VHT Nightshade tail light tinting

So, I decided my car would look a lot sharper if I tinted the tail lights. I picked up a bottle of VHT Nightshade, clear coat, 1000 & 2000 grit wet or dry sandpaper, a couple microfiber cloths, and got to it.

YOU CAN TAKE OUT THE TAIL LIGHTS BEFORE YOU DO THIS, AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. It wasnt that I got paint on my car, it just would save a lot of time to not have to tape the whole rear end off, and make sanding much easier.

First off, I used some isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) to clean off my tail lights. Then I started to wet sand.

Basically I just put a drop of dish soap in a bowl & filled it with water. Dip the 1000 grit sandpaper in there & have at it. I went up & down, then left to right. Once I got done with that, I did it all again with the 2000 grit. Remember, when your painting something, the prep work is everything. Take your time here & it pays off in the end.

Then, I got some window cleaner & my micro fiber cloth & cleaned it off really well. MAKE SURE ITS DRY. Then you can start to cover stuff up & spray.

I wont write much about covering up your paint, its pretty self explanatory. Just make sure you tape inside the seams or else it will look cheap & crappy. Now the fun part, painting:

So when you spray, MAKE SURE YOURE IN A NON-WINDY ENVIRONMENT. Let me tell you, I got almost done, put clear coat on & the wind messed it up. I had to redo the whole fricken thing, it was not fun. (Ill explain how to remove it, in case you dont like it.)

I used 3 pretty decent coats, and let it dry for 7 minutes exactly in between each one. Once you have however many coats you want, you get to clear coating. (I wouldn’t recommend more than four, as you wont be able to see your light, but thats your decision.)

I waited about 45 minutes for it to dry up, and when it did I took my 2000 grit & I wet sanded it again in the same pattern, but very lightly. Now once I was done with that, I very carefully used my window cleaner & cloth, and cleaned it all off one last time.

So for clear coat, I decided on four coats. This was honestly the most difficult part. Do two very light, misty coats. It should look kind of matte. Then you have to do a very wet coat, but not too wet or it will run. It is a very specific amount, but you’ll figure it out. I certainly did… After messing the whole thing up once.

With this, I waited about 10 minutes in between each coat & then let it dry for about an hour after the final one.

After the hour or so, its fine to touch & stuff, so if you took the tail lights out to paint,, you can put them back in now.

So, now youre done. What else should you know??

Well, most importantly, if you decide you dont want to go through with it, or you hate the way it looks, brake cleaner takes it all off. Youll need about three cans for taillights my size, but it works very well.

I spent about 20 usd for the two bottles of paint, tape, and 2000 grit sandpaper, so it is a fairly cheap thing to do. One bottle was more than enough for three taillights (as I did the left one twice) and I still have enough to do my side markers tomorrow.

I can’t stress enough how important taking your time sanding and cleaning is. Honestly that is what set my clean, glossy look apart from all the ricers.

It took me about 3 or 4 hours total, including letting them dry, so its easily an afternoon job. It was a fun experience and now a couple of my friends want me to do theirs.

I couldn’t really find anything on how to use this stuff anywhere. I checked vw vortex, youtube, CarThrottle. Nothing. I just figured Id share this information with you guys so that maybe, in case anyone, like myself, was considering doing it, they can at least see how to do it. I wouldnt say I did a 10/10 job, but maybe a 7.5. Everyone says 8.5 or 9, but considering I painted them, I will always notice the small impurities.

I love the new look, though. Good luck & I hope I helped!

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