What are you asking here? How to prep the tail's before spraying?

 

I did a buddy's. I used some rubbing alchol with 2000 grit sand paper ( I belive ) and took them untill their was a very white light haze. I left the DOT on there, cant see it unless your starting at the tail lights. I did 7 light coats and it came out great with a few coats of clear.

 

yea i was asking how to prep them so i wouldnt screw them up. you used to alcohol and wet saned them your saying? is there a prefered clear coat for the best results? i may do my DRL' and headlights very lightly if it comes out right

before its asked, yes the third is getting tinted also.

 

I've never wet sanded any sets I did. I just lightly scuffed them with a grey scuff pad, enough to get the shine off of them. Either way though, you're just looking to take the shine off so the paint will stick, so any way you could do that would work.

Clear coat, I prefer the Duplicolor Truck and Van clear top coat. It's like $6 a can at a parts store, and sprays pretty good. Also sand and buffs well....

 

Sorry to hijack but whats a good method to get off old Niteshades and respray?

 

Wetsanding....but it's a REAL bitch!

You have the urge to use a coarser grit to hurry up and sand the shit off, but you don't want to use TOO coarse of a grit to where you damage the plastic itself.

Maybe go with some 600-800 grit until the old stuff looks like it's just about off, then switch to 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 till it's all gone. Maybe not step up through all those different grits, but you get the point..lol

 

Sorry i asked lol.... thanks mijo.

 

i use a scoth brite pad to prep. 3 light coats of night shades followed by 3 coats of clear and a final wet sand with 1500 grit and buff to a shine

 

get the vinyl tint film

 

im better with spraying/painting then i am with laying vinyl down.

 

If you want them to look like you didnt use night shade get them the shade you want and get them claered at a bodyshop no matter how many coats of spray clear (duplicolor etc etc.) it wont look right worth the money, i think i started this same thread long time ago.

 

All a matter of your opinion.......


"Body shop" clear....

"Spray can" clear....

Can anyone tell the difference?

And for that matter.....I used spray can clear on this set 2 years ago....

Still look good to me! lol

If you're handy with a rattle can, then I say go for it. Some people get nervous with clear though, in that case, yea...a body shop is the best way, cause clear can be a bitch sometimes.

 

well i cant find the night shades around here so imma have to order the stuff from summit for a nice tune of $18 i guess. is the night shades typical black or more of a trasparent, mixed with clear black?
also, summit has it in a 7oz can, how much can be tinted with that?

 

It's not really black actually. It's more of a cherry/black cherry translucent color. It looks like straight up black, but when you spray it over clear plastic, like the reverse circle, or the cargo portion of the 3rd brake light, when the light is on, it puts out a purple-ish color.

 

gotcha. ill see about ordering it as soon as i can and try it out on the spare tail lamp i have.

 

Practicing is always a good idea with a product you've never used!

 

Ok from my experience the rattle can clear comes out pretty nice if you know how to use it. Dan did mines and came out really nice/shiny. 1 can is plenty to do all 3 lights with heavy dark coats, trust me. I bought 2 cans and barely used half of one.

 

yeah i had enough to do my tails and tbl and my buddies tails on his s-10 with 1 can

 

damn how many coats of clear are in thoose pics>?

 

I put 5 coats on all the lights I spray. That way, there's plenty of material there for me to sand the finish smooth and buff it out.

Those Range Rover Sport tails that I did, only had 2 coats of clear out of a spray gun.