Another rear light question

[Adam_C]

Ok, so have unsusseccfully tried to remove the outer casing of the rear lights (tried to stanley knife the sealant and heat it up using a hairdryer...didn't fancy putting them in the oven) so am going to try tinting them.

Question is, can I tint the lights using the spray paint/ lacquer I have used for my colourcoding, or do I need to have proper "tinting spray"?

And if I can use my existing materials, do I need to primer, paint, lacquer, or do I just paint and lacquer?

Many thanks, Adam.

 

[Middo]

ideally, for road use. you need to buy the tinting film. you primed it etc. you wouldnt get any light through at all lol

one of my mates once cleaned the lights up with white spririt, sprayed them in just metallic black (no priming etc.) and then lacquered over. finish was mint, and it let a fair bit of light through - and his lasted well. however its prob not recommended lol

 

[Adam_C]

Thanks for the quick reply Middo. Do you mean the tinting film thats used for windows yeah?

So am thinking a light smoke tint would probably look best on my lights on a hologram grey clio... or possibly spraying the areas of the cover which aren't affected by the lights, if that makes any sense what so ever!

 

[Middo]

if it were me i'd try the tinting spray first. if you bodge it halfords sell a tinting spray remover so u can try again.

not sure on the tinting film, as it would have to be applied properly to look good, but its an idea

 

[Adam_C]

Ok mate, might give the tinting spray a bash first then.

What I was thinking about doing with the spray paint, was to colourcode the areas pointed at with the blue arrows...



If you look, the light bulbs are set back in recesses, and thought I might just paint the areas that don't cover the bulbs and the recess (clear as mud again, eh? lol)

What do you reckon?

 

[Adam_C]

Been thinking about this and wondering if I do spray the areas highlighted above, will it end up looking like I've got those crappy light masks on?

 

[Middo]

i thought that but didnt want to say anything lol

 

[Adam_C]

lol, you should have said mate! Otherwise I could have ended up with them looking like a bag of sh*te!

Might tint the whole unit then I reckon. Do they do different shades of tinting spray or is it just a case of applying layers until you reach a suitable colour?

 

[Middo]

Might tint the whole unit then I reckon. Do they do different shades of tinting spray or is it just a case of applying layers until you reach a suitable colour?

you'll find you need to apply really thin layers to prevent bubbles and stuff (nasty stuff to work with if you spray it thick) but the more you spray the bolder the colour gets your spraying. if your just going to spray it with paint and lacquer it then nice even coats is the way to do it.

 

[Adam_C]

Ok, thanks mate. One last question then (I think), if I use the paint that I've used for colourcoding, is there any way of removing it if I do the job and and it looks crap? You said you can remove the tinting spray easy enough though so might just try that first.

Really not sure what to do now! The girlfriend bought me the lights so I really don't want to change them, but think that they stick out a bit too much at the moment.

 

[Middo]

yeah im not a fan of the lexus clears, but tis a difficult one not to upset her lol

try the tinting spray first, then take it the bodyshop if needbe. you could only remove the spray before its lacquered using white spirit - but its not a pleasant job as it goes everywhere

 

[Adam_C]

Cool. Cheers for all the help mate. Will have an experiment on them this week.