tail-light tinting

[Chinky420]

ok everyone, so i was thinking about tinting out my taillights. i heard that it is recommended to use 20% instead of 35%. sound off if you agree with this.

also, for the gen1 taillight setup, do you think it would look cleaner with all of the tail tinted, or if i only tint the red parts and cutout the tint for the white part of the taillight?

i tried the search function to get some pics, but couldnt find anything...so i guess you're just going to have to visualize.

personally i'm leaning more towards tinting the red parts and having a cutout section for the white (reverse) lights.

my car is red, if that makes a diff to anyone visualizing

[redgen1]

i have a 1.5 kwan and im thinking along the same lines. i might just do the whole light tho to make it easy.

[Chinky420]

yeah, doing the whole light would be easier, but i'm thinking that with the cutout, the contrasting colors will make it pop more.

[woa_its_j3ff]

id tint everything but leave reverse by itself.

[Astro]

I used to have it all blacked out, but now I've got the reverse/turn cutout. I like them both, but having the cutout just seems to bring out the back end more.

[Chinky420]

I used to have it all blacked out, but now I've got the reverse/turn cutout. I like them both, but having the cutout just seems to bring out the back end more.

would you say that it makes it 'pop'



and does anyone want to weigh in on the 20% vs. 35% tint part of the post?

[Sebas007]

go 20% it it the perfect balance, I did it myself...35% is gun smoked. Too dark I think...

[nj99solara]

I say leave the turn/reverse part of the lense clear. It's a little bit more work to do it this way but I think it's worth it. Here's a pic of mine from about 2 yrs ago.

[Chinky420]

thanks sebas and nj....that was exactly what i was wanting when i started my search....two pics that i can compare with and ask questions about.

sebas, are you saying that the 35% is darker than the 20%? i don't understand....
i'm undecided on whether to go all the way black...or just a shaded/smoked look (since the ride's red instead of black).

nj, what was the % tint you used? did the visibility of the tail light diminish, both during the day and night? when you did the cut, did you apply it first, and then use an exacto knife before working out the bubbles...or was it some other method?

looks good on both rides.

how hard is it to take off if i change my mind, too?

[LatinUSMC]

yeah go w clear cut out...thats what im going for next... heres the tints i did a few months ago sold em to RANSOMin TX last week...look really off w/o tints. (cell-phone quality pics)


i like the clear look imma try it too

[woa_its_j3ff]

id go with smoked. on a red car, going all black is overkill imho. thats why mine are juts smoked, not blacked out.

[Solarafreek]

I say leave the turn/reverse part of the lense clear. It's a little bit more work to do it this way but I think it's worth it. Here's a pic of mine from about 2 yrs ago.

Thats looks nice!

[nj99solara]

thanks sebas and nj....that was exactly what i was wanting when i started my search....two pics that i can compare with and ask questions about.

sebas, are you saying that the 35% is darker than the 20%? i don't understand....
i'm undecided on whether to go all the way black...or just a shaded/smoked look (since the ride's red instead of black).

nj, what was the % tint you used? did the visibility of the tail light diminish, both during the day and night? when you did the cut, did you apply it first, and then use an exacto knife before working out the bubbles...or was it some other method?

looks good on both rides.

how hard is it to take off if i change my mind, too?

I didn't actually use tint film so I don't know the %, I used a spray called "nite shades" that I bought on ebay (2-3 coats) and I went over it with 3-4 coats of clear.
The visibility is not as bad as I thought it would be during the day you can still see the red shining thru the tint. At night it looks pretty much normal but it looks like it has a slight tint to it. I had it like that for the past 2 yrs and have not been stopped by police day or night (and I have had them behind me before and I was prepared to get stopped).
My opionion being that your car is red I'd do a light smoke and still keep the signal/reverse clear
Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Sebas007]

sebas, are you saying that the 35% is darker than the 20%? i don't understand.... ...

I know you may be confused...normal...it is the opposite as for the windows tinting.

Windows tints works that way...% light coming thru
Why 20% is then darker then 35%
20% of the light passing thru makes it darker then 35% passing thry

Tailights work on the opposite...% of light blocked by the tinted film (in my case I choose 20% tinted film)
20% of the lights blocked is lights then 35% light blocked.

I had the same interrogation...why does bitches don<t use the same scale

[Sebas007]

There is my old thread
http://www.solaraguy.org/viewtopic.php?t=33065&highlight=tint

First post on page 3...you'll see all the details