Hmm...

Well I tinted my tail lights this evening with four coats of vht nite shades. It looked good wet... but look how it dried:



I have 800 grit and 2000 grit sandpaper. I was figuring maybe I should hit it with the wet 2000 and see if I can get that cloudiness off before I clear coat it. What do you guys think? I know I had the same problem on a computer case and never really solved it. I will be clearing it with Krylon Satin Acrylic clear coat... does that sound good? Thanks!

EDIT: Btw, I also managed to bust I think three of these four clips before figuring out how they work. They're like the studs that go into the side of the lighting house that hold it onto the trunk. You have to push the center of the stud in and it will unlock and allow you to pull it out with ease, rather than force which busts it lol. Anybody know where to get these babies at? I have a paypal account if any of you have extras... just let me know what you want. Thanks!

I think willwren did a thread on this, try looking for his threads using Search, (I'm on dial up so I can't really look through the pictures for you, that would take forever)

Hmm... according to that, yes sanding will fix the nastyness. However I think I need to pick up some 1000 sandpaper lol.

If they looked good wet, I say theres a 99% chance they will look good when cleared, thats if VHT it anything like basecoat

So I'm a little worried. This is what it looked like after sanding w/ 800, then 2000, then clearing...



Will buffing fix this?

Well I feel completely screwed. I just buffed the clear coat, and all it did was shine the silverness of the tail light. I guess I'm going to bed, it'* 2:14 AM and I need some sleep. Maybe tommorrow I'll sand down the clear coat and see if that helps. Gahhh I don't know what I did wrong, other than not send between coats of VHT. But it didn't seem dirty at all, so I didn't bother.

You did something very wrong. I've never seen them come out like that. I'll assume you had something on them that the VHT reacted to. Or you put your coats on too quickly without sufficient drying time.

[quote="willwren"]You did something very wrong.

x2
I VHT'd my tails without removing them from the car. I masked the snot out of the rear end.
I did not experience anything like that. Was there any type of coating on the lights? Did you make sure they were clean and dry before applying the VHT? Did you shake the can rigorously?
I think the only way to fix this is to re-sand, get the clear coat off, and re-apply the VHT.

Use very light coats, and do many of them instead of trying to do heavy coats. This stuff likes to run!

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

Adam

I have seen vht have a basketball texture before, If you spray too close to the lights and do not clean the nozzle (if the can was previously used), or coming close to the end of the can this usually happens. I have no clue how it would turn so hazy. I did not put a layer of clear coat on the tails, and they are really shiny and perfect. It would defiantly help to tell us what you cleaned the tails with first, and also some tips on tinting are do not spray close to the tails (this will get rid of the visible lines), also let them dry for an hour or two after each coat and make the coats light. It almost looks like the can was not shaken well before each layer was applied or possibly sprayed at an odd angle so the can did not dispense properly. I hope this helps and I hope you will be able to fix the tails.

Alright... I hope I have enough to fix this. I used alcohol to clean everything, I'm very certain that there was not anything on the lights before I tinted them. I scrubbed the **** outta them with the alohol. I'm not sure I have enough VHT left to finish this though. I may have to just sand down and order some more of that expensive stuff.