Here's a quick write up of me trying to explain how to get a good professional quality look to tinting your tail lights. I don't have a huge amount of pics but it's pretty simple. If you are worried about it being illegal, don't do this, but this will achieve a tint job that looks like it was made stock factory like the firebird tail lights. I haven't been pulled over in 2 years straight yet with my tinted lights. Make sure you don't need to drive your riv all day.
PREP/ TOOLS NEEDED:
-If you want the pics way bigger, right click and copy image address then paste it in a new tab. These pics are huge.
-Lens tint, the best Iv'e seen by far as of yet is Rustoleum lens tint. It's at pretty much every walmart and auto parts store Iv'e seen so far and pretty cheap like 8 bucks a can which is more than enough
-Krylon Fusion UV clear coat
-Plastic polish/sealer
-Masking tape
-400 grit sand paper
-800 grit
-1000 grit
-2000 grit
-3000 grit
-Rubbing compound
-Soft cloth
-Tack cloth
Rubbing alcohol
A MENTAL NOTE: So you know, there is a lot of sanding involved in this. If you are too lazy to do it right, it will look like crap, and you will get pulled over often because cops will notice it much more. In my case, it literally looks like it was made stock like this.
PROCEDURE:
Basically, you want to remove your tail lights to do this. Iv'e done it without doing that once and the spray gets all over your car prety much no matter what. If you are too lazy for some reason to remove the tail light assembly, then rub out the tint that gets on your car with nail polish remover.
Remove your tail lights by unscrewing the plastic liner that goes over the trunk locking mechanism, then lift up the carpet piece and unscrew the 8 plastic wing nuts retaining the tail light assembly to the car. Remove your license plate as well. The 8 nuts are pretty easy to find with the carpet part out of the way. if the tail light assembly doesn't pull right out, DO NOT FORCE IT, this will make the tail light s possibly misaligned. Make sure all the nuts are removed then tap the bolt threads with a hammer lightly angling it up toward you a little and do that on each bolt until it frees itself.
Unplug the harness and pull the wire out, and make sure to take out the running lights/turn signal marker lights on the sides before trying to yank it out.
After that, you're going to want a perfect clear surface for the tint to adhere to, and this involves a lot of work if you wanna do it the right way. Our cars are old, and worn damaged plastic will affact the overall transparency of the tint job because of how the tint solution cures. I doubt anyone will ever get a 100 % pure perfect tint job unless they have brand new tailight lenses, but it can be pretty damn close, and no one will ever notice unless they are inches from the tail light at night with them on, because the flaws will only be seen when the tail lights are on at night, in day time, it looks 100% perfect.
To make a perfect surface, we will need to wetsand the lens.masking off the chrome is a good idea. We start by sanding it with 400 grit paper until it's very cloudy and you are sure that the entire surface has been sanded down past any worn plastic, then work your way up to 3000 grit until it looks brand new with a near mirror finish. You will gradually feel the surface getting more slick to each step up of grit. When you're done it should be super smooth and the 3000 grit sponge should glide over it very smoothly.
After that, make sure you mask off the chrome trim properly as well as the backup lights.
To get the masking tape to adhere around the chrome properly, do it in little sections around the curve. Use a small flathead screwdriver to press the tape to the chrome trim in between the crack. The backup light masking takes a bit of skill. I ripped of little bits of the tape around the edge and manipulated the shape perfectly with my finger nail. Masking the backup light enables it's functionality perfectly and makes it look much more stock and you are far less likely to get pulled over.
After that, wipe it clean with alcohol and let it dry, then wipe it with the tack cloth and make sure its perfectly clean, then apply the spray in very light coat, and then 5 mins later add a couple more light coats. You can spray it pretty liberally and light will still shine though and that's why the rustoleum is the best one to get, but that will make it look like crap, so we like to do light coats.
This is the finish you see the average kid who tries to tint their lights with and it's a dead giveaway to be pulled over. it looks crappy and all cloudy and blocks more light like this. we will fix that by wet sanding it up to 3000 grit again. but first, peel off the tape from the backup lights and spray a fine mist from decently far away to blend the white to the black. Use your judgement, and if you screw up, you can sand it with 800 grit back up to 3000 and try again but it's really not hard. A very light coat of this won't dull the backup lights but makes it look much better.
After the backup lights dry, wetsand it up to 3000 grit and make sure it looks perfectly smooth.
Looks so much better already sanded back to 3000 grits, right? I did rubbing compound and rinsed it as well so yours won't look as good unless you do that. Honestly, it's abetter idea just to use rubbing compound on the whole thing and make the chrome look brand new before applying the clear coat. The clear coat will also give your chrome a lot of luster and protect it from the sun.
wipe it with alcohol again and the tack cloth, then spray a few coats of Krylon Fusion UV clear coat. After about a week, this stuff cures to nearly rock hard, it's good shit. after the clearcoat fully dies, wetsand it with 2000 grit and 3000 grit paper until it's near flawless, do rubbing compound then rinse it with water.
This is how it looks after I rinsed mine.
And this was after I applied plastic polish. In person, it looked like a black mirror lol.
AFTER I WAS DONE:
These are running lights only, and the brakes make it a good bit brighter and also they were partially burned out bulbs on my part. New bulbs makes it better, and in person, it's very visable especially during braking and turn signals.
It's a lot of work sanding, but if you want a truly professional finish, it's necessary.
