For those thinking about blacking out your taillights...

[RicciDSM]

Just thought id post some results of my 97 TSi's blacked out taillights for anyone thinking about doing this or just wants to see what they would look like

Id like to post a How-To article but because I havent been here for 30 days, so thats not possible yet .

Anyway, took about 1 night total to complete. Started spraying around 7pm last night, and they were on by 12 this afternoon. Ive done this to every car ive owned, its kinda like a habit now, I think it turned out pretty good though. What do you all think?

I drove through that dusty ass parking lot and the lights got dirty so it kinda looks like the paint is messed up, but it isnt!

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Dont mind the birdshit covering my car, I parked under a tree the other night

 

[david-b]

Just did mine the other weekend. Did you use NightShade?

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Yours are much darker, but looks great. Mine had 4 coats

 

[AK Maniak]

Seems like a lot of people on here don't really like the blacked out look but who cares because I absolutely LOVE IT. looks really good though, Hope your ready to get pulled over though

 

[RicciDSM]

Sure did.
Thats weird, cause I did 4 coats too . Did you clear it too? Maybe the clear coat makes it somewhat darker also...

Then again, my first 2 coats were pretty light, then I did somewhat heavy coats towards the end w/ NiteShade & DupliColor Clear.

Seems like a lot of people on here don't really like the blacked out look but who cares because I absolutely LOVE IT. looks really good though, Hope your ready to get pulled over though

And thats when the courtesy card gets pulled hahah

I dont wanna jynx it though, some cops can be dicks. You can see the light perfectly though during the day so I shouldnt have too many problems.

 

[bsbllfit7]

now i take it you sprayed these on the insides of the housings, not the outside, i am looking to do this today or tomorrow and would like some more information on how to do this, what did you use. did you remove anything from the tails. lemme know!

 

[RicciDSM]

now i take it you sprayed these on the insides of the housings, not the outside, i am looking to do this today or tomorrow and would like some more information on how to do this, what did you use. did you remove anything from the tails. lemme know!

Nope! I painted the outside of the taillight lens. Aug 21st will be my 30th day here then I can write up a good detailed How-To but for now I can just shorten everything up for ya


Heres everything you will need:

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1-2 Cans of Nite Shade
1-2 Cans of Clear Coat
A couple red scuff pads (shown)
A wax of your choice
Masking tape to cover back of housings

This stuff can be bought at any auto store (pep boys, autozone etc)


Basically you need to take off the taillights, im assuming you know how to do this already. Theyre just bolted on.

Once theyre off you need to clean the lens to get off any dirt etc etc...I used armor all glass cleaner, but water should do the trick.


Next is the most tiring part, you need to scuff the lens up with the scuff pads. Do this for about 5 minutes, clean the lens, then about another 5 minutes w/ the scuff pad then clean again. You gotta make sure the paint is going to stick but the lens also has to be clean before you spray or else the dust particles will be noticeable in the paint.

Finally, you paint them

Take the NiteShade and do thin coats, waiting about 2 minutes between each coat. Just keep doing this until its as dark as you want. I personally did 4 coats of NiteShade and 3 coats of clear. So 7 coats total for each light.

And thats about it. I let it dry over night, then waxed them early this afternoon and put em right on. If you want to be safe, you can let them dry for as long as you want but im just very impatient and didnt want to go too long without driving.

Hope this helps! Goodluck!

Oh also, if you DO happen to mess up, just remove the paint with some paint stripper and start over fresh!

 

[AK Maniak]

I just used krylon high gloss black from walmart took of the tail lights cleaned em with some soap and water and did about 6-7 coats waiting about 15 min in between each coat

 

[bsbllfit7]

ok so when you do the clear coat do you do night shad clear night shade clear in alternating sequence of just the clear after all the night shade. Also what is the wax for? And also would a light grit sandpaper work?

 

[AK Maniak]

I didn't even use sandpaper and it turned out perfect. as long as you spray it evenly and let it dry completely in between coats you'll be fine.
And in regards to getting pulled over, my tailights shined through fine but i still got pulled over for them during the day. The law is that you must be able to see the reflective surface from 500 feet away. So from my understanding even if the light shines through the reflective surface is what really matters.

 

[bsbllfit7]

how many cans are actually necessary. I was just calling around and they are like 15 dollars for a can of night shade. Is one or two cans necessary???

 

[TSITurbo95]

One can of nightshades and one can of clear coat is all you need. Nice tails btw.

 

[bsbllfit7]

nice ima go out and get this stuff now. Ill report back later with the results/

 

[esoteric]

I wonder how this would look on the stock metallic green.

 

[david-b]

One can is all you need.

I didn't clear coat mine yet. Parting the car now so it doesn't matter to me anymore. Make sure you degrease the housing. I used dish soap, wiped cleaned, and then used degreaser. Then washed again.

My 4 coats were light. The center top I did 6, just to blacken out the "talon" better. I didn't want them pitch black though. Hat egetting pulled over so still wanted them to have some red/yellow/white show through them. Here's them installed

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[AK Maniak]

^ just kinda looks like you oversprayed while painting your trunk or something. I'd atleast spray the bottom a little bit.

 

[bsbllfit7]

DO NOT USE SANDPAPER i did and i can still see the scratches from sanding after 3 coats of night shades and 1 coat of clear coat! Will this go away after a few more coats or am i f***ed

 

[bNasty]

use finer grit sand paper, wetsanding and buffing will be your best friend, i didnt nightshade mine but i color matched the red with duplicolor metal cast.

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[10fold]

I've always wanted to do this but was never sure how they would look on my car. On an all black car, I think it looks amazing, on a red car however...I'm not so sure I like them. The few pics I did see were eh. I like the "Talon" on the center piece though, are there any more pics like TSIturbo95's avatar? That would be the look I would go for, except maybe have the "Talon" red to match my car.

 

[97-gst]

are blacked out taillights legal in virginia? If its okay to do it im gonna do it cause that looks nice

 

[bsbllfit7]

got it done and back on the car, i think i used too high of a grit of sandpaper, thinking about taking them off sanding down and making it smoother. What do you guys think is it possible to re sand it ionce this has been done once. Here is a picture, i havent waxed yet, thinking of doing the whole car tomorrow.

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[TSITurbo95]

Here is some more pics of my car as requested. . .

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[bsbllfit7]

very clean, ever been pulled over with that dark of tails?

 

[AK Maniak]

You do not need to sand your tail lights. Just clean them and it will be fine.

 

[bsbllfit7]

the grit looks deep down and idk if cleaning them will do it. Also i might redo this procedure and go a tad lighter. I think i went too dark. Also if someone was to rear end us, would it automatically be our fault for having tail lights like this? That is a worry of mine that just came to my mind.

 

[TSimage]

I preferred the "smoked" look.. Some of you are laying it on WAY too thick.. especially on black cars, it just looks tacky.

I haven't decided if I'd smoke out the rears on my Talon yet however..

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