smoking tailights.....?

[smonkbmw]

the baddest DIY tails EVAAAARRRRR

[aalmutawakil]

Well lift your car up and if you turn one wheel and the other one turns the oppisit direction then you do have an LSD. and you are lucky.

[BenM]

Well let me do a quick run down on the painting I've done on my taillights since I've done all reds as well as smoked. First, when I was in my ricer staged I decided tinted would look the coolest so I proceeded to do that. But I went a little dark on it(since I was a noob) and it basically blacked them out. I thought it looked cool for a while, but I didn't put an "automotive" grade clearcoat on them so within about three months they were flaking and peeling off. I don't think I did any prep or anything after when I did these. Just a good cleaning.

So this is what I had the first time around. Ignore big ricey sticker.


Moving rapidly along, after so many months my lights looked like ass so I decided it was once again time to repaint. But this time I decided I wanted all reds with a smoked reverse light, because I had seen this on another members car and it looked great. However, I was going to do it right this time. So I first used I think 1000 grit to remove all the paint that hadn't already come off, and then used a 1500 grit to bring everything back to the same smoothness. Remember though, this sanding is all done by wetsanding. Because I had screwed with my lights enough(there was some fading and discoloration) I just decided to repaint the entire thing with a Testor's candy apple red IIRC.

Next I let the red dry for a good hour or so, enough that it wasn't tacky to the touch. Removed the reverse light section I had previously taped off, then taped off so the reverse light was exposed but everything else was covered. I had some of my previous endeavors' tint paint let over so I lightly smoked my reverse lights.

Following this, I let everything dry for roughly another hour, and then laid down about three coats of automotive clear. The clear gave them an amazing shine and they look factory. The color matching was damn near perfect too. This was the last step as they looked great afterwards and didn't appear to need any buffing or wetsanding. They still weren't perfect but they were pretty damn close.

So this is what I have now, and they've been this way for over two years and have held up amazingly.



Any questions, comments, or concerns...just let me know.

What do you recommend as an automotive grade clearcoat to use, that I can pick up at Autozone, Pep Boys, etc.?

[stevofthahill]

What do you recommend as an automotive grade clearcoat to use, that I can pick up at Autozone, Pep Boys, etc.?

That's kinda tough to say because at the time(over two years ago) I was working at a dealership and I got it from them. It was a clearcoat in a rattle can though, so I'm sure any automotive paint shop would have it. I'm also sure the employees at such a store would "hopefully" be more knowledgeable about it then I am.

Quick search online turned up this

I used something very similar.

[Van Westervelt]

There is a two part clear coat that comes in one can. Most auto paint stores will have it. Its rather spendy, $20 or so. But it is the best way to go about it without taking them to a shop.

[BenM]

There is a two part clear coat that comes in one can. Most auto paint stores will have it. Its rather spendy, $20 or so. But it is the best way to go about it without taking them to a shop.

There is a good auto paint store about 20min. from where I work. I'll try there.
Thanks E30 Groupie and stevofthahill.

[e30pwr]

Yeah the really local places didn't have it so I shall be making some calls around.

Apparently this guy that works over at the Toyota dealership has had work showed in Super Street. So If all else fails I will just go take them to him because he does them super cheap. Like $25 a pair or something. But so far I haven't been able to get the paint.