sure it is going to lower your visibility.
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star_deceiver
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Re: How-to: Tint Your Tail-lights! (A Psycho Martyr)

Post by star_deceiver »

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »x2...That is dark!x4.... I'd ask why but I know the answer. Irregardless, it looks good! A very nice daytime driver!
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A Psycho Martyr
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Re: (bull77)

Post by A Psycho Martyr »

um...OOOPSSS!!!! WAY to damn dark.lol. Looked fine during the day, but I struggled like a mofo gettin home from work tonight. Not legal either, I just don't care.lol. ANYWAYS....time to sand and try again....pics up soon. Like, REAL soon.lol 8( looked so nice too. Taillighgts and fogs are still very functional tho so not a TOTAL screwup.
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A Psycho Martyr
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Re: (A Psycho Martyr)

Post by A Psycho Martyr »

Just got it all redone but I'm workin two jobs today So pics go up tomorrow. Everything looks nice. You can ACTUALLY see light being projected instead of just lighting up the lens.lol
WhiteFiver
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Post by WhiteFiver »

Looks great, however I would still suggest doing a good polish on the lights to give them the factory sheen.
2008 G5. K&N SRI, 16x7 Akita AK-7, Painting, CCFL Projectors, tinted tails.2004 Vibe Base, 160,xxx KM, 37,xxx KM on motor
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A Psycho Martyr
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Re: (WhiteFiver)

Post by A Psycho Martyr »

true, I know I need to, but I'm not sure how to get that look I want. I'm great at painting, but not with the whole buffing thing.
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Re: (A Psycho Martyr)

Post by A Psycho Martyr »

So here's the pictures of the "fix". A little rough, but it's worthy for now. when it warms up i'll redo it and pay more attention to detailSTARTED SANDING ON IT (PAIN IN THE ***)DECIDED TO STOP THERE AND TRY TO BLEND THE DARK EDGES WITH THE MIDDLE. HERE'S WHAT I GOTSO SO MUCH BRIGHTER. I CAN SEE AT NIGHT AGAIN!! REDO ON THE TAILS. JUST A LITTLE DARKER
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Re: (A Psycho Martyr)

Post by keithvibe »

just so you know, because your tail lights are that dark, people might be able to see them at night, but during a bright sunny day no body will see them. If someone was to rear end you because they couldn't see your tinted tail lights, you would be at fault. So don't break check anyone.
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bull77
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Post by bull77 »

ya those tails look pretty dark especially after the redo -- better keep on eye on that 3rd taillight bulb. so are you going to try and get the headlights back to clear? or smoke tint?
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Post by djkeev »

Stupid.Making lights harder to see by darkening them is just simply stupid.Let's just go back to the days of the 6v small light days as the old VW Beetles when you were hard pressed to even see the tail lights!I'll say it again and this is only MY opinion, it's stupid.I understand the dark look but sometimes functionality trumps looks.Dave
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Re: (djkeev)

Post by A Psycho Martyr »

Ok, so after reading all you guys' input on it I decided to redo thr taillights again.lol I sanded the brake light part down to stock, blended the tint so there were no definitive lines, and clear-coated. Here's what I'm workkin with now.BEFORE SANDED DOWN TO STOCK OVER THE BRAKELIGHTCLEAR COATPICTURES DURING THE DAYThis look any better GenVibers?
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Re: (A Psycho Martyr)

Post by star_deceiver »

Looks much better!!! Cool but still functional (plus you can now see and be seen at night)!And Dave, my 6 volt lights work fine: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=39424 (well, as fine a 30w/30w incandesant headlight can. Problems with the 6v systems can be solved by upgrading the voltage regulator/rectifier.)
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