Thread: Some new tail lights

Originally Posted by limegreen

If you need to wetsand and buff then dont waste ur time tinting them.

what does this mean??

you do know you need to wet sand the tails before you tint them, what ever way you chose to tint them, right? or else the tint wont stick and can flake off.

if you spray them with a paint gun, you are still wet sanding them.

if you use vht, then spray them with clear coat, then you are wet sanding and then buffing.

if you skip wet sanding at any point it will look like crap, unless you want a matte finish.


and i would rather use vht again vs spending any real money, its to damn easy to do. i tinted my tails for under 20 bucks. and my tails go across the whole back end of my car. i think they look as good or better than any other set of tinted tail i've seen too. on a regal anyways.

Idk I got mine tinted for the right price. In fact mine are already in here

Originally Posted by scottydoggs

what does this mean??

you do know you need to wet sand the tails before you tint them, what ever way you chose to tint them, right? or else the tint wont stick and can flake off.

if you spray them with a paint gun, you are still wet sanding them.

if you use vht, then spray them with clear coat, then you are wet sanding and then buffing.

if you skip wet sanding at any point it will look like crap, unless you want a matte finish.


and i would rather use vht again vs spending any real money, its to damn easy to do. i tinted my tails for under 20 bucks. and my tails go across the whole back end of my car. i think they look as good or better than any other set of tinted tail i've seen too. on a regal anyways.

1. you do know you need to wet sand the tails before you tint them.

(Thats stupid.. Dry sand them or a red scuff pad. plus then you wont have the wetsand dirt in the lights.)


2. if you spray them with a paint gun, you are still wet sanding them.

( WHY? If they dont have dirt in them why would you. )

3.if you use vht, then spray them with clear coat, then you are wet sanding and then buffing.

( again.. why?)

4.if you skip wet sanding at any point it will look like crap, unless you want a matte finish..

( Please dont tell people anything about painting because you have NO clue about it.)

So if you paint a car you need to wetsand and buff it? Thats a lie!! If you do it RIGHT!! then there is NO need to buff it.

^ Wow
The key to any good paint job is the prep, and sanding and buffing.

Originally Posted by limegreen

1. you do know you need to wet sand the tails before you tint them.

(Thats stupid.. Dry sand them or a red scuff pad. plus then you wont have the wetsand dirt in the lights.)


2. if you spray them with a paint gun, you are still wet sanding them.

( WHY? If they dont have dirt in them why would you. )

3.if you use vht, then spray them with clear coat, then you are wet sanding and then buffing.

( again.. why?)

4.if you skip wet sanding at any point it will look like crap, unless you want a matte finish..

( Please dont tell people anything about painting because you have NO clue about it.)

So if you paint a car you need to wetsand and buff it? Thats a lie!! If you do it RIGHT!! then there is NO need to buff it.

hey guy do us all a favor and stop now, you don't have any talent to do it yourself and you know it, keep spending your money on other peoples work, and don't try to teach anyone anything, you're already looking like a fool.

we are not talking about painting a car, we are talking about tail lights here.

and for the record any car with a really good looking paint job WAS WET SANDED!

if you were to take your car and wet sand it now and buff it back, it would look better than it did new off the sales floor, fact!


oh and sanding removes all impurity's from the clear coat, does not grind it into the paint, you are cutting into the top layer of CLEAR COAT to remove the problem. my god man.

and for tail lights you are sanding plastic, so what dirt is getting into what?

Wetsanding anything will leave dirt from the plastic or primer and u need to wash it off plus it gets everywhere in crackes or edges.. dry sanding and blow it off then wash,tach and paint.

wetsanding isnt what it was. Its kinda out dated now. Only a few bodyshops may still do it

Not all cars are buffed. FACT!! Shine will last longer on a unbuffed car ( tail lights ) then a buffed one plus you will need to keep the paint job up on a buffed car(tail lights ) Waxing it alot more too.

Ricky you are 100% right prep is the key.So if you prep it good then you dont need to buff it.

But for Scotty to tell people that they HAVE to buff or wetsand everything to make it right is NOT true. Thats what Im getting at.



Its all good Scotty. I see that you are like others that cant be wrong so I will let you keep telling people your way is ONLY the right way to do it.

Im just saying buffing is alot of work so if you clean it good then you dont need to do it. why take the chance of burning the edge or you have dirt in the water that scratches the clearcoat good so you need to reclear the job over.

maybe you can get away with not sanding after spraying with a gun, but for vht you are wet sanding before and after the clear is put on.

and most here dont have a paint gun or proper equipment to spray like a body shop would. and even then wet sanding and buffing will do nothing but make them shine more. your buffing clear coat not paint or vht, clear coat.

and cars from the 70's didnt have a clear coat, they all do now. unless you have it painted and no clear applied because of the newer paints out now.

Originally Posted by scottydoggs

maybe you can get away with not sanding after spraying with a gun, but for vht you are wet sanding before and after the clear is put on.

and most here dont have a paint gun or proper equipment to spray like a body shop would. and even then wet sanding and buffing will do nothing but make them shine more. your buffing clear coat not paint or vht, clear coat.

and cars from the 70's didnt have a clear coat, they all do now. unless you have it painted and no clear applied because of the newer paints out now.

its all good.. VHT isnt to best product out there, I understand you need to do ALOT more work to get VHT to look ok. I get your point now.Sorry for the misunderstanding I guess. It maybe be cheaper to buy VHT but all the other stuff will add up in cost.

Any paint you use... You wetsand.
How about you call 5 body shops tomorrow and ask them proper painting techniques. I guarantee all 5 will say wetsanding and buffing.

just to clear up all this "WORK" you speak of, i spent 20 bucks, and maybe, and i do mean maybe 1.5 hours total on the job, and i have a lot of tail light on my car.

and they shine like a mirror.

Originally Posted by scottydoggs

just to clear up all this "WORK" you speak of, i spent 20 bucks, and maybe, and i do mean maybe 1.5 hours total on the job, and i have a lot of tail light on my car.

and they shine like a mirror.

They still have a dull look to them. yes they look ok but not WOW!!

How much is
1. VHT
2. 1500 grit sandpaper
3. 2000 grit sandpaper
4. masking tape
5. prep cleaner
6. tach rug
7. Compound
8. buffer
9. wool or foam pad
10. wax
11. your hour and a half to do them

Are you understanding my point now? If you dont buff them you save.Thats all I have been saying

You wont need 6 out of the 11 things. money saved. If you need all 11 then you are going to spend money to get ok looking taillights

no dont see your point at all.

vht 12

sand paper 4

clear 5

tape 5

used alcohol to clean after taping it off.

and that pic is buffing by hand, no buffer used. so it cost about 25 bucks and my time. you do need to let them sit for at least a day before final wet sanding of the clear coat, but are usable after a few hours of drying if you need to drive your car. the next day wet sand and buff em up, done.

and my tails do shine, and are far from dull looking, i only did 2 coats of vht, i want light to shine through, i didn't want them blacked out, more of that cherry color.

Tint/Paint, Clear, 1 assort pack of sand paper, and 100% of people have wax and buffing compound, as well as microfiber cloths and other such stuff in their garage already.

If you have to go out and buy most that stuff, you probably don't work on a car enough anyway.

Also the godlike mentality you have, arguing a point when everyone is against you.

And to blatantly lie just to make it seem like you see something nobody else does is ridiculous too. The picture he posted is a few things: taken in low light, taken at low resolution, probably taken using a cellphone. Those tail lights look STOCK but slightly darker. The desired effect was achieved. All your shine is in your clearcoat anyway.

Internet trolls these days, I tell ya.