How To: Blacked Out Tail Lights
12-26-2009, 10:37 PM
#1
Fords For Life
Thread Starter
How To: Blacked Out Tail Lights
So I blacked out my tailights and thought I would let everyone know how I did it. Simple to do and all you need is really fine wet sandpaper like 2000+ grit, black spray paint (I used VHT Niteshades), and clear coat protectant.
1. Remove the tail lights. There are two screws on the inside of the bed that you need to remove and then pull the tailight straight back and it should pop off. It is held in by grommets in addition to the screws. Dont be a pansy give it a nice pull. Then disconnect the bulbs and make sure they are tucked away make sure that you do not touch them with your bare hands.
2. Wash the tail lights off with water.(Make sure not to get any water in the tail light!!!)
3. After that is done get the sandpaper and wet sand it evenly. You dont need to sand the **** out of it but dont be scared of hurting it.
4. Clean the headlights thouroughly before any painting is done at all. I used a degreasing soap and watched them in the sink. (AGAIN Make sure you dont get any water in the tail light!!!)
5. Dry them completely I recommend air dry or hair dryer so you dont get any fuzz or anything from a towel on them.
6. Now this part is up to you but I did not paint over my reverse lights because I want maximum visibility when I back up (SEE PICTURE). If you want to tape off this portion or not either way you are ready to paint.
7. Take it slow and use light even coats. DONT over do it. You dont want the paint to run because it is a curved surface. I used like 20 VERY light coats. Dont get antsy just take your time for a good quality piece. After it is dry completely add a few coats of the clear coat protectant. Again be patient and do it right. Once that is done and dry you are ready to reinstall which is the opposite of disassembly.
Hope this helps I know it seems self explanatory just got bored and thought I would post something Happy Fordin!!
1. Remove the tail lights. There are two screws on the inside of the bed that you need to remove and then pull the tailight straight back and it should pop off. It is held in by grommets in addition to the screws. Dont be a pansy give it a nice pull. Then disconnect the bulbs and make sure they are tucked away make sure that you do not touch them with your bare hands.
2. Wash the tail lights off with water.(Make sure not to get any water in the tail light!!!)
3. After that is done get the sandpaper and wet sand it evenly. You dont need to sand the **** out of it but dont be scared of hurting it.
4. Clean the headlights thouroughly before any painting is done at all. I used a degreasing soap and watched them in the sink. (AGAIN Make sure you dont get any water in the tail light!!!)
5. Dry them completely I recommend air dry or hair dryer so you dont get any fuzz or anything from a towel on them.
6. Now this part is up to you but I did not paint over my reverse lights because I want maximum visibility when I back up (SEE PICTURE). If you want to tape off this portion or not either way you are ready to paint.
7. Take it slow and use light even coats. DONT over do it. You dont want the paint to run because it is a curved surface. I used like 20 VERY light coats. Dont get antsy just take your time for a good quality piece. After it is dry completely add a few coats of the clear coat protectant. Again be patient and do it right. Once that is done and dry you are ready to reinstall which is the opposite of disassembly.
Hope this helps I know it seems self explanatory just got bored and thought I would post something Happy Fordin!!
03-13-2010, 12:45 PM
#4
03-15-2010, 06:35 AM
#6
Moderator (Ret.)
Very nice. Correct step 4...should be "clean the taillights..." rather than headlights.
And to credit another poster, taillight tinting was written up once before. Repetition is a good thing though, especially for the search function.
And to credit another poster, taillight tinting was written up once before. Repetition is a good thing though, especially for the search function.
03-15-2010, 12:12 PM
#7
2020 Sport
.....To add, if you do a couple of coats of clear and then wet sand again it will have a nicer finish. You can also take a plastic polish and polish them after the clear has completely dried which will leave an awesome shine.
Search function will give you a great like this thread:
https://www.f150forum.com/f7/tinted-tailights-4117/
Also this was one of my write up I did. Many do it a little different with great results.
Search function will give you a great like this thread:
https://www.f150forum.com/f7/tinted-tailights-4117/
Also this was one of my write up I did. Many do it a little different with great results.
[1] Remove taillights
[2] Wash with warm soap and water, degreaser soap of some type
[3] Taped off back up lights using automotive performance 3M green tape (has finest paint line) if you want reverse not to be tinted.
[4] Soft wet sand with 400 grit paper. You want to insure you sand all areas, nothing should be shinny, light should be hazzy when done. No need to sand hard.
[5] Wipe with clean rag so remove all dust.
[6] Applied 4 "light" coats of VHT NightShade (Pep-Boys carries this for around $12.00) waiting 20min between each coat. The more you do the darker it will be and you can always go back and do more coats if you want. Start with 3 coats.
[7] After finial coat I waited 2 1/2 hours then wet sanded with 1500 grit paper
[8] Wipe with clean rag and insure all is dry
[9] Applied 3-4 "heavy" coats of Krylon Fusion for plastic Clear UV. You can use others but this was my preference. After the first 2 coats I let it dry for about an hour and wet sanded again with 2000 grit.
All items were purchased at Pep-boys with a total of $37.98. Total time took about 6 hours.
After the lights curried over night, close to 24 hours, I grabbed the mini bullet polish bit and threw some plastic polish on them and gave them a double shine.
[2] Wash with warm soap and water, degreaser soap of some type
[3] Taped off back up lights using automotive performance 3M green tape (has finest paint line) if you want reverse not to be tinted.
[4] Soft wet sand with 400 grit paper. You want to insure you sand all areas, nothing should be shinny, light should be hazzy when done. No need to sand hard.
[5] Wipe with clean rag so remove all dust.
[6] Applied 4 "light" coats of VHT NightShade (Pep-Boys carries this for around $12.00) waiting 20min between each coat. The more you do the darker it will be and you can always go back and do more coats if you want. Start with 3 coats.
[7] After finial coat I waited 2 1/2 hours then wet sanded with 1500 grit paper
[8] Wipe with clean rag and insure all is dry
[9] Applied 3-4 "heavy" coats of Krylon Fusion for plastic Clear UV. You can use others but this was my preference. After the first 2 coats I let it dry for about an hour and wet sanded again with 2000 grit.
All items were purchased at Pep-boys with a total of $37.98. Total time took about 6 hours.
After the lights curried over night, close to 24 hours, I grabbed the mini bullet polish bit and threw some plastic polish on them and gave them a double shine.
