Smoking or Redding BRZ/FR-S Tail Lights

[Flat Black VW]

Painted mine today, used duplicolor metalcast and the clear coat from automotivetouchup.com. Did three light coats of the metalcast, followed by wet sanding with 2000 grit, then two coats of the clear. In a few days I will cut and buff it but it came out great so far. Very happy with the results.

Supplies:




Results:

[milenko11]

Did this today. The color turned out great however the paint did not. It's textured. Now I didn't sand because I forgot to buy some. Can I just try sanding it down good tomorrow and then clear or should I strip all of the paint off and start over?

[suaveflooder]

I LOVE the red tails! I'm a chicken, though. I will probably spend the money and get them professionally painted, although that clear coat from automotivetouchup.com is looking promising.

[mottor]

Originally Posted by Flat Black VW

Painted mine today, used duplicolor metalcast and the clear coat from automotivetouchup.com. Did three light coats of the metalcast, followed by wet sanding with 2000 grit, then two coats of the clear. In a few days I will cut and buff it but it came out great so far. Very happy with the results.

I used the same clear coat paint and had issues with it coming out very blurry. I tried buffing it out and still no luck. I'm going to strip mine down and do them again this week, do you have any recommendations for how to use the clear coat? I did 3 light coats with it last time.

[xxscaxx]

You can't sand down the last layer of red, or it will show through the clearcoat. Mine came out shiny as hell... I didn't even have to wetsand the clear.

I only did on a few spots that had tiny bumps, but other than that, it came out perfect.

For anyone using the 2k spraymax urethane clear from automotive touchup, just be aware it only has a shelf life of 24 hours. I learned the hard way by "testing" it on a different headlight first and then it turned solid on me and had to buy another one.

[mottor]

Originally Posted by xxscaxx

You can't sand down the last layer of red, or it will show through the clearcoat. Mine came out shiny as hell... I didn't even have to wetsand the clear.

I only did on a few spots that had tiny bumps, but other than that, it came out perfect.

For anyone using the 2k spraymax urethane clear from automotive touchup, just be aware it only has a shelf life of 24 hours. I learned the hard way by "testing" it on a different headlight first and then it turned solid on me and had to buy another one.

I buffed the last layer of red to a nice shine before applying the clear and it was really blurry afterward. I'll try to post pics later. It even came out blurry over the section that I taped off to leave clear turn signals. Did you apply the clear in several light coats or a couple of heavier coats?

[Justin91M]

Mine came out with a little bit of a matte look even after clear coating and wet sanding. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the matte look. Cant really tell from this picture but from like a side angle you can tell. Ill try to post another photo from the side when I get off from work.

[xxscaxx]

Originally Posted by mottor

I buffed the last layer of red to a nice shine before applying the clear and it was really blurry afterward. I'll try to post pics later. It even came out blurry over the section that I taped off to leave clear turn signals. Did you apply the clear in several light coats or a couple of heavier coats?

Maybe whatever you used to buff it messed with the clear... but i wetsanded each layer up until my last coat of red, then left it alone and let it dry, then hit it with the clear and it was perfect. That is weird that the taped part came out blurry. I applied it in light coats. I actually had a slight run in one spot because it was really cold when I painted them and I thought it had enough dry time and it didn't. I applied a bunch of coats though, I figured if this stuff was going to go to waste I might as well clearcoat the hell out of them

Originally Posted by Justin91M

Mine came out with a little bit of a matte look even after clear coating and wet sanding. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the matte look. Cant really tell from this picture but from like a side angle you can tell. Ill try to post another photo from the side when I get off from work.

What clear did you use?

after you wetsand, you have to polish it out with a compound to bring back the shine. They look awesome in that photo lol. Maybe you didn't clear it enough?

[Justin91M]

Originally Posted by xxscaxx

What clear did you use?

after you wetsand, you have to polish it out with a compound to bring back the shine. They look awesome in that photo lol. Maybe you didn't clear it enough?

I used this duplicolor perfect match clear. What I did was put about 6 layers of red and went with about 6 layers of clear, 2000 wetsand and then polished with some meguiars by hand because I dont have an orbital
Should I add some more clear coats, wetsand and then polish again maybe?

[smbstyle]

love this... but i may have to go with the red film, as I worry about opening up the factory tail lights...

[mottor]

Originally Posted by smbstyle

love this... but i may have to go with the red film, as I worry about opening up the factory tail lights...

This doesn't require opening the factory tail lights...

[Wes]

Originally Posted by Justin91M

That looks good! Now I'm pretty convinced to do this to my Asphalt.


So what I'm getting from here is this..
-Planning to use the Dupicolor Metal cast red since it looks so nice with Spraymax 2k
-Wet sand each layer of red until the last one
-clear coat and wet sand. then polish at the very end. Would I need to do every layer of clear? Or does that just depend on how each turns out?
-enjoy

[Noob4Life]

Thanks for this DIY! Here's mine, Thought I went a little dark but due to these being LEDs the brake lights are clear as day. Probably gonna wet sand recoat and clear them today, as well as do my reverse lights. Debating on leaving the reverse lights clear and just tinting the triangle.

[JDMSushi]

Originally Posted by Noob4Life

Thanks for this DIY! Here's mine, Thought I went a little dark but due to these being LEDs the brake lights are clear as day. Probably gonna wet sand recoat and clear them today, as well as do my reverse lights. Debating on leaving the reverse lights clear and just tinting the triangle.

Haha shit thats dark dude.