Smoked my Tail Lights

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Well I guess Im just going to clear the hell out of them all right now. Every 10 mins I go back outside for another coat. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[MikeyB 5,000+ posts]

add clear coat either tomorrow or 6-8 hours after the last coat of night shades.allow clear to dry 6-12 hours before any sanding/buffing.

add LOTS AND LOTS of clear coat. at least 1 can per light, cause when you start wet sanding it can sand quick while trying to remove orange peel and you could end up sanding off the tint. in which you would have to redo everything.

Not sure if this coating is applied different from how I have been taught to spray automotive paint but I have always cleared after the basecoat has tacked to get better adhesion rather than letting the basecoat full cure.

when i did mine i began wetsanding with 1500grit, then up to 2000grit. have a spray bottle with a soap+water solution. spray as you sand to wash off particle. dry here and there and take a good look at the smoothness. after you get all dimples out you can begin with buffing with a medium cut rubbing compound do this very well for a good amount of time. not just 3 minutes. after then use a Fine cut rubbing compound. again take your time as this step should be repeated a few times. let the compound work it's way in. after then use a gloss polishing compound. buff for a long period of time then wipe down.only use micro fiber towels when wiping the lights down at any point.

patience is key. take your time.

Agreed, and fixed //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[mazzasec 5,000+ posts]

anybody live in Ga? I need my headlights smoked

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Well I wetsanded them with 2000 grit paper and soap and water... They look good and are really smooth just they have a little white haze on em. Alot of it is from soap that is left as residue (wiped off all I could) but I think some is from the clearcoat.

Will it come out when I buff and polish them? Whats a good stuff to polish them with?

 

[lil_italy773 10+ year member]

great look g-monk..gives me a idea lol

 

[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

Well I wetsanded them with 2000 grit paper and soap and water... They look good and are really smooth just they have a little white haze on em. Alot of it is from soap that is left as residue (wiped off all I could) but I think some is from the clearcoat.
Will it come out when I buff and polish them? Whats a good stuff to polish them with?

lawl, should have mentioned to allow the clear coat to cure for 6-8 hours.

take a pic of what this haze you are looking at is. it could be just the clear as it's sanded.

as for buffing compound you could look at meguars(sp?).

 

[SHiZNiLTi 10+ year member]

Cool Monkey, Smoked tailights look badass!

I don't do any wetsanding when using VHT nightshades, nor do I use clear coat...

I get as close as I can to the point where it's ALMOST about to run. I do about 3-4 thick coats.

If you spray it too far away the finish doesnt look glossy, it's almost a type of matte finish.

IMO it's all about the technique you use when spraying it on.

For the headlights I didn't want it as dark, but as you can see since it wasn't sprayed on thick it doesn't have the same glossy shine that the tailights do, but it's still pretty sick looking...

If your gonna smoke your headlights make sure you have some HID's installed because it definatly cuts down on light output. With my smoked headlights and tinted front windshield it was kinda hard to see at night.

With both my headlights and tailights I used a 3M buffing compound paste to buff them very lightly.

After that I used some Meguiar's Gold Class to polish/shine them.

 

[MikeyB 5,000+ posts]

When spraying almost any material you want to use the same basic techniques everytime. Each pass (for "most" materials) you should be looking for a %50 overlap, with some metallics and pearls %75 overlap is required. You want to plan your passes and be sure not to hit any area more than another, and you want to spray all jams first leaving the most visible surfaces for the final passes. With these techniques you spray coat by coat until your level of coverage is reached.

And I assumed to clearcoat since I dont recall seeing anywhere that this VHT stuff has any UV protection. If it does however than clear is not necessary but if not then I would definately do it or else its going to fade......

 

[chinxtaboi 10+ year member]

ive smoked both my headlights and taillights, but havent polished them, what you yall use to polish?

i smoked my headlights, and then when i needed a inspection sticker, i had to get all the shade and clear coat off. sucked.

 

[Talamant3z 10+ year member]

i did mine too i need to do the side lights //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif