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Old 04-14-2014, 01:43 AM   #1026
puerco
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2008 VW Scirocco
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Here is my video of lamin-x rear lights & head lights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So-UMw64BEI
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Old 04-14-2014, 10:10 PM   #1027
GeraldG
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That looks awesome!
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Old 05-17-2014, 01:24 AM   #1028
ShagginWaggon
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2013 WRX Hatchback
Ice Silver Metallic

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Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that's added experience and advice here. I did mine tonight, and except not having enough coverage at the top edge, it came out really well. Pics will follow in the morning.


Pics are in, but I suck at uploading things to forums so here's an Imgur gallery:
http://imgur.com/a/ia7G3

Last edited by ShagginWaggon; 05-17-2014 at 01:32 PM. Reason: Added pictures
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Old 06-17-2014, 11:56 AM   #1029
cmbezln
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Anyone have pics of VHT nightshades on a lightning red hatch? I'm wondering how the shade matches with the red paint.
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Old 06-17-2014, 12:16 PM   #1030
arani rey
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I used VHT red on the clear LED's, the lights are all off in this photo.

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Old 06-17-2014, 01:02 PM   #1031
colin1234567
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cmbezln View Post
Anyone have pics of VHT nightshades on a lightning red hatch? I'm wondering how the shade matches with the red paint.
Number of coats and thickness of those coats depends on the shade of the red. Mine were 5 light coats and probably 20 coats of clear, I'll get pics.




And that's after about 14 mos, garage kept for the last 5 mos.

Last edited by colin1234567; 06-17-2014 at 01:15 PM.
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Old 06-17-2014, 01:49 PM   #1032
cianuro
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^^^^^^^^
What he said...

I did mine in september 2010, redid them yesterday... I polished them every couple of months to maintain the reflection, but I either polished too hard or the coats were a bit thin on upper borders that one of the tails was starting to loose color... It was only visible if you were looking from the top down into the taillight, but it bothered me, so I redid them...

Here's a comparison after 4 years of having them done:


Top is when I first did it, bottom is 4 years after and a couple of polishes throughout that time...

The trick is in the clear coat. If you don't protect it, it'll fade easily, and even more if you're an avid washer...

I did them again, but decided to go darker... Gave it about 8 coats... The can had been sitting for the past 4 years inside my closet, so it gave me a hard time to paint. It would suddenly stop spraying, then start sputtering and squirting the paint all over, plus the color looked light, then darker as it dried. I was having a hard time determining if the color was the same as before, so I just kept going until the can was empty.

Still need another round of polishing to get it how I want it, which I'll do once I decide to wash the car...
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Old 06-19-2014, 11:13 PM   #1033
watchthenlearn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cianuro View Post
^^^^^^^^
What he said...

I did mine in september 2010, redid them yesterday... I polished them every couple of months to maintain the reflection, but I either polished too hard or the coats were a bit thin on upper borders that one of the tails was starting to loose color... It was only visible if you were looking from the top down into the taillight, but it bothered me, so I redid them...

Here's a comparison after 4 years of having them done:


Top is when I first did it, bottom is 4 years after and a couple of polishes throughout that time...

The trick is in the clear coat. If you don't protect it, it'll fade easily, and even more if you're an avid washer...

I did them again, but decided to go darker... Gave it about 8 coats... The can had been sitting for the past 4 years inside my closet, so it gave me a hard time to paint. It would suddenly stop spraying, then start sputtering and squirting the paint all over, plus the color looked light, then darker as it dried. I was having a hard time determining if the color was the same as before, so I just kept going until the can was empty.

Still need another round of polishing to get it how I want it, which I'll do once I decide to wash the car...
Your results specifically have given me the confidence to go ahead and try painting my lights. The guys that the Houston members recommended for vinyl overlays are going to charge me $140 for the two lights. Frankly I don't want to pay for that especially if it is possible to achieve better clarity with paint.

After reading all 42 pages, seems like the best results come from:
While on the car - wash, 800 grit sand, alcohol prep, tape off the inner portion.
Remove the lights - Mask off the backside, 4 to 5 coats of VHT Nightshades, a super light coat of Krylon Fusion Clear Coat, followed by AT LEAST two heavier coats. (Allow ample drying time between coats)
Wait a couple of days - wetsand with 2000 grit and add a final polish

If you can get a hold of actual automotive shop clear coat that would be ideal. Not the stuff from a can.
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Old 06-19-2014, 11:28 PM   #1034
cianuro
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Quote:
Originally Posted by watchthenlearn View Post
Your results specifically have given me the confidence to go ahead and try painting my lights. The guys that the Houston members recommended for vinyl overlays are going to charge me $140 for the two lights. Frankly I don't want to pay for that especially if it is possible to achieve better clarity with paint. After reading all 42 pages, seems like the best results come from: While on the car - wash, 800 grit sand, alcohol prep, tape off the inner portion. Remove the lights - Mask off the backside, 4 to 5 coats of VHT Nightshades, a super light coat of Krylon Fusion Clear Coat, followed by AT LEAST two heavier coats. (Allow ample drying time between coats) Wait a couple of days - wetsand with 2000 grit and add a final polish If you can get a hold of actual automotive shop clear coat that would be ideal. Not the stuff from a can.
Be sure to read the instructions on the can for the clear coat you choose. For example, I used Krylon Fusion Clear Coat and the instructions were to apply 4-6 light coats with 1 minute intervals between them. I kept going until the can was done, which was about 8 coats. The more clear coats you have, the better results you'll get from polishing. Try to find 3000 grit pads or sand paper so you can even out the clear coat before polishing.
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Old 06-22-2014, 12:29 AM   #1035
ShiberuWRX
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It's easy to do, make sure you do it right the 1st time because you don't want to realize that the pin striping tape you used moved and now it doesn't line up perfectly then have to remove 20 layers of paint/clear (in total) and end up with a cracked taillight... not that I would know...
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Old 06-22-2014, 11:02 AM   #1036
watchthenlearn
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Where are you guys buying this 1500+ sand paper?!? I've check Home Depot, Michaels, a Model Shop, and another hardware store. The last hardware store had 800 and that was the highest I could find. And the model shop only had 60,000 grit.
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Old 06-22-2014, 04:02 PM   #1037
cianuro
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Quote:
Originally Posted by watchthenlearn View Post
Where are you guys buying this 1500+ sand paper?!? I've check Home Depot, Michaels, a Model Shop, and another hardware store. The last hardware store had 800 and that was the highest I could find. And the model shop only had 60,000 grit.
Auto zone, pep boys... In the sandpaper area...
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Old 06-23-2014, 11:22 AM   #1038
Lam3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by watchthenlearn View Post
Where are you guys buying this 1500+ sand paper?!? I've check Home Depot, Michaels, a Model Shop, and another hardware store. The last hardware store had 800 and that was the highest I could find. And the model shop only had 60,000 grit.
Most of the time, sandpaper that fine is considered automotive and found in such places. I've found amazon sells about any grade of sandpaper you could ever look for and it's pretty cheap compared to hunting it down in a store, particularly when they might not even have it. It's laughable to get a box in the mail the size of my computer tower holding only 5 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11" sandpaper though... silly amazon
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Old 06-25-2014, 02:27 AM   #1039
NickyDSMWRXgee
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Haven't seen many red 2011 WRX's posted with this mod done, so ill show you mine.. =) looks incredible, pics don't do it justice..



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Old 06-25-2014, 07:41 AM   #1040
Nexson
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Last edited by Nexson; 06-25-2014 at 08:17 AM.
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Old 06-25-2014, 07:59 AM   #1041
Nexson
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Old 06-25-2014, 10:03 AM   #1042
Nexson
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Old 06-27-2014, 01:02 AM   #1043
iVolke
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexson View Post
This is exactly what I want. Details on what you did?
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Old 06-27-2014, 01:13 AM   #1044
Tomekkplk
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Quote:
Originally Posted by @NT View Post
Looks good, just have to make sure you mask it nice n tight.
Nice and tight huh..
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Old 06-28-2014, 05:07 PM   #1045
Nexson
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iVolke View Post
This is exactly what I want. Details on what you did?
Its duplicolor metal cast, and then i top it off with automotive 2k urethane clear. I paint cars so I have the whole setup for this.
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Old 07-04-2014, 11:45 AM   #1046
Lexxerd
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Curious, has anyone done a full red out with no clear reverse lights?

Also how is the matching with the bottom bumper reflectors? Are the reds similar? Would throwing a red coat and clear on the reflectors make them to dark you think?

Last edited by Lexxerd; 07-04-2014 at 11:51 AM.
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Old 07-06-2014, 01:33 PM   #1047
P_Cat97
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2010 Impreza 2.5i PE
DGM

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I used VHT Nite shades on my car a few months back, just a full smoke. And now I want the red and smoked look, but VHT Nite shades is permeate so id need new tail lights... Ugh I don't know what I should do. Opinions?
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Old 07-07-2014, 07:29 PM   #1048
mod-it
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Dark grey metallic

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Here's what I did... I got some overspray on the inside housings, so I did those black and in my opinion it looks much better. Thanks for the writeup!



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Old 07-07-2014, 08:12 PM   #1049
cianuro
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mod-it View Post
Here's what I did... I got some overspray on the inside housings, so I did those black and in my opinion it looks much better. Thanks for the writeup!
First time I did mine, I masked all around to avoid overspray. The second time was done in a bit of a hurry, so didn't bother masking and got overspray in that area too. I cleaned it up with acetone, but some of the red's still there. Seeing how I have extra paint, that's a very good idea. Nice work!
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Old 08-28-2014, 08:44 PM   #1050
davidwys
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Well I dont post much here but I am on the site frequently. I felt it wouldn't be fair if I used all of your great info and didnt post my success.

First, I had overlays done 6 months ago...now they are pink.


this clearly had to go, but not before i made a template using painters tape. This is probably my only original idea and it turns out well. Making the template ensured consistency on both sides. More on this in a bit. I used a hair dryer to remove the overlay after I was done making the template.


All my supplies...cutting board, wax paper, Xacto, FrogTape, 1500 grit wet/dry sand paper...and patience.


More with the template...once I took the tape off the light (i taped it on the car) I placed it on cardstock and cut out the outline. I used a ruler on the top line to get a real straight line. I then made a blank "sheet" from FrogTape on the wax paper and stuck the template over the "sheet".


Remember to flip the template over for one side...the tails are mirror images of each other.

Now it was time to place the cut-outs. I put the lights back on the car to make sure everything was aligned properly. Notice the tail lights are a bit foggy? I sanded them down with 1500 grit sandpaper (soaked in soapy water) to give the paint something to stick to.


I hope everything makes sense so far. Please PM me with questions. I kinda forgot to take pictures in the next couple steps. Once I stuck the template on, I again removed the tails and taped paper all around the housing to prevent overspray.

After cleaning the tails with alcohol (put the alcohol on a microfiber and wipe), I sprayed 3 coats of KRYLON STAINED GLASS over the tails. I left about 15 minutes between coats. They all were relatively light coats, with the thickest being the final coat. Let cure for 1-2 days.


The red turned out very well...nice and dark which is not shown by the pictures. I felt 2 coats looked like the red on most cars, the final coat made it very rich. After being sure it was cured (36 hours), i sanded it lightly with 1500 grit (soaked in soapy water) to remove any imperfections. Clean with alcohol (put the alcohol on a microfiber and wipe).

Now, 5 coats of U-Pol #1 automotive clear. I have read it is a VERY good clear and it went on great. Time will tell how good it is, but it boasts UV protection. $20 on Amazon. I sprayed the first 3 light coats and let it cure for 36 hours. Clean with alcohol (put the alcohol on a microfiber and wipe).


After curing, another sanding and 3 more coats, heavy this time, and i had a great finish (but I wasnt done). Make to cure for another 36 hours.


You may wonder why they are on a cookie sheet? To ensure a very good cure, i baked the lights in the over at 150F for 10 minute intervals AFTER CURING. 10 mins in...10 mins out, for an hour. I recommend doing this home alone, it might stink up your kitchen.

After the bake-off, I sanded (soaked in soapy water) the wonderful finish on the lights. Trust me...its worth it. Make sure the finish is super smooth. Sand smooth any debris that may be in the paint...I had some fuzz from a dirty cloth i used when cleaning. You wont need to sand the debris out...just smooth so the light doesn't reflect off the paint.


I then did one final wipe (alcohol is not necessary for the buffing, just water and a clean microfiber) and buffed using an orbital at a relatively high speed and a mild polish/sealant. It took about an hour to do the polishing, so be patient. I used a 1500 grit sandpaper and had to polish through that. So to cut down on polishing you can use 2000 but it is not necessary.


They came out SOOOO good. Be very patient with the orbital and always keep it moving. If you see swirl marks...keep going. If you see orange peel...KEEP GOING. It took a while to get the clear very smooth but it was worth it. If you use a mild polish it will definitely take some time.

Good luck to all and please PM me with any questions.

Last edited by davidwys; 08-28-2014 at 09:28 PM.
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