Tinted Taillights tooo dark need to lighten!!

[Fahad R/T]

A year ago, I bought Dark tinted tails from a member on the chargerforums.com, put them on the car, and she is black as hell... love the look...

Unfortunatly the Cops dont, 3 tickets later i decided to install AAC rear LED Halos... They look awsome... But still not light enough, the tint is dark as hell...

Any way of lightening the tint with out hurting the tails? or even getting it down to the red lens... I just want to safely lighten it...

Any tips y'all??

[BOS/SRT]

Fahad, I can help you on this, you know i went through over eight different tints on my tails last year and need to lighten mine this year as well and make a new set of tails/spoiler combo.
Very important, don't use any solvents/liquids to remove it. It will damage your tint and paint. You want to use wet sand paper and buff and polish them.

You'll need: Local Auto Store
-wet sand paper, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 4000 grit. most auto store wont have 4000 grit, so make due with 2000 (+). Buy extras, you will need them.
-3m has a mini buff kit for your standard hand drill, works great for these small jobs. it comes with a small compound pad and buff pad.
-3m rubbing compound and buff compound (any company you can find)
-hand drill with speed settings (i use my dewalt)
-green painters tape or any painters tape that has strong adhesion.

Steps:
-take your tails off and tape the paint edge.
-important that when you wet sand that you keep the sand paper wet, or else it will burn and remove more. also, keep the same motion and number of times that you sand an area, keep it consistent for both tails (write it down).
-important that you keep the sand paper clean, don't sand when you have build up on the sand paper, it will create deeper scratches. keep the water clean too.
-start with 1000 grit and work your way up. if 1000 isn't enough, move down to 800 grit, but be careful not to remove to much. if you see the water turning red, you've gone to deep and this is bad. lol now it's going to be difficult to see your progress once you start, because it looks greyish, just wet them up and you'll see how the tint will look when done (makes it transparent to see better).
-note, be careful with the tape edge, don't go crazy trying to even it out, do your best to sand the tape edge area. once you start buffing, it will blend it in better, you'll see what i mean, especially your car is black, so it will blend better.
-after your done wet sanding, clean off tails with water, don't need soap. put the tails back on your ride. re-tape the paint edge of the tails, now it's wet.
-also tape the underside of the tails where the gap is to the bumper, also the trunk side area too. you can layer the tape around the tails to give you more protection from damaging the car paint. go wide with the tape, just in case you slip, trust me just do it.
-now you've got all that set, set your drill to medium/high setting, place the compound pad on the drill, put the compound on the pad and smear it on with your fingers and some on the tails (this will cause less splattering). go easy at first, until you get the hang of it and again go in the same motion and times over an area. wipe off rubbing compound when done with a rag and water again.
-do the same step as rubbing compound with the polishing compound. once your done you'll see the shine come back and any mis perfections in the tint lightening. wipe off again with a rag and water. you may see that you have to do some areas again, but that depends on how well you keep it consistent. after this you can use spray wax etc. to get more shine out of it.

i hope it helps. it may look like a lot, but it really isn't. i just want to make sure i go over everything and you have my number if you need immediate assistance.
good luck!
Jimmy

[BOS/SRT]

btw, you could always clear the tails again after you wet sand, but i wouldn't suggest doing it with rattle can, better with spray gun.

[Fahad R/T]

I knew you would come thru with the plan dude... I will try it and post b4 and after pix...
Thanx...

I really hate to lighten them, but i guess i have to for safety, I drove behind my car on the highway when my and my friend exchanged cars, and it was terible... too dimm...

This should hopefully do the trick...

[BOS/SRT]

i know what you mean, but it's gotta get done. i'm not looking forward to lightening mine either, but i don't want to take any chances, especially when i'm still not running with a front plate.
you know i'm here for ya bro.
good luck!

[Gabe]

Good luck with the projects guys ..... I consider myself fairly lucky considering I've been running w/no frt plate and tinted tails almost the whole time I've had the car :)

Here's mine, as usual with the lights always on ;)

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee265/gpwebman/07%20Charger%20RT%20AWD/painted-tails/2008_9-15_painted_tails6.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee265/gpwebman/07%20Charger%20RT%20AWD/painted-tails/2008_9-15_painted_tails10.jpg


Since the above pics, I've removed the decals and installed a BT rear emblem, but I think I like the above look better, now that I see it again ... lol



.

[BOS/SRT]

Local leo's don't give me a problems, it's the troopers that do. I've had to many warnings and one who always looks for me in my area, ugh.

[Fahad R/T]

well i went ahead and did it... it works...

BUT ( there is always one and you know it )

I messed up when i tried evening things out... Some areas had sploches i wanted to make even with the rest i was happy with... I ended up reaching the red in the side of the lens... so i ended up taking the whole middle section off until i got the red back...

Controling the amount of sanding required was nearly impossible for my hands... but i have the bottom section and top of the light in black and only the middle section in red... my friends dig it... but its safer to drive now...

I will order some VHT and spray one coat atleast to make me happy... I got so used to black... Pix coming soon...

Thanx for the advice guys...

[Fahad R/T]

Pix of the outcome...

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee122/f_buna9ir/DSC_0601.jpg



http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee122/f_buna9ir/DSC_0588.jpg



http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee122/f_buna9ir/DSC_0585.jpg



http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee122/f_buna9ir/DSC_0641.jpg



http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee122/f_buna9ir/DSC_0645.jpg



http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee122/f_buna9ir/DSC_0647.jpg



http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee122/f_buna9ir/DSC_0648.jpg



http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee122/f_buna9ir/DSC_0646.jpg

[DaBlackPearl]

That looks good! Are you happy with them?

[BOS/SRT]

BRO! your kidding me, right? those aren't the same tails, lol. yeah i would say you went to far, ugh. sorry man. next time just call me when you run into a snag, don't matter what time.
you do have to be very careful when sanding down, which is why i said to start with 1000 and do the stroke count and not to WORRY about the edges, lol. well, i can say i did the same thing my first time, lol. which is what i was trying to prevent you having to go through.
they are definitely lighter, at least it looks even. you did a good job getting them to shine again.
if your going to use vht, be careful, it's very hard to sand them, not the same as the auto paint/clear combo that you have. tape the edge again and do LIGHT coats and build it that way, one stroke across, then move to next, etc... it may not look dark enough with one stroke, but you'll build off it and notice it getting darker every time. the tricky part is know when to stop, because there's always a point it still looks light, then suddenly you do another stroke and it's way to dark. just let me know when you start.
i'm sure you not getting any trouble for leo's and the halo's look sick.
congrats!

[Fahad R/T]

Well the guys liked them at first, after sanding they loved them...

I like the look at night... Very safe... But in the day they are too red for my taste... so a few coats of VHT should do the job...

But ur tips really worked, I jus couldnt even it out... My bad...

[BOS/SRT]

glad to help. wish it went perfectly, but it never does anyways, especially not for me, lol. keep us posted.

[jackiesrt]

Fahad, your car looks AMAZING! Good to see.