Ok, so this is huge. Its right up there with the washer thing in terms of results per dollar. I was reading the recent thread on tinting lenses, smoking them, Nite Shade, etc. I've had all my cars done professionally at paint shops before. I like the smoked look... but then again, they are all BLACK CARS... what would happen on my Silver E55? Further, should I leave the clear backup unsmoked or not? Painting it all is easy... stenciling out that area takes most of the time.

But I did it. INSTEAD of Nite Shade, which has LOTS of complaints about rough texture, followed by all sorts of methods of wet sanding, polishing, clear coating, polishing again... INSTEAD of that I did some research and found "VANS Smoke Tail Light" imported from Japan was purported to be much better. Many people put it on and didn't need a clear coat, etc. I wonder if it has clear coat mixed in already... dunno.

So, I ordered 2 bottles (used 1.25 of that), cleaned with alcohol, taped and masked, got down to stenciling the clear area (razor blade, find the very very thin crack between red and clear and follow it slowly).

First two light coats... very rough. Crap... how is this going to look smooth? Two more and if I saturated a little more, it was shiny and smooth. Let it dry and its pretty damn good shine and polish wise...not rough like the Nite Shade stuff I've read about. I was trying to balance a darkness level that was like my window tint but not too dark. Too dark won.

Dramatic... with the dark tint (did the center brake light too) its going to be controversial... people here will probably love it or hate it. Some poeple would say I should have smoked all of it... but the clear part goes with my silver well... it just gives the rear more business going on like the front.

Dunno, tell me what you all think... Here's the link to the ebay site... one of a handful of people selling Vans.... 3 times as much as Nite Shade, but worth it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EAFB%3AIT&rd=1

So, 1.5 hours and $70 later, I did it myself. When it dries I am going to run the 3m 1500 grit rubbing compound on it everyone is recommending on the internet and see if it brings it up from a B+ to an A+. Overall I'm happy... still getting used to it... but happy. Its almost as good as the pro jobs I paid way more money for. YIKES! I'm trying to get used to it... it IS menacing appearance wise...

Make sure you do it yourselfers mask the entire backside of your car and use brief sweeps and spurts at first... clean with rubbing alcohol and let dry, then paint away. DOUBLE YIKES! Still can't get used to it, but I love it for some reason! The pictures don't capture it all...

Tonight I'll take pics of lights... I can see them easily in the daytime... brake lights are a deep red...



Loren

 

Looks very amazing, truely unique and menacing. I love it. I have a silver one too..

 

wow I love it a whole new look!!!!!!! Again where can I purchase this paint???

 

At the link above in the 1st post is a place on ebay... you can also just call them directly and skip ebay if you like...



Loren

 

Update your sig!

 

I likeeeeeeeee.... Great job Loren!

Anyone wants to replicate this process for me? I will pay for your time. :-)

 

I like!!

I wanna do mine, too but i want the whites done, too. I am a bit scared of trying it myself though.

 

Doing the whites too and not have to stencil them out is easy... you can do it. Mask around it with masking tape and newspaper, clean it with alcohol, shake can for a minute, start darkening... stop when you see what you like.

I will say the darker you go, the greater the shine. But you may be able to make any degree of darkness shine merely by using the 3m rubbing compound 1500 grit a day or two later... everyone says that shines up everything, even the nite shade stuff.

I'll know tomorrow when I try it.

Hey, did you see we have the same engine builder?



Loren

 

This actually looks pretty good. I smoked the lights on my silver W211 a whiiiile ago (you might be able to dig it up in the pictures forum) but I took them off after a while. It became too dramatic of a contrast for me. Hey Loren, where are you located in LA? Is it possible that I saw you and your ride at the Sherman Oaks Galleria a couple of months ago?

 

Quite interesting...they have come out better then anything I've seen to date!~!

 

not in the last couple months... but maybe 6 months ago! Haven't been there in a while...



Loren

 

I quite like it.
Honestly, does it look like an amateur job if you walk around the car or does it look OEM?


Did you mask the whole light with tape (then do the cut outs), if so what?
When do you remove the tape? straight after you do the last spray or wait till the next day?

Thanks

 

Looks great!! Very menacing

It'd be interesting to see what happens after the compound grit

 

It looks like a paint shop did it... too dark for OEM anything. Its very deep and rich. I guess it just looks "custom". There are some small marks here and there no one would ever notice without really kneeling down and concentrating. Its not finished. Most of the marks and dust, etc, I plan to work out with the compound soon. I'll post pics and let people know how that works.

I'm totally impressed with this stuff, by the way. At night, the lights look practically the same as before. The darkness matches so well with the tint, the tires, hell, the black crap on the bumper between the exhaust. It just gives it a whole new symetry.

I masked around the entire light, then put a single wide strip of tape on each clear section... then cut around it CAREFULLY following the line between red and white... bingo, I had masked that area, the rest was exposed.

I seriously posted this thread a couple hours after STARTING the project... it went that quick. So yes, tape came off after letting it sit for an hour or so... basically when I realized I probably wouldn't need a clear coat since it was quite glossy. it was very hot today, so it got tacky fast.

Ironic that it doesn't dry as fast as you'd think. Its still tacky to the touch right now!



Loren

 

Loren it looks sweet!!!!! but you need to do something with your license plate. Not the "BHHH BYE" but I would suggest you tone the plate colors down. Use a slightly tinted plastic cover or even consider a slight tint with the paint you used for your lenses. I think if you do this the whole rear end will integrate better and create a more aesthetically pleasing effect.

 

Looks good man !!!

A guy I know here has something simular

 

Good idea... never thought of that... wonder how the CHP react to that sort of stuff. This is California though... my window tint is illegal in the front, and they will write you a ticket for no front license plate. I'm a rolling violation, so what's one more, right?



Loren

 

I can tell you this... make sure you let it dry a long long time before even trying the rubbing compound. Its been 24 hours and its still tacky... so this stuff takes a while to dry...

When it firms up I'll let you know what happens with the compound... may be a few days though!



Loren

 

Let us know how it goes.

Haha!! I did notice we both had our beast hearts made by the same dude. I would even bet he made my motor just after yours!!


The pics look awesome. If you say it is as good as the previous paint shop jobs, then I'll try it out.

Does anyone know how labor intensive removing the rear lights is?

 

Its not as good as the paint shop jobs yet... its been tacky and drying... until I completely polish it, I won't know. But right now, just spraying the stuff on, it looks very good, even up close.

HINT: After you paint, keep them covered / not exposed to dust, lint, hair... its like a magnet for the stuff while its tacky....

Probably will try and polish sunday...

Rear lights... I looked at them for about 10 minutes then said screw it and pulled out the masking tape...



Loren

 

*** UPDATE ***

I'm not impressed with the drying time of this stuff... its been days, and if you so much as touch it with anything it leaves a mark. It better dry real soon, or its coming off! @#$@#$~!!!!



Loren

 

Get the hair dryer onto it!

 

Just a thought...how'd you think it would look if you gave it an "SL" look by tinting just the white areas and leaving the red alone?

 

That is exactly what i want to do.

 

See my new thread warning people about this stuff... it doesn't dry well at all, and marks easily... so while it looks nice and shiny, it won't stand the test of time...



Loren

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/148560-update-spray-tail-light-tint-don-t-do.html