Red out tail light
 

Hey guys,

I will be using VHT Nite-Shades (RED) to pait my taillight. I got few questions:

1) How many coats did you apply?
2) Any Prep work other than cleaning?
3) What about the amber light? Did you leave it or did you get a red one?

When I did mine I used this thread.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7826

It gives you multiple options from different people and has pics of some people's results. I would suggest reading thru this thread and learning what not to do! It really helped me on mine! As for the amber light I changed mine to a red LED which I think looks better anyway but just my opinion. Hope this helps!

Just after posting this thread I found the thread you quoted haha. Thanks, and alright for the turn signal.

nice :).

B@t

can anyone make a video of what it will look like in the day, night, from far and from near ;)

I saw a lot of result, never when the lights are running though :(

Maybe this will help a little
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X3ygEoqrwk"]How to Nite Shade your tail lights - YouTube[/ame]

There is no video of them actually lighting on?

I did 3 light coats and 1 heavy coat on mine. Turned out really nice and still holding up well.

I've never seen a set of tails using nightshades that really looked good. First did this on my STI in 08 and wound up doing those tails a few times. Things that I learned:

Duplicolor Metalcast >> Nightshades
Any single component from a spray can will fade in the sun eventually
Single component paints never fully cure - if you try to polish them with an orbital you will just smear them
Most people cannot use paint even with detailed instructions :)

If you want a nice color that will last the life of the car, you only need a single can of Metalcast and a single can of Spraymax 2k clear. Scotchbrite the stock lenses, mask them off and then use a paint prep to remove all wax and grease - Eastwood's Pre is a great product for this. Indoor painting area with no wind, clean the floor VERY well. Wear a synthetic shirt such as underarmor when spraying. These last two will minimize dust and fuzz in the air. Three light coats of Metalcast, each covering more and more of the light with 15 minutes of flash time between coats. Don't hang out in the area moving around and looking at them, you are just asking for dust in the coats. After the third coat of metalcast the light should be fully red, just not as dark as you want. Fourth coat spray wet, just not enough to make a run. When this coat is wet you will have an idea of the final product - as it dries it will start to look matte, don't worry.

At this point mix up the Spraymax (again, in a different area). After 30 minutes of flash for the 4th metalcast coat you are ready to spray the clear. Spray it wet, just shy of runs. 20 minutes flash and do it again. You don't want light coats of clear, you want it to flow out and fill all the little valleys left from the color coat. You'll notice at no time did I ever mention sanding any coats.

48 hours later the urethane will be fully cured. If you have to you can wetsand it with 2000 grit and then polish using an orbital with a mild cut followed by a fine cut polish, but if you followed the above directions there should be no need. Wax and treat the lights like you would the rest of the painted surfaces on your car. C Quartz coating really makes them pop.

Right on. Is the Spraymax 2k sold anywhere locally?

I remember saw one lighting on on his video. Check the videos on his channel. Can't remember which one was.

Not that I've found. I always get it from Eastwood.

I've done the red out job on my tail lights and then realized I wanted to keep the amber turn signal. Then I remembered that a TV's pixels operate with red blue and green colors, and to achieve yellow color they blend red and green. Red+green=yellow!! So this is what I did if anyone is interested...

1. Purchased a pair of clear 7440 bulbs.
2. Purchased a bottle of Decoart transparent green glass stain from Michael's
3. Applied 2 coats of stain to the clear bulbs.
4. Replaced the amber 7440 bulbs with my freshly stained green bulbs.

Sorry my picture lighting isn't the best but it looks really good. So you can get the best of both worlds, red out tail lights and still keep the amber signal color.
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You do not need metalcast and clear. It is way too long of a process and not cost effective for the goal here, which is red lenses on a budget. I used red VHT. 5 light dustings with about a half hour between each coat and finalized with 2 medium coats. They turned out high gloss and look OEM. I left the amber bulbs in as the housings are red, so the bulbs are just fine. I did not need to polish mine, but could for a little refinements. Polishing 1 hour after fully dry does NOT smear or have any ill effects in my experience and I have used this on several vehicles. I had VHT Red and Smoke on my NSRT for 3 years. High gloss and absolutely zero fading. I will post up pictures of both.