Despite being an unabashed amatuer, I want to take the time and effort to tint my tail lights right. However, despite being ****, they just don't seem to be coming out the way they should.

I have been using the following tutorial (scroll down to Professional Finish Tutorial Start Point) step-by-step:

http://smoke-tail-lights.howtocar.net/tutorial.html

The trouble begins when I try to apply clear coat.

The light on the left has no clear coat. The light in the middle has a few thin layer of it. The light on the right has a thick coat, as per the website instructs.




The layers of clear coat look very poor, like white dust caked on top of the lense. It certainly looks better without the clearcoat.

However diligent I wetsanded with 2000 grit, applied Turtle Wax rubbing compound with a polisher, followed by Mcguiars PlastX.



It looks okay from a distance, but upclose, it's dreadful.




The former was the one with the thick coats, the latter with the thinner layers. And it isn't a glare, it looks like white dust caked into it.

I'm not sure what's been done properly or improperly. I don't want to wetsand so much as to remove all the clear coat.

 

you have to wet sand it to get it off then re apply.

What kind of clear did you use? Did you use the correct one?

Only thing you have to do.

Aren't you on Houston-Imports?

 

Any rattle can clear isnt really going to give you want you want. If you really want it to shine like the exterior of your car, use auto clear. PPG 2055. Also no AutoZone wax is going to do the same as actually wheeling them with actual buffing products. I use 3M.

If looks like you have alot of dry spray on them.

 

you used too much clear coat...only do like 2-3 light coats of it. i did that and mine dont look anything like yours??

 

um deff go buy a different clear. And let it air dry before you re - coat. . .

Remember, its supposed to be a clear coat, not a dusty-not-finished-looking coat lol.

The only real varients of clear should be straight clear, matte, or gloss, as far as your typical rattle can is concerned.

 

Looks the same as when i did mine, wetsanding will make them shine.

 

acrylic lacquor. thats what i use. cant spell it though. fan spray nozzles too. buy them.

 

acrylic lacquor. thats what i use. cant spell it though. fan spray nozzles too. buy them.

 

Rattle can clear

 

lol. That looks good. I stand corrected. But very few lights that Ive seen with just rattle cand dont look like that. GJ.

 

I'm using Duplicolor Acrylic Lacquer. It's even got a fan nozzle.

If I just wetsanded them until the dusty-looking white flecks disappeared, wouldn't that just be taking the clear coat off completely?

But like I said, I'm an amateur. Nothing left to do but try again.

 

Try holding the can a little closer it almost looks like your holding it far away and it's just dusting it

 

thats weird its happening. i did my tails with VHT and clear. Didnt happen to me. wet sand your lights with a high grit till they are smooth. then clean them off real good with rubbing alcohol or windex. dry it. then shake the clear like a ************ and spray your first coat sort of heavy, go left to right, and when you finish a line stop spraying, dont go back and forth holding the nozzle or else it will run in the crossover spot. if you hold the can too far away and spray a light coat it wont be real glossy and it will leave a dusty residue like you have, but not anywhere to that extreme.

But do as I said, wetsand high grit, clear again. if it doesnt work try a new clear. thats definitly a problem

 

I just painted mine like 15 minutes ago with this stuff.
I'm an R/C car guy and this paint is used as window tint for polycarbonate car bodies. Works friggin' amazing on lenses. Couple of coats, dries glossy as hell, no clears needed

 

I thought I may have been holding it too close! I was only about 6 inches away, maybe 10 at the most.

In the top picture, I sprayed the middle one with only a few layers, and then I sprayed the **** out of the one on the right side. I figured if I really coated it, it would look less like dust specks, and would look more solid.. but it just looked worse.

Gonna try this again tomorrow. The annoying thing is that you're supposed to wait 3 hours to dry, 13 hours to cure, etc. It's like I've only got one shot at it per day.

 

take your lights off, to get the night shades off completely without sanding, get a small container thats at least 3inched deep and able to fit one of the lights at a time. soak each peice in super clean in a purple container from wal-mart. soak them for about an hour. dont add any water to the stuff, use it pure. use a tooth brush to get any other lil spots that dont come right off, but it should come like of like sun burnt skin.
do it again with the night shades and make sure you put on thicker coats of clear. it should look like glass right away. respray more coats five minutes later, cause after 7minutes you will have to wait 24 hours to apply more coats. any question just pm me and ill try to help you more.

go to a hobby shop thats local or order it on line buy a lacquer clear coat it will look better. if you dont want to wait get a bucket of the hottest tap water you can get, and soak the can of clear in the bucket to warm the paint up. it will atomize better with the air when you spray it giving you a better coat. let it sit in the hot water for like 5mins take it out shake it for a min and then put it back in the hot water for a few more mins, then take it out shake it for a few seconds and then spray.

 

Pics? Sounds neat.

 

^^
Turned out like this after 3 light coats, and let 'em dry for about a half an hour. Thats it

 

Don't use clear, it looks like dick, and furthermore it's pretty pointless. I didn't use clear and mine are insanely glossy. It just depends on how good you wet-sand and polish.

 

it;s because that rattle can **** is garbage.

 

Polishing Is the key!!

 

the clear coat I used was made for rims to keep brake dust off, it was reccomended to me by the guy at autozone

 

Don't you evar evar evar evar listen to them. Ask us here first. They're the last resort.

 

dont use clear? your kidding right. Clear is very important in protecting the paint and provides a gloss. if it looks like "dick" its cause you dont know what your doing.


OP if you want i can help you tint your tails im in houston and i use to tint tails for a living at Cj Sounds Audio. pm me if your interested.

 

To be honest I didn't have a lot of time to work on the lights today, but I polished one light with a couple coats, followed by PlastX, the result was a bit more promising.

It looks pretty damned good from a distance.



It's definitely shiny and reflective; you can see the camera in the reflection.



But up close and in the right light, it still looks kind of crappy. You can see the white dusty effect on these. I assume this comes from the clear coat, however the polishing, while it does shine it up, seems to make it more obvious.



Another curious effect is this clear, clean line along the edges. I don't see how I could have missed it with the clear. I'd say it has to do with me not polishing so hard along the edges as along flatter surfaces, but it's almost as if the paint is coming off these parts; they look less tinted.