Tail smoking project, clear coat dilemmas

[agjake11]

Let's just say I spent a lot of time on these. I actually did it twice to get it as good as I liked it. The first time looked good but as usual I was being OCD.

took me twice to get them how i wanted as well. its a slight learning curve i guess

 

[KillaF150]

I'm here Matt

Darren - the local Advanced Auto carries VHT here. i don't know if that's the case where you are, but you can check it out. i did order mine from ebay, but got 2 cans. I have about 1/4 of the second can left. I did 3 coats on a buddy's car, 3 coats on my brothers truck, and 3 on mine. so 2 cans would suffice

 

[Outaline]

I know this is probably not what you want to hear but just have them professionally done. There is a guy here in Vegas that does them for $50 a pair to your desired darkness. After you purchase Niteshades, clear, and factor in your labor time, $50 is dirt cheap and you'd probably be saving money. Mine look like glass and the light still shines through nicely.
I did my F150 myself, using VHT Niteshades and Dupli-color clear. They came out pretty good with several wetsanding sessions and lots of polishing but after 1 summer, the 3rd brake light started to fade as you can see in this picture.

After all the time and effort I put into them, then the $25-30 in supplies I spent, it wasn't worth it for the results I got.
My F350's lights have been on for a year now and still look like they just came out of the paint shop. The clear he used is very durable too. A few times I thought I scratched them with my keys or something, but after examining them, they were still good as new.

If you want, box up your lights, send them to me and I will have the guy do them for you. Only thing you have to worry about is shipping on top of the cost of the job. Or you could probably send them straight to him.
He has done 3 cars for me; my truck, my fiance's Cadillac, and my Mom's Cadillac....all came out perfect, dark but with great light output.

 

[DarrenWS6]

I know this is probably not what you want to hear but just have them professionally done. There is a guy here in Vegas that does them for $50 a pair to your desired darkness. After you purchase Niteshades, clear, and factor in your labor time, $50 is dirt cheap and you'd probably be saving money. Mine look like glass and the light still shines through nicely.
I did my F150 myself, using VHT Niteshades and Dupli-color clear. They came out pretty good with several wetsanding sessions and lots of polishing but after 1 summer, the 3rd brake light started to fade as you can see in this picture.

After all the time and effort I put into them, then the $25-30 in supplies I spent, it wasn't worth it for the results I got.
My F350's lights have been on for a year now and still look like they just came out of the paint shop. The clear he used is very durable too. A few times I thought I scratched them with my keys or something, but after examining them, they were still good as new.

If you want, box up your lights, send them to me and I will have the guy do them for you. Only thing you have to worry about is shipping on top of the cost of the job. Or you could probably send them straight to him.
He has done 3 cars for me; my truck, my fiance's Cadillac, and my Mom's Cadillac....all came out perfect, dark but with great light output.

I would really like to, but income funds do not suffice for it at the moment. I may hold off until I can have it done, but I do need my truck daily, so I would need to buy another pair of tail lamps to have done. So if thats the case I would be best off buying some ebay LED tails that are OEM looking, and have them done professionally, and re-sealed.

Anyways if I can afford to buy another pair, and fail to find a local shop that could do such a job, i'll keep that in mind and let you know.

 

[Outaline]

No problem
Too bad you didn't live closer, he usually has them done the same day if you drop them off in the AM

 

[Mcdiver]

The best way to do this is by sanding with 600 grit, you will need at least that for the adhesion process. then you will need to spray adhesion promoter on the plastic. When this is done, you will need to spray the black to your liking, and finally spray the clear. I prefer the PPG products and their global system. You need to spray 3 light coats one at a time with at least 15 minutes in-between coats. When done, you can wet sand and buff to a shine. You will need at least 2 days to cure the clear before wet sanding and buffing.

The clear is normally sold by the gallon, for the entire set-up including hardener and reducer, you are about $300. The base coat is cheap, $30, and the adhesion promoter is cheap, $10. But you will need a spray gun, mixing cups, mixing sticks, strainers, and thinner for cleaning up.

 

[DarrenWS6]

The best way to do this is by sanding with 600 grit, you will need at least that for the adhesion process. then you will need to spray adhesion promoter on the plastic. When this is done, you will need to spray the black to your liking, and finally spray the clear. I prefer the PPG products and their global system. You need to spray 3 light coats one at a time with at least 15 minutes in-between coats. When done, you can wet sand and buff to a shine. You will need at least 2 days to cure the clear before wet sanding and buffing.

The clear is normally sold by the gallon, for the entire set-up including hardener and reducer, you are about $300. The base coat is cheap, $30, and the adhesion promoter is cheap, $10. But you will need a spray gun, mixing cups, mixing sticks, strainers, and thinner for cleaning up.

Exactly why i'm doing the rattle can version. I can't afford to buy all those supplies for something I may barely ever use again, and I can't afford to have it done by a pro. So my plans are to try this, or if moneys ever right, have a pro shop do them, or buy a set to ship off to Outaline for his guy to do if I take it that seriously.

 

[DarrenWS6]

Alright so I bougth the Dupli Color Acrylic Enamel clear. I masked a section on my prject lamp to use and sprayed 2 layers with 15 minute drying times between, let it dry overnight and wetsanded with 2000 grit and got rid of every single bit of orange peel. Next I used Ultimate compound, plast X, and deep crystal polish. Looked pretty good, So I repeated the entire process. After wetsanding the day after and compuning & polishing, it looks good and feels durable, but, it doesn't have such a clarified shine as the Rustolium enamel I used. Its nice and smooth, but it doesn'took AS clarified. Is 2 coats the maximum I should have gone? I believe I did 3 coats with the rustolium clear, but only a couple hours later I wetsanded.

Any input anyone? Should I only stick with the 2 layers and smooth wetsand once? Heres some photos.

Before using the Dupli,this just shows how well the rustolium clear worked after wet sands and polishes.

Here is after using some of the Acrylic Enamel. The middle section is the Dupli. Left is Krylon triple which I gave up on cause its crap, and the right is the Rustolium.

It looks great smoothed out. I did the best job on sanding with this. You can vaugly tell about the shine clarity where the light is between the Dupli and Rustolium

But stil gives a reflective shine.

 

[mblouir]

Nice!

 

[DarrenWS6]

Nice!

Thanks man. I'm a little dissapointed in the low clarity in the Duplicolor, I only did one extra layer than what the others have. Any input?

My next move is to put the light in the oven and take it apart, then paint the inside of the upper portion, and reverse lamp portion to black like stock Harley tails, the reverse light is just such a sore thumb with the chrome under it. Then I will put it back together and sand the bottom clear parts smooth, and re-clear the whole thing.