how to prep rear lights for tinting?

[squarepants]

as above, how do prepare some rear lights for tinting? i know i should clean them with a scawering pad..then should i use emory paper to key them? as i know tint spary is like p**s lol.

 

[joesouthgate]

just make sure they are clean. no other prep needed.

 

[curtis]

Yeah, just a really good clean

 

[frank]

a wipe with cellulose thinners will etch the surface and help the paint key on (not too much tho, coz it melts the plastic )
same goes for plastic bumpers

 

[squarepants]

yearh just abit worried about runs, ive seen some really crap jobs before :S

 

[joesouthgate]

thin coats and take your time, its pretty easy tbh.

 

[squarepants]

yearh...ive been to motor factors and orded a tin that will come tomorrow, so should have them done for the weekend...iam leaving the reflector un-smoked so they are leagl, dont fancie tinting it and the hasstle of swapping lights come MOT. also sanded the letters off the plastic so they are smooth

 

[joesouthgate]

u doing the facelift lights or the prefacelift?

 

[squarepants]

prefacelift or course lol, they look better when tinted imo so much smoother

 

[nissanmicrak12]

UM DONT GO TOO FAR WITH THE SPRAY LIKE I DID LMAO MY OLD LIGHTS LOOKED LIKE THE colour of my car lmao, so... it looked like i had no lights

 

[Simonh]

it is legal to spray tint your own lights? no additional reflectors needed??

 

[nissanmicrak12]

fully legal bud

 

[squarepants]

just make sure the reflectors show through the tint, and the lights! ive just masked my reflector off and tinted the rest...

 

[nissanmicrak12]

the k12 is very different as the reflector is on the outside all the way round unless you get lexus light then the reflector is on the indicator lol

 

[squarepants]

the reflectors on the k11 facelifts lights are on around the otside of one of the bubbles so you would have to tint the whole light as it would look odd imo, plus would be a nightmare to mask off! hence why i used prefcaelift lights, as the reflector is in a strip and it easy to mask...also they look smoother as they dont have the bubbles like my standard facelift ones

 

[nissanmicrak12]

nice

 

[squarepants]

yearh only trouble is i have to wire them up :S iam not so good electrical side of stuff lol.

 

[nissanmicrak12]

k12s ya just undo 2 bolts and put the lights in lol is it not that easy with the k11?

 

[squarepants]

3 10mm bolts and aload of sealent stuff! its a right nightmare..i just used a falt blade and my hands! took me 10minutes to take both off.

 

[nissanmicrak12]

my ghosh!

 

[squarepants]

yearh and when i fit the smoked ones the sealent stuff has to seal the gaps or it will leak water inside of the boot...and iam re-using the old sealent

ive done it before...but the boot did leak, so i used some new sealent stuff from nissan...hopefully this time i can just reuse the old stuff without any trouble!

 

[joesouthgate]

i used roof and guttering stuff from bandq works a treat.

 

[nissanmicrak12]

that black tar stuff? that stuff is mint!i used it on a friends roof (a felt roof) and that was 3 year ago and it still hasnt leaked

 

[joesouthgate]

yer thats the stuff.

 

[squarepants]

i hate it lol..

 

[rice]

Haha when I took the one of my broken rear lights off my dad thought i was being a sissy girl trying to get it off :laugh: funny when he struggled getting it off

 

[nissanmicrak12]

yeah sticks like stuff to a babys blanket lmao

 

[Optispart]

so where abouts is the reflector on the prefacelift lights?

 

[joesouthgate]

look on squarepants or roberts blog. its about half way up the light.

 

[squarepants]

yearh its just a thin strip...

 

[nissanmicrak12]

hes gone as black as i did!lmao!!!!!!!!

 

[Optispart]

k cheers matey, so you spray the outside of the light and mask that bit off then?

 

[joesouthgate]

yer, but you dont need to mask the whole lot off, i only masked a little bit of my reflector when i did it and its still legal.

 

[squarepants]

yearh i was gonna do what modded did and mask a small bit off, but i preffed the look of all the reflector showing.

 

[Optispart]

right ok so i could mask off a smaller section ill post a pic up of what i mean

infact ive been dumb lol just checked moddeds pic cheers really helped me out here!

 

[joesouthgate]

I did this thread when I was trying to decide :
http://www.micra.org.uk/showthread.php?t=23974

 

[Optispart]

hmm still undecided! lol, there good options though its either 1st/3rd

 

[joesouthgate]

you could always do the first but do a thinner line.

 

[Optispart]

thats true but from looking at your blog think ill go for what you did!

 

[superls]

you should have masked off a word on the reflector like micra or summat, lol