Yup, you read that correctly. And like when someone mentions windshield tint, you probably gasped and thought about how bad an idea this was.
Here's what I started out with:
Notice how the chrome reflectors really pop from the rest of the front of the car? I honestly don't care for that very much; I feel the headlights are what make or break a car, and that they really need to flow with the rest of the front end. In this form, mine really stick out from the rest of the front, and I decided to fix that.
So, here was my process. I first practiced and perfected it on my old stock headlights that I don't need anyway.
1. Clean and lightly wet-sand the lights with 1500 grit sandpaper.
2. Sprayed two VERY light coats of brake light lens tint, Rustoleum brand. And I mean LIGHT, like spraying-a-pan-with-cooking-spray kind of light.
As a side note, I first did this with VHT Niteshades, and did not like it at all. First, the paint came out in large droplets, which doesn't look as good. There is no way to get a 'light' coat of Niteshades on. Plus, it has a bluish-greenish shade to it that is VERY noticeable on a clear lens. The Rustoleum is very close to black/grey, and comes out in a much finer mist.
3. Lightly wet-sanded with 1500 grit after it dried.
4. Two light coats, one medium coat, and one very heavy coat of clear, Dupli-Color brand.
5. After it dried, wet-sanded with 1000 grit to get all the orange peel out.
6. Wet-sanded with 1500 and then 2000 grit to get super-smooth and slick surface.
7. Buffed with Porter Cable + Orange pad with Meguiar's 105.
8. Polished with White pad and Meguiar's 205.
9. Topped it all off with a coat of Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax.
10. Had several beer. With my left hand of course. Because my right arm/hand was about to fall off at this point.
And here's what I ended up with:
All in all, I couldn't have asked for it to turn out any better. The darkness is perfect, in my opinion. The car looks much more aggressive now. I can actually see better at night because the tint has drastically cut down the glare from the HIDs, which has allowed me to point them farther down the road without blinding other drivers. The lenses are as clear as they were from the start, only a darker shade now. You can only see the paint droplets if you look really close. All in all, it's perfect.
Except.......
The lenses look a little cloudy/foggy when the lights are on. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I've got such a thin coat of the tint on. But, it's really not all that bad. Very few people would even notice it before I pointed it out.
All said and done, I couldn't be happier. Even in the worst case scenario that I decide to strip it all off, I still learned a lot about sanding, prepping, buffing, etc. that I can carry over to other applications. I don't know yet, but when I get my hood and spoiler painted, I might get my painter to tint the head lights while he's at it at the same darkness they are now. He says that it shouldn't look cloudy like they do now, or at least none he's done in the past do. I guess we'll see when I get to that in a couple of months.
Anyways, hit it up with any thoughts, opinions, feedback, etc.
Here's what I started out with:
Notice how the chrome reflectors really pop from the rest of the front of the car? I honestly don't care for that very much; I feel the headlights are what make or break a car, and that they really need to flow with the rest of the front end. In this form, mine really stick out from the rest of the front, and I decided to fix that.
So, here was my process. I first practiced and perfected it on my old stock headlights that I don't need anyway.
1. Clean and lightly wet-sand the lights with 1500 grit sandpaper.
2. Sprayed two VERY light coats of brake light lens tint, Rustoleum brand. And I mean LIGHT, like spraying-a-pan-with-cooking-spray kind of light.
As a side note, I first did this with VHT Niteshades, and did not like it at all. First, the paint came out in large droplets, which doesn't look as good. There is no way to get a 'light' coat of Niteshades on. Plus, it has a bluish-greenish shade to it that is VERY noticeable on a clear lens. The Rustoleum is very close to black/grey, and comes out in a much finer mist.
3. Lightly wet-sanded with 1500 grit after it dried.
4. Two light coats, one medium coat, and one very heavy coat of clear, Dupli-Color brand.
5. After it dried, wet-sanded with 1000 grit to get all the orange peel out.
6. Wet-sanded with 1500 and then 2000 grit to get super-smooth and slick surface.
7. Buffed with Porter Cable + Orange pad with Meguiar's 105.
8. Polished with White pad and Meguiar's 205.
9. Topped it all off with a coat of Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax.
10. Had several beer. With my left hand of course. Because my right arm/hand was about to fall off at this point.
And here's what I ended up with:
All in all, I couldn't have asked for it to turn out any better. The darkness is perfect, in my opinion. The car looks much more aggressive now. I can actually see better at night because the tint has drastically cut down the glare from the HIDs, which has allowed me to point them farther down the road without blinding other drivers. The lenses are as clear as they were from the start, only a darker shade now. You can only see the paint droplets if you look really close. All in all, it's perfect.
Except.......
The lenses look a little cloudy/foggy when the lights are on. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I've got such a thin coat of the tint on. But, it's really not all that bad. Very few people would even notice it before I pointed it out.
All said and done, I couldn't be happier. Even in the worst case scenario that I decide to strip it all off, I still learned a lot about sanding, prepping, buffing, etc. that I can carry over to other applications. I don't know yet, but when I get my hood and spoiler painted, I might get my painter to tint the head lights while he's at it at the same darkness they are now. He says that it shouldn't look cloudy like they do now, or at least none he's done in the past do. I guess we'll see when I get to that in a couple of months.
Anyways, hit it up with any thoughts, opinions, feedback, etc.