Maybe some of you have done it, but I know that a lot of you have thought about it. I recruited my dad for help on this since he grew up in a body/paint shop...and I know very little about painting.
I bought a can of Nite Shades tail light spray tint. We removed the housings, cleaned them well, and taped up the chrome. I couldn't believe how much dirt was inside the brake lights, so I blasted that out with water.
That was the easy part. The paint was very difficult to work with. It was very thin with a tendancy to run...and it loved to "holiday" around even the smallest scratches in the plastic. (I'll let someone else more knowledgable explain what that is.) Fortunately, it dried very quickly (<5 minutes), so rotating the part continuously prevented most running. The can said three coats at most or else no light would pass through, so after the first coat, we opted for one more. The lights were almost black after that, so I was satisfied. I wasn't really satisfied with the "holidays", but from farther than 3 feet away it was difficult to see them.
All in all, I really like how it changed the look of the car. Very Darth Vaderish. For whatever reason, the camera shots below made the lenses look less black than they actually are. When looking at them in person, they look solid black to me. The first photo was with lights off, second photo with the brake pressed (stuffed a pillow down there). I am more concerned about visibility during the day, as I couldn't tell a difference at night. I think the law in CA is visible at 500 feet, so we'll see what the cops think. Anyway, the last photo is a good shot of what the actual color is when looking at it with your own eyes.
I hate the ricer look, and would not have done this had my car been any other color but black. :B
I bought a can of Nite Shades tail light spray tint. We removed the housings, cleaned them well, and taped up the chrome. I couldn't believe how much dirt was inside the brake lights, so I blasted that out with water.
That was the easy part. The paint was very difficult to work with. It was very thin with a tendancy to run...and it loved to "holiday" around even the smallest scratches in the plastic. (I'll let someone else more knowledgable explain what that is.) Fortunately, it dried very quickly (<5 minutes), so rotating the part continuously prevented most running. The can said three coats at most or else no light would pass through, so after the first coat, we opted for one more. The lights were almost black after that, so I was satisfied. I wasn't really satisfied with the "holidays", but from farther than 3 feet away it was difficult to see them.
All in all, I really like how it changed the look of the car. Very Darth Vaderish. For whatever reason, the camera shots below made the lenses look less black than they actually are. When looking at them in person, they look solid black to me. The first photo was with lights off, second photo with the brake pressed (stuffed a pillow down there). I am more concerned about visibility during the day, as I couldn't tell a difference at night. I think the law in CA is visible at 500 feet, so we'll see what the cops think. Anyway, the last photo is a good shot of what the actual color is when looking at it with your own eyes.
I hate the ricer look, and would not have done this had my car been any other color but black. :B
