Taillight tint/paint

[nickb488]

Alright everyone, I want some different opinions and feedback on this. I want to smoke my taillights (DIY)

What brands/materiel's did you guys use? How many coats? What kind of prep work? How long did you let them sit? Post pictures please, any info helps! Thanks guys (and gals)


2012 Jetta 2.5 SE w/conv

[djflatsky]

In my opinion i would go with taillight tint film. You can probably pick it up at your local tint shop. And you can take it off in the future if you decide to.

[ripNdip]

Take them off your car. Clean with water. Spray light coats of vht niteshade until you get to the darkness you want. Put back on car when dry and buff them using meguiars plastx. That's what I did to mine and they came out great. I did 2 light coats just to give them a smoked cherry red look. Also if you mess up or don't like it you can just take it off with goo gone.

[Timstah]

id advise cleaning with rubbing alcohol before doing anything to your tail lights

[spitfire199208]

i ended up taping mine off and sprayed them with niteshade.. you seriously cant even tell that they were sprayed





but it took so long to even do so your best bet would be to do the tint over them.
and to remove niteshade, just use goo gone and smear it over the tails.. itll come off by wiping it in a few mins

[PorpoiseHork]

i ended up taping mine off and sprayed them with niteshade.. you seriously cant even tell that they were sprayed





but it took so long to even do so your best bet would be to do the tint over them.
and to remove niteshade, just use goo gone and smear it over the tails.. itll come off by wiping it in a few mins

Looks great, nice job!

[Rob093090]

I used tint paper in mine and also did them myself with a hair drier, soapy water, a box cutter, a squeegee and ALOT of patience.

I used this vinyl paper:


& they came out like this:

[Jetta_MK6]

Tint the tail looks much better than VHT plus its removable, and it doesn't need to be redone every now and than... Looks better IMO too.

[Antonio Freire]

Take them off your car. Clean with water. Spray light coats of vht niteshade until you get to the darkness you want. Put back on car when dry and buff them using meguiars plastx. That's what I did to mine and they came out great. I did 2 light coats just to give them a smoked cherry red look. Also if you mess up or don't like it you can just take it off with goo gone.

I did exactly that way, except that I applied three coats.

[STR8 Ballin]

I just did mine today i did it in the following steps :

1. Removed tail lights, and cleaned with rubbing alcohol

2. Sanded down with 2000 grit sandpaper

3. used VHT Nite shades and sprayed desired amount of coat (10min break between coats)

4. Clear coated

5. Reinstalled lights

looks damn good on candy white, ill have pics up soon. Personally i dont like the dark-red style i did mine all black, and you can see the brake and reverse lights easily as VHT niteshades are transparent

[Timstah]

For those who taped off sections of the taillight before using vht, anybody getting hard residue ?

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[dh71704]

Tint the tail looks much better than VHT plus its removable, and it doesn't need to be redone every now and than... Looks better IMO too.

Is that lamin-x. What percentage oc tint is that?

[Jetta_MK6]

Yea it's lamin-x. I think it's either smoke or charcoal but I'm pretty sure it's smoked. 45 a tail at a shop not a bad deal.

[clutchrider]

I just did mine today i did it in the following steps :

1. Removed tail lights, and cleaned with rubbing alcohol

2. Sanded down with 2000 grit sandpaper

3. used VHT Nite shades and sprayed desired amount of coat (10min break between coats)

4. Clear coated

5. Reinstalled lights

looks damn good on candy white, ill have pics up soon. Personally i dont like the dark-red style i did mine all black, and you can see the brake and reverse lights easily as VHT niteshades are transparent

If going to paint route, do this

I used this method for my M3 side mirrors on my 02 Civic back in my quasi-ricer days. Of course I used color matched paint and not a tint, but same method.

[SanJoseJetta]

I did exactly that way, except that I applied three coats.

Those look beautiful!

[PorpoiseHork]

Looks good but how is reversing with that level of tint?

[grcarlo]

I used the VHT on my MKV TDI and turned out great. Takes a bit of work but turned out fine. Best part is you can go as light or dark as you want then sand, clear coat, wax and good to go. Got a fs gli to do up next might just go with the same.

[SanJoseJetta]

I did exactly that way, except that I applied three coats.

No clear coat? Just niteshade?

[spitfire199208]

For those who taped off sections of the taillight before using vht, anybody getting hard residue ?

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no sir, i went ahead and washed my tails, sanded and washed again.. then i used painters tape and took my time to do so

[gregkmc]

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Yea its dark whats the big whoop, wanna fight about it. No but seriously its dark smoke in the rear and smoke in front. Film

[LDxVW]

I just put on Lamin-X tint today, and i would say that the lights on the trunk, the inner 2, were pretty easy to do.. but the outer 2 i screwed up to hell. it's hard to do. i used a blow dryer too, i honestly don't understand how you would get it around the curve of the light without creasing.. Maybe i just have no idea what i'm doing too. here's the damage:

[gregkmc]

Its not easy...like the previous poster said...patience Daniel son

[LDxVW]

ohhh i was patient. but that was my first time with doing something like that. trial and error i guess.

[gregkmc]

I hear ya. Sucks too because those things are not cheap...What you can try is cutting the ripped part out and replacing with extra if you have it. I wouldn't think it could look any worse. I had to do it on mine but it wasnt that big.

[LDxVW]

i'm gonna just rip those outer ones off and see how it looks and just leave it maybe.. hah

[Antonio Freire]

No clear coat? Just niteshade?

I used a tube of clear coat in four parts.

[Antonio Freire]

I just put on Lamin-X tint today, and i would say that the lights on the trunk, the inner 2, were pretty easy to do.. but the outer 2 i screwed up to hell. it's hard to do. i used a blow dryer too, i honestly don't understand how you would get it around the curve of the light without creasing.. Maybe i just have no idea what i'm doing too. here's the damage:

It's really difficult to apply the Lamin-X, this is a job for a professional or someone who has great ability to do this. I tried twice and gave up. I wasted my time and $ 100.00 and finished painting it.

[LDxVW]

It's really difficult to apply the Lamin-X, this is a job for a professional or someone who has great ability to do this. I tried twice and gave up. I wasted my time and $ 100.00 and finished painting it.

Yeah I agree. It's really hard to do. Regret trying it.

[Antonio Freire]

[SanJoseJetta]

I used a tube of clear coat in four parts.

Thanks bro......but you used a tube of clear coat? Not spray? Sorry for so many questions...thanks again.

[JPCanadian]

Anyone get their greasy hands on a can of this stuff:

http://www.plastidip.com/home_soluti...asti_Dip_Smoke

On dip your car.com or whatever, they suggest using it for tail lights.

[dh71704]

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Yea its dark whats the big whoop, wanna fight about it. No but seriously its dark smoke in the rear and smoke in front. Film

Can you post a couple more pics of the front end? Are you running stock headlight bulbs and how does it effect the visibility at night? Thanks for the help.

[MkIVguy21]

dont do it i did it to my MKIV jetta and it eventually just peels off get the film

[s0l0ma]

I've seen white PlastiDip, do you guys think it will work on Candy White tails?

[Antonio Freire]

Thanks bro......but you used a tube of clear coat? Not spray? Sorry for so many questions...thanks again.

Sorry, it's because my English is terrible. I used a spray tube...