Smoking or Redding BRZ/FR-S Tail Lights

[nocoolname]

Originally Posted by ikuGANO

Big thanks for the additional information. I guess the hard part is clear coating them. I'm not too keen on painting or plasti-dipping with aerosol cans. When you're painting the red or clearcoat, are you pressing down on the nozzle intermittently? Or is your finger always held down for the whole duration through each layer you're spraying?

I'm used to spraying with a gun, but use a can in the same fashion. I spray my edges first, in the case of the tail lights, it would be the side (closest to trunk) and bottom (sides relative to the way they're mounted on the car). Specifically, I did the bottom, then the side. After that I do the rest as one spray. I start at the bottom of the light and move to the top, wrapping over the outer side and then the top of the light. This limits a possibility of overspray that could make it look like dry spray. I start moving my hand parallel to the surface and start spraying right before I get to the leading edge. I then don't stop spraying until I'm past the trailing edge. If spraying around an angle, make sure you keep your hand the same distance from the surface and make sure the spray is as perpendicular on a 90* angle as possible. I keep the nozzle about 6ish inches from the surface and overlap about 50%. The distance will probably be about the same for you as you can't adjust pressure or pattern on a spray can but depending on how fast you move, the overlap may be different.

[allowe]

A warning to anyone using the VHT red shade:
Whatever you do, make sure that no brake cleaner hits the painted surface. It will screw everything up. I was cleaning new rotors and a drop of brake cleaner fell on the lense, some of the tint came off. Had to redo them all over and had to do both because one looked darker than the other. I'm guessing clear coat takes care of that but it took me all day redoing them and trying to make them look good again.

This could also apply to things like goof off, gasoline or any alcohol based liquids.

Ps. Also they've been painted for almost 6 months now.

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[ikuGANO]

Took the plunge! Turned out better than I expected..

[DarkSideFRS]

for those who kept the turn signal clear AND did the sanding prior to painting, did you sand the turn signal area as well since it's only getting the clearcoat?

[nocoolname]

If you're having trouble finding the spraymax 2k, it's on Amazon.

[DarkSideFRS]

i have 2 cans of spraymax 2k left over from my project. If you're in socal, let me know. Selling them for $15 each

i'll be posting pix of my tail lights once I am done wetsanding and polishing. Waiting a few days for the clear to cure

[Waffle86]

3 coats of Red VHT night shade, no sanding, no clear coat.

My strategy was to spray heavier wet coats just shy of running to keep them looking glossy (light coats result in matte finish). In between coats I noticed a decent amount of orange peel; however, after the final coat and allowing an hour to dry, I came back out to find they had miraculously smoothed out.

Not planning on clear coating as I’m more than happy with the finish and I’m relying on PNW overcast weather to limit any fading until I pull the trigger on some Tom’s Tails.





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[natedawg239]

Has anyone done this with the 17s?

[WishfulThinking]

I'm looking to start putting some aftermarket work into my new 2016 FRS and since its going away for the winter being that the roads in Michigan are too bad to drive on anyway I'll definitely look into smoking a new set of tail lights... that being said you mentioned heat on my side how could I ensure decent results in a cold garage?

[Waffle86]

Originally Posted by WishfulThinking

I'm looking to start putting some aftermarket work into my new 2016 FRS and since its going away for the winter being that the roads in Michigan are too bad to drive on anyway I'll definitely look into smoking a new set of tail lights... that being said you mentioned heat on my side how could I ensure decent results in a cold garage?

My understanding is that the critical part in applying the spray tint is that the can is warm to avoid splattering from rattle cans. Not sure how cold weather would affect the drying process.

...why not do it now while it's still somewhat warm?


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[Face_Plant]

How many cans of VHT and Spraymax are required to do both tail lights? I'm considering at least 3 coats of red and 3 coats of clear for each light.

[Waffle86]

Originally Posted by Face_Plant

How many cans of VHT and Spraymax are required to do both tail lights? I'm considering at least 3 coats of red and 3 coats of clear for each light.

I did three wet coats with one can - heavy coats help achieve a glossy finish without the need for sanding/clear coat. Just be careful not to cause runs.

My result with NO CLEAR COAT:




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[Face_Plant]

Originally Posted by Waffle86

I did three wet coats with one can - heavy coats help achieve a glossy finish without the need for sanding/clear coat. Just be careful not to cause runs.

Looks good! I'm going to do my absolute best to avoid heavy/medium/wet coats since I tend to have very bad luck with them. Everything I've ever attempted to spray paint with more than a light dusting always ends up with runs or puddles. From what I've read Nite Shades dries pretty quickly, so I'm less likely to get impatient and lay down heavy coats just to get it over with. Plus I've already purchased the polishing compound, so I might as well use it.

I'm not too worried about running out of Nite Shades since I can just run to Walmart or something and grab another can. I'm more worried about running out of Spraymax 2K since I had to order that online and ordering more = more downtime...

[Waffle86]

Originally Posted by Face_Plant

Looks good! I'm going to do my absolute best to avoid heavy/medium/wet coats since I tend to have very bad luck with them. Everything I've ever attempted to spray paint with more than a light dusting always ends up with runs or puddles. From what I've read Nite Shades dries pretty quickly, so I'm less likely to get impatient and lay down heavy coats just to get it over with. Plus I've already purchased the polishing compound, so I might as well use it.

I'm not too worried about running out of Nite Shades since I can just run to Walmart or something and grab another can. I'm more worried about running out of Spraymax 2K since I had to order that online and ordering more = more downtime...

Gotcha. Well, considering I did three heavy coats with 1 can I’m sure you’ll be fine, even with the clear.

I found the red VHT to be pretty forgiving (I’m a very impatient painter as well). I chose not to clear coat as I wanted it easier to reverse. Once I got my Tom’s Tails I used some brake cleaner, some goo-gone, and some elbow grease and they were back to clear. Your car your choice though .


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