by Ilovemylara » Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:17 pm
I didnt need an oven for mine. You will need :
1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
rubbing alchohol or mineral spirits
One can of VHT niteshades (autozone carries it)
Lots of paper towels
Polishing compound
KRYLON clear coat (this is the best you can get, other than professional)
a couple terry cloths (rags)
This will take about 4 hours+ depending on how fast you work, and the temperature of the atmosphere where they are drying (this is where the oven is ideal becuase it dries them alot faster)
First you will need to remove the tailights from your car. Should be four 10mm nuts, you will need to remove a plastic cover to get at them. Once you have removed the tailights, remove the bulbs, wash the tailights in soapy water (not hand soap, dishwashing soap, it removes grease), and dry them. Then you will soak your 1000 grit wetsand paper in water, and begin lightly sanding the tails. try to keep a constant motion, and keep the paper wet. This step is critical, as the surface need to be rough for the tint spray to adhere. Once the tailights are a milky red color, get your rubbing alchohol or mineral spirits and wipe the taillights down with a damped paper towel. Do this a few times to remove any dust particles leftover from sanding. Take the tailights outside (if you arent outside already) and begin spraying them. Do a VERY LIGHT first coat, this is called the TACK coat, and it is essential if you want the tint to stick. After giving the initial coat 5-10 mins to dry you can do a few more heavier coats, just make sure to keep the tails light enough for light to pass through, not sure about your local laws... When you have finished painting the tails, and they have had adequate time to dry, you need to wetsand them again to get rid of any orangepeel, and to prepare for clearcoat. Clearcoating them is pretty much the same as spraying the tint. Just use your head. Once again when the clear coat has finished drying you will need to wetsand them some more, as there will most likely be a substancial amount of orangepeel. Heres where your polishing coumpund comes into play: Put a dap (about the size of a quarter) on a terry cloth and begin working it into the freshly sanded clear coat. Starting to look really nice eh? Do this a couple more times to remove any swirl marks from the previous wetsanding, and your tailights will look like a mirror.
