Perdue
08-13-2005, 07:41 PM
Disclaimer: Continue at your own risk. This is an illegal modification in all states as far as I know, as is any modification to any light on your vehicle according to DOT standards, which are federal. I accept no responsibility for any tickets, fines, accidents, damage, or anything else that happens due to your actions in doing this modification. This modification is pretty involved if you don't know how to lay paint, so please, procede with caution.
Total Work Time: 2hrs, 15 minutes
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417254269.jpg
Supplies (some pictured, some not)
-VHT Niteshades x 2 cans
-Clear Coat x 2 cans (I used Rustoleum Lacquer)
-Duplicolor Prep-Wipes (can use prepsol or equivilant and rags, but this is quicker, easier, and only costs $0.65USD/wipe)
-Masking Tape
-Xacto Knife
-Sandpaper (800 grit; rougher grits will be required to remove any scratches/pits in the plastic)
-Water (bowl or hose will work)
-Large Area Masking Media (I used trashbags, but masking paper or anything else will work. Make sure that paint will not soak through the media. Of course, you won't need this if you choose to remove the light assembly from the car.)
-Rubbing Compound
-Your Favorite Automotive Wax
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417260744.jpg
Step 1: Use a Duplicolor Prep-Wipe to clean your lights of any dirt, oil, and wax. Oils from your skin, wax, silicone, and other such contaminates will keep paint from sticking to the plastic and cause fisheyes. Cleaning the lenses before sanding will keep you from sanding contaminates down into the plastic.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417264235.jpg
Step 2: Begin gently wetsanding the plastic taillights. If you've chosen not to remove the lights from the car, as I have, then be careful around the edges. You don't want to sand into the surrounding paint, as it will just cause more work later on. If you have scratches or pits in the taillights, you'll need to start with a rougher grit and work your way up to 800, removing the scratches left by the previous piece of sand paper every time. Use a dry, lint free cloth to dry the light from time to time, checking progress as you go.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417271681.jpg
Step 3: Wipe the taillights with a dry, lint free cloth to get rid of the majority of your sanding dust. Follow up with your second Duplicolor Prep-Wipe. Now allow the whole assembly to dry well. You can't afford for any water to be left behind from the wetsanding. You should be left with something like what is pictured above; Slightly hazy/scuffed, and no longer shiny.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417274385.jpg
Step 4: t3h bodAykit!!1! supAr l33t sl33pAr!!1! Not really. Begin masking the lights. Don't be afraid to overlap the edges of the plastic to be painted, as the masking tape can be easily cut with an exacto knife, a careful and with light pressure, and then gently pulled away. make sure your edges are in full contact with the black plastic/metal surrounding the plastic to be painted to avoid paint bleeding. After you've gone completely around the light with tape, use your large area masking media to cover the rest of the car, preventing overspray. I only covered the area I have pictured here, and ended up with paint dust (dried overspray) all over the car. It was easily washed off, but this is a lot of extra work that could've been avoided. Cover the entire car!
Step 5: Now that you've masked the car off, you're ready to spray. Use long, sweeping motions with the niteshades, ensuring not to move to slow and allowing the paint to take a wet look, as it's very thin and will run otherwise. You'll be creating a dust coat, which is just how it sounds: a dusting of paint. Do this until you have acquired the desired darkness, allowing about 10 minutes of flashtime (drying time) between coats. I used about 1 and a half cans of Niteshades, but it may take less if you would like something a little less dark, or have a legacy/impreza without the trunk section.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417281347.jpg
Step 6: After allowing the Niteshades 10-30 minutes of flashtime, start applying your clear coat. Again, start with dust coats until you have completely covered, again allowing approximately 10 minutes of flashtime.
After your dust coats, do one or two wet coats. This will take a lot of practice and is the reason I recommend that someone no experience with paint not try this modification. Any runs in the paint will require a very skilled hand to sand out the run, or redoing the mod all over again. You will slow down your speed as your spray over the lights, allowing the paint to settle and look wet (hence "wet coat'). These coats will actually give the shine back to the lights, as well as protect the Niteshades from light scratches and uv rays.
Note: The above picture shows my lights post-clear. You can see that the clearcoat has gotten hazy. This is usually caused by spraying when it's too humid (it was), but will in all likelyhood clear up as the paint dries, so don't panic if this happens to you.
Step 6: Now allow the paint to dry for around 30 minutes. At this point, it should still be soft, but not so tacky that it will permanently collect dust. This is the optimal time to pull away the masking, as it shouldn't lift the paint around the edges, and any overspray dust won't stick to the lights. Be careful and do not allow the tape/plastic/paper to fall against the painted surface. This is very important, as it may do damage to the still soft paint, which will not be able to be repaired short of redoing the mod.
Step 7: For the time being, just admire what you have at this particular moment. It will take around 48hrs for the paint to cure, allowing you to use some rubbing compound to smooth the paint out some, and some wax afterwards to protect it. The care for this is now the same as the rest of your car's paint. Just keep it waxed (I don't recommend using a claybar on this), and it should last a good while.
Done: Below are some finished pictures. The camera shows the tint as being slightly darker than in person. You are still able to clearly read the Subaru inside the trunk light assembly. The first picture, shows the parking lights at night. My center lights were replaced with emergency lights, so don't think it's too dark to see'em there.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417283662.jpg
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417291738.jpg
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417313852.jpg
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417321391.jpg
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417323583.jpg
Total Work Time: 2hrs, 15 minutes
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417254269.jpg
Supplies (some pictured, some not)
-VHT Niteshades x 2 cans
-Clear Coat x 2 cans (I used Rustoleum Lacquer)
-Duplicolor Prep-Wipes (can use prepsol or equivilant and rags, but this is quicker, easier, and only costs $0.65USD/wipe)
-Masking Tape
-Xacto Knife
-Sandpaper (800 grit; rougher grits will be required to remove any scratches/pits in the plastic)
-Water (bowl or hose will work)
-Large Area Masking Media (I used trashbags, but masking paper or anything else will work. Make sure that paint will not soak through the media. Of course, you won't need this if you choose to remove the light assembly from the car.)
-Rubbing Compound
-Your Favorite Automotive Wax
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417260744.jpg
Step 1: Use a Duplicolor Prep-Wipe to clean your lights of any dirt, oil, and wax. Oils from your skin, wax, silicone, and other such contaminates will keep paint from sticking to the plastic and cause fisheyes. Cleaning the lenses before sanding will keep you from sanding contaminates down into the plastic.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417264235.jpg
Step 2: Begin gently wetsanding the plastic taillights. If you've chosen not to remove the lights from the car, as I have, then be careful around the edges. You don't want to sand into the surrounding paint, as it will just cause more work later on. If you have scratches or pits in the taillights, you'll need to start with a rougher grit and work your way up to 800, removing the scratches left by the previous piece of sand paper every time. Use a dry, lint free cloth to dry the light from time to time, checking progress as you go.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417271681.jpg
Step 3: Wipe the taillights with a dry, lint free cloth to get rid of the majority of your sanding dust. Follow up with your second Duplicolor Prep-Wipe. Now allow the whole assembly to dry well. You can't afford for any water to be left behind from the wetsanding. You should be left with something like what is pictured above; Slightly hazy/scuffed, and no longer shiny.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417274385.jpg
Step 4: t3h bodAykit!!1! supAr l33t sl33pAr!!1! Not really. Begin masking the lights. Don't be afraid to overlap the edges of the plastic to be painted, as the masking tape can be easily cut with an exacto knife, a careful and with light pressure, and then gently pulled away. make sure your edges are in full contact with the black plastic/metal surrounding the plastic to be painted to avoid paint bleeding. After you've gone completely around the light with tape, use your large area masking media to cover the rest of the car, preventing overspray. I only covered the area I have pictured here, and ended up with paint dust (dried overspray) all over the car. It was easily washed off, but this is a lot of extra work that could've been avoided. Cover the entire car!
Step 5: Now that you've masked the car off, you're ready to spray. Use long, sweeping motions with the niteshades, ensuring not to move to slow and allowing the paint to take a wet look, as it's very thin and will run otherwise. You'll be creating a dust coat, which is just how it sounds: a dusting of paint. Do this until you have acquired the desired darkness, allowing about 10 minutes of flashtime (drying time) between coats. I used about 1 and a half cans of Niteshades, but it may take less if you would like something a little less dark, or have a legacy/impreza without the trunk section.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417281347.jpg
Step 6: After allowing the Niteshades 10-30 minutes of flashtime, start applying your clear coat. Again, start with dust coats until you have completely covered, again allowing approximately 10 minutes of flashtime.
After your dust coats, do one or two wet coats. This will take a lot of practice and is the reason I recommend that someone no experience with paint not try this modification. Any runs in the paint will require a very skilled hand to sand out the run, or redoing the mod all over again. You will slow down your speed as your spray over the lights, allowing the paint to settle and look wet (hence "wet coat'). These coats will actually give the shine back to the lights, as well as protect the Niteshades from light scratches and uv rays.
Note: The above picture shows my lights post-clear. You can see that the clearcoat has gotten hazy. This is usually caused by spraying when it's too humid (it was), but will in all likelyhood clear up as the paint dries, so don't panic if this happens to you.
Step 6: Now allow the paint to dry for around 30 minutes. At this point, it should still be soft, but not so tacky that it will permanently collect dust. This is the optimal time to pull away the masking, as it shouldn't lift the paint around the edges, and any overspray dust won't stick to the lights. Be careful and do not allow the tape/plastic/paper to fall against the painted surface. This is very important, as it may do damage to the still soft paint, which will not be able to be repaired short of redoing the mod.
Step 7: For the time being, just admire what you have at this particular moment. It will take around 48hrs for the paint to cure, allowing you to use some rubbing compound to smooth the paint out some, and some wax afterwards to protect it. The care for this is now the same as the rest of your car's paint. Just keep it waxed (I don't recommend using a claybar on this), and it should last a good while.
Done: Below are some finished pictures. The camera shows the tint as being slightly darker than in person. You are still able to clearly read the Subaru inside the trunk light assembly. The first picture, shows the parking lights at night. My center lights were replaced with emergency lights, so don't think it's too dark to see'em there.
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417283662.jpg
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417291738.jpg
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417313852.jpg
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417321391.jpg
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22417323583.jpg