tinting rear clusters

[spence_star]

Hi guys, does anyone have a step by step on tinting rear clusters properly. When i mean properly i mean so they dont peel off whilst at the car wash.

As much advice please guys, or if someone is a pro at spray tinting, let me kno as i may need to request for a pair to be done, which i would be happy to pay for.

[eko]

Thought Dips was doing you a set?

[spence_star]

i wanna kno how difficult it is coz if it aint hard i can do it myself before i finalise with dips

[maxfield]

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... chtint.htm

[eko]

Ive done a couple of sets DIY.

I used Tamiya modelling spray.
Turned out ok in my opinion but i suppose it all depends on how good you are and how high your standards are!
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:I ... m85018.jpg
Dips does have an excellent reputation on here though so think you can have high hopes if hes doing you a set [/img]

[OBs]

I do spraying for a living.... 'Key' the surface with 2000 wetordry....

To do a neat job professionally I would mix about 0.5g? of black L/S (Less pigment) into 140g of clear coat..

Which would give you a nice smoke tint but not make the lights to hard to see, This is if using 'Big boys equipment!'

Or... Aerosol, Prep as before and then Lightly 'Dust' coats of 'Jet Black' from about 1 foot away lightly pressing the nozzle (But dont try to fully cover the light completey in Black as it will 'Smother' the light!) Finish by clearcoating, one nice coat should do...?

[spence_star]

the aerosol way would be the way i would go about doing it. lets say i dont want to spray over the reverse light wot would i do?

and whats 2000 wetordry and whats the best clear coat spray to get??

[eko]

I do spraying for a living.... 'Key' the surface with 2000 wetordry....

To do a neat job professionally I would mix about 0.5g? of black L/S (Less pigment) into 140g of clear coat..

Which would give you a nice smoke tint but not make the lights to hard to see, This is if using 'Big boys equipment!'

Or... Aerosol, Prep as before and then Lightly 'Dust' coats of 'Jet Black' from about 1 foot away lightly pressing the nozzle (But dont try to fully cover the light completey in Black as it will 'Smother' the light!) Finish by clearcoating, one nice coat should do...?

Black
Red is definately best

[spence_star]

definatly red

[J_Mac]

i'm at this stage as well, this ........



is some mk2 golf spare lights i've got (phone cam pic) so crap quality but hope it gives you the idea of .. black

mine will be black in a few days, only cost a tenner, if it looks crap i'll do it again in red



Anyway i think black tint will go with a black car well overall



but we shall see .. i could be wrong[/img]

[OBs]

Sorry Red then (Joking)!

2000 wet or dry... Fine sand paper

Masking tape does tend to 'leak' underneith... Saying that if you dont plaster the lights in Red it shouldnt be a problem, To do this over lap all the edges and then 'Mitre' the joins (Picture frame) We use 3M Fine line tape, Which I guess is something like Vinal they use at sign writers? Measure and Cut out a 'Rectangle' to cover the Reverse light..... If not pin stripe 'Go faster stripes' would do the same job then finish with masking tape

Of the shelf Aerosol Clear coat is something I dont use alot of but any Halfords stuff should do?

When applying clear (Same as base / Red) Do one light 'Grip coat' wait 10 mins then one 'full' coat hold can about 3 - 4" away.... But dont give the light a full coat of Red! just a light coat (Your proberly better choosing a darker shade of Red then you actually want) as it will appear lighter anyway..

Hope that helps!

[J_Mac]

if you are spraying red, why mask the reverse light. Surly your only going to be spraying the amber indicator and masking the rest, like in the tech article maxfield posted

[OBs]

Chrome early lamp? Maybe

[DRIFTBOY]

I just cleaned them and used several light coates from an £8.95 can of spray tint.
Did it on my last car too, had that over 3 years and not one bit flaked off.
Might not be the best looking way when you are close up bit it's quick, easy and cheap!

[J_Mac]

looks good, i might wait get the red aswell, tint the indicators red then black the lot, may have to use orange bulbs but there only a few pence

[eko]

Heres the last set i did,cost £2.99 from model shop

[J_Mac]

hmm that looks really good, reverse light tinted black tho?

[eko]

hmm that looks really good, reverse light tinted aswell?

Smoked reverse light and tinted indicator!

[J_Mac]

i'm torn now. still think black smoke for me

sorry for hijacking the thread spence_star as i said i'm in the same position as you

[spence_star]

i'm torn now. still think black smoke for me

sorry for hijacking the thread spence_star as i said i'm in the same position as you

No worries mate the more advice the better really! I like how it comes out, i will give it a try as i have 2 sets of clusters.

So mask what you dont wanna spray, cool. It should be ok. Where can you get clear spray from? or do you bother putting a clear layer aftwerwards

[spence_star]

guys how does the wiring loom for the lights fit on, the reason why i ask is because my ones are the after market looms because of the rear clusters i have. i kno the loom is like a cylinder where does that go???

[J_Mac]

Before



After altho there a shade more darker, i sprayed them again today



take another pic when it's not raining

[J_Mac]

even tho there darker light still come's though ok, (i did my side and front indicators aswell)

[OBs]

Heres the last set i did,cost £2.99 from model shop

I think this looks the Bo11ox!! I like that alot.... Really sets the car off?
Good work Eko!!

[mrLEE30]

prep and clean the plastic lens, lightly sand with 2000 sand paper, spray with red tint spray- 2 coats, spray with clear coat- 3 coats, allow to dry, buff with cutting paste till shiney...takes about a day including waiting for the paint to dry. these are over a year old in the pic below..no flacking at all.

note red indicators are illegal in uk and orange bulbs still flash red, some rewire the lights to flash through the reverse lights using an orange bulb and obviously they do not tint the revese section asMOT does not require reverse light. We have tried to put green bulbs in too and it does not work (green plus red = yellow was the theory), alternate is to have thin red strips accross the indicator, leaving some orange there, look at an E39 to get the idea.

but here we dont care much for the rules of your roads so we spray em all red...

[spence_star]

hey guys,

Thanks for all your advice, i have now completed the spraying of my rear lights. They came out the B****X if i must say. I feel to do it for a living they came out so good.

Once the weather clears up i will take a picture and post it up.

Thanks anyway guys for all the advice it saved me quite a bit of money.