I am planning on smoking my tail lights and I cant get the clear part off the light to spray it, do any of you guys know how to take it off, or have any advice on how you did yours.

 

I believe they are sealed units, and not easy to crack open. Most people have used tint film instead of spray, but I suppose you could mask it off.

 

Dont know if I am foloowing, are these people using tint film on the outside? Would it work to spray my lights on the outside if taped off?

 

have done this a number of times. i used 'niteshades' spray tint [a VHT product]. remove both lights. mask off the light, except for the lense itself. clean the lense w/ wax & grease remover. carefully spray the lense. it takes several very light coats, letting it dry between coats, because it is easy to run it if you put it on too heavy. the trick to getting a professional result is to clear them after you get the desired tint. i had a friend at a body shop clear them w/ PPG automotive clear coat....if you don't clear them, you have two problems: 1) it can look a bit blotchy, no matter how even you are w/ the spray can; and 2) the tint will slowly fade if not protected by the clear. hth

 

I am using, tamiya smoked grey transparent black, which I got from a hobby store and clear coat enamel for the outside coat, which I bought at Lowes. Not sure if these will work, but let me know if you think they would, the clear coat I have is just a basic enamel paint i think, not sure if those will be enough or if will work as well as the others.

 

(Removed for bad link)

 

Just so you can see another option:

Tinting kit from Rspeed

 

Does anyone have pictures or know of any pics on the net where people painted the lights themselves? Just curious, I dont want this to devalue or look like crap haha

 

Yea we have done this. We did not use that spray can stuff as it leaves a dull luster to the taillights.

We used Clear Coat and Black Paint, masked off the light where we wanted, lightly scuffed the surface of the light, sprayed the paint. that's it.

Here is a link to a rear shot of our mini:

http://djkaotix.com/sugar/rearshotagain.jpg

Brake lights tinted, Fender Markers Tinted, and 3rd Brake Light tinted.

 

Just finished them up this weekend and they look great, stuck with the paint i had then put a lacer over them, nice and shiny, pics soon.

 

Here is a pic of the finished job, only took about 3 hours including drying, very happy about how it looks.