Smoked Tail Light Tint

I decided to make my own smoked tail light tint. It is static-cling window film in 20% limo black from Wal-Mart, or i have seen it other places also. Then cut to fit. The tint is a thin static cling vinyl unlike real tint, so you can use and reuse them as many times as you want. The tint comes in a roll. It cost me $10.19, and hour of my time.

I made the templates by cutting a hole in a sheet of paper, taping it to the light and tracing the shape to the paper. Then I cut the shape and transferred it to the tinting.

This is a pic of the cut outs and the stock tail light. Make sure it is clean..

The tint is the vinyl, static type, but you still apply it like the regular window tint. You can use baby shampoo and bottled water to help you apply it. This is with the first one on the top..

This is it all done !

After several high pressure car washes, and high speed driving, mine is still sticking. Once the moisture is gone, they are not coming off until YOU take it off.

 

[BigBlackMerk]

These are my tails that I did this weekend. I used the same RC paint as SoundQ SVT. It only took one can, and I coated them 3 times then 1 coat of clear. I also let them dry for about 48 hours to the paint allow the paint to dry as much as possible. I have to say they came out awesome! They look brand new and like they came from the factory that way. I bought a few extra cans if anything is instrested.

P.S. - Don't mind the dirty truck! It snowed the day before I started working on the truck. In APRIL, I know!

Without further ado....

This is before the clear coat.

Back of the truck.

Close up of driver side tail.

Close up of passenger side tail.

how fade resistant is the paint. VHT nightshade fades very quicky

 

[Villo007]

Tygrr, How did you get them to shine? I did mine with Rustolium Tail Light Tint. They came out good (didnt tape off reverse area) but they still have a redish tint and look somewhat matte. Im not sure if I should clear coat them. Any suggestions?

 

[Villo007]

No shine

 

[shagr15]

villo- mine did the same thing, I actually just took them off and put on my other set because I want to redo them. if anyone knows why ours came out like that please help, I want them to be shiny too

 

[Paraphoe]

Clear coat them. Here are mine after a couple coats of clear:

 

[shagr15]

paraphoe, what clear coat did you use? because I used a clear on mine and that seemed to make them not shiny

 

[Paraphoe]

My full thread is here:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212944

But I used Model Master "Ultra gloss clearcoat". There's a picture of the little can in that thread.

 

[shagr15]

when you masked it off did you just use a razor blade to cut it out? I think when I redo mine I want to mask off the reverse light because when I have it tinted it doesn't show much when I'm backing up

 

[Paraphoe]

No, I just used a million pieces of tape and built around the light very carefully. I didn't want to scratch the light with a blade.

 

[shagr15]

gotcha... I guess when I re-tint mine I'll just do that to mask off the reverse lights

 

[Tavery1]

Well, I win the dumb dumb award. Went to pick n pull and got some tail lights to smoke found a great set except their off a 97 so there a little narrow. There goes my day of work. Anyways atleast I have a set to run while I smoke the ones that were on the truck.

 

[Stefan1914]

Quick question, can I use a 2008 Mercury mountaineer factory chrome tail light for a 2008 Ford explorer?

 

[Villo007]

villo- mine did the same thing, I actually just took them off and put on my other set because I want to redo them. if anyone knows why ours came out like that please help, I want them to be shiny too

Shagr15, Mine are all better now, im being lazy and havnt uploaded pics. They are all shiny now. Use "goofoff" and get the old stuff off. Go to your hobby shop and pick up a can of smoked lense paint, its for models and stuff but it works amazingly. Its like 6 bucks in this tiny ass can but its well worth it.

 

[shagr15]

thanks villo... do you clear coat them after respraying them or just leaving the paint as it is?

 

[Villo007]

thanks villo... do you clear coat them after respraying them or just leaving the paint as it is?

Personally I did not Clear them. If you keep them in a relatively dust free area, they will have a great shine with the model car paint. Ill upload pictures soon but you be the judge after a bunch of light coats of the smoked tint.

 

[shagr15]

yeah... mine were shiny after I did just the tint paint but after I cleared them they got the matte look to them. I don't know if it was just the clear or what... I was just nervous that they would fade if I didn't clear them

 

[Villo007]

yeah... mine were shiny after I did just the tint paint but after I cleared them they got the matte look to them. I don't know if it was just the clear or what... I was just nervous that they would fade if I didn't clear them

eh i really doubt it will really fade. do multiple light coats. youll be fine.

 

[mrbird09]

will the spray work on windows too? or will the vynal work on windows?

 

[shagr15]

well I finally got new tint paint and redid my lights. I ended up not masking off the reverse lights again just because I like the all black look. I am out of town now and the lights are back home but when I get back I am putting them on again. They are shiny now so I think I am not going to clear coat them (please don't fade!). and I will take pics when they are on again... probably sometime middle of the week

 

[xero2099]

one coat of night shade and 2 coats of clear coat i used the automotive clear coat that you can get at autozone didn't want to go too dark since state inspection can sometimes be a ***** about those things