Alright so I just bought the tint spray and I'm planning on doing my lights when the weather isn't shitty outside.

My friend did his lights on his Altima and he just cleaned it and sprayed it on without sanding and it turned out pretty good. He's has no problems at all.

I was wondering is it really neccessary to sand the lights before you tint them?

 

It wouldn't hurt to wetsand them in between coats.

 

I just did mine yesterday. i just cleaned them good then gave them like 3 coats, i was gonna put on some clearcoat but they look pretty damn good as is. i wouldnt sand unless you mess up or something.

 

before i tinted mine i lightly sanded with 600 grit. then after each coat i lightly sanded again with 2000 grit. then after my final clear coat i wet sanded the **** out of them with 2000 grit. i'm very very happy with the results. if i had a good close up pic id throw it up but this is the best one i have...



i guess b/c of the way the sun is hitting them, or reflecting off of my house, they don't look nearly as dark as they really are in person. they're basically completely black in the shade

 

Heres some pics. they look better in the sun but you get the point.

 

3 coats, but you can still see the brake light plenty fine my friend just got stopped for his being tinted i just got LED spider lights so we shall see if it needs a few more coats

 

depends on who you talk to. i never sanded mine...

 

No you don't have to sand them down before you VHT it.

I have done 4 sets of tail's and the 2 out of the 4 that were the best were the ones I didn't prep-sand.

If you take your time and don't over spray or spray to close you should be fine. Make sure you don't let the paint run by holding your lights at an angle.

 

Thanks for the input guys. Appriciate it.

 

ok so your putting a layer of paint over a surface thats smooth. So if you pressure wash it, or it gets a chip in it, or the garden hose hits an edge, it will flake off. No adhesion to the surface underneath. Not a good idea for the long run. sure it will look the same but its not the right way to paint anything, especially not on your new car. If your afraid to scuff up a light becasue omg what if i want to put it back!? then dont paint your lights. paint is designed to be permanent. Buy smoked lights or put window tint on them if you cant make up your mind to black them out or not. please dont half ass it. how hard is it to scuff a light up with sandpaper or a scotch bright

 

QFT! Sand them lightly with 600.

 

I have lived with my lights for over two years being painted and there are no scratches and no chipping. It's VHT that dries to the surface. Then you apply gloss as a sealant and also as protecter against the elements.

I also go through drive in power washes and treated my lights with no special care at anytime. Now unless if you get a key and start scratching the light, of course it will harm.

I have done both (sand and non-sanded) and saw no difference in the end product.

Latest picture from last month:

 

Ok so yours didnt **** up. But now I ask you, why? Why didnt you get a scotch bright and scuff them up before you painted them? was it just you didnt know you had to do that, didnt think of it, didnt have one handy etc.?

 

The orange peel effect makes it look like a half ass job. IMHO.

Here are mine. The reverse lights were not wet-sanded at this time, it was still curing.

 

You want the real truth?

When I did my second set, I used a low grit and scratched the hell out of my light. So when the light shun through, you can see the scratches.

So I tried it with out sanding and it worked better than I thought. So I did another pair the same way a couple of months after that the same way, and came out with good success.

 

AhHA! So you had a bad experience b/c you used sandpaper that was way to agressive and fucked a set of lights up and decided its easier not to sand it. Well, that explains it for me.

Not trying to hate on people. Please dont get offended at what im saying. I just want you guys to do it right on your cars now, and whatever you modify in the future. You pay good money for these things. If its was a Honda CRX that you bought for 500 bucks off a guy, idc.

Scotch bright people. Sandpaper has a purpose. Removed texture and smooths a surface. Scotch bright has a purpose too. Does NOT remove texture, just scuffs a surface so paint will stick to it properly. Leaves the perfect scratch to remove the gloss from the old texture and paint will easily cover them and stick to those scuffs with 1 coat. You can buy them for like a dollar. Invest in them for anything you paint. Dash trim, scuff, paint. Taillights, scuff, paint. Black out your headlights, scuff, paint. you really dont need to sand most of the accent **** people paint.

 

Note taken.

Until my lights chip or anything bad happens to them, I'll keep "Scotch Bright" in mind. I just don't feel like dealing with the lights right now.

Plus I effed up my spare set lying around, so it's all good I guess. Matter of fact I still have it somewhere here.

 

i mean you can pick them up in lowes or walmart. Its the **** thats like the back of a sponge. Like that green stuff. I believe it leaves like a 500 grit scratch, but there bendable and flexible and real easy to get into hard areas. To fix the set thats messed up just wet sand it out. Start with like a 300 grit then hit it with 600 and either then just clear em or nightshade em if you want another black set. then sell em and make some money on em

 

i tinted mine year 1/2 ago without wet sanding, just cleaned them and put like 3 coats of VHT on them then clear coat. Well now the tint has faded, and on my reverse lights its actually peeling off. So i gotta retint them.

 

refer to post 16. Peeling is b/c of no surface prep, fading is because well, its spray bomb. Try clearcoating over the nightshades next time

 

I just don't wanna scratch the **** out of it. I mean i know to do it lightly but at the same time not too light.

Oh and i wanted to know how many coats should i do without it being too dark because the police in toronto are ********!

 

No more than 3 because 3 is pretty damn dark.

 

never prepped mine other than cleaning, no sanding, scuffing, etc. all i did was tape off the electrical connections. its been through countless thunderstorms, brushed car washes, thousands of miles, hand washes, all kinds of things. never chipped, scratched, faded, nothing.

 

i did mine with a paint gun
dont remember how many coats i did

 

What would look better...smoking the entire light....leaving the reverse light circle white....oorrr something like...

(p.s. if this is your car don't mind me using your pic)



opinions?