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Seeing Red - 964 Tail Light Tint


FlatSix

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Since I have owned the 964 it's always had faded pink tail lights. I have looked into different ways to remedy this, buying new ones, using some red tint spray paint and getting a tint wrap kit. New ones are not on the cheap side and will start to fade again, so not the best choice unless your lights are badly cracked and chipped. So the choice was wrap or paint. I decided to go with paint as while the wrap might be pretty tough, I would probably screw it up and have it peeling within a year. I was pretty confident with a rattle can.

 

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So off to Supercheap during their 20% off everything weekend (This just got even cheaper!) and purchased myself a can of VHT Red Nite-shades. 2 cans of clearcoat and some 2000 grit sandpaper. I ended up spending $36!

 

Taking off the lights is a very simple process, 3 screws hold on the center piece and one scew in each corner light. From there you can disconnect the wiring and the breather hoses.

 

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Once the lights were off I masked off all the rubber and plastic surrounds of the lights.

 

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With everything masked up it was time for a wet sand.......

 

 

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You can really see how pink they had become once you start wet sanding...

 

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So with everything sanded down it was ready for some wax and grease remover and I then masked off the reverse lights for the first couple of coats..

 

 

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I give them 2 coats of the Nite shade, leaving 10 min between coats

 

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I then remove the masking from the reverse lights and apply another 2 coats to everything again...

 

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After about 20 minutes I cracked open a can of clearcoat and got to work....

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After 4 coats of clear this is the result......
 
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They looked great colour wise but certainly not glossy enough. I knew they would look much better after a buff....
 
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After a buff it was obvious there was not enough clear on them, I popped them back on the car to see how the colour looked and it had made a huge difference....
 
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But there was no way I was happy with the matte finish they had. I decided the best thing to do was come up with a strategy of attack over a few cold beverages.
 
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I then wet sanded the lights again and hit them with the remaining one and a half cans of clear, while this may seem overkill it would give me plenty of clear to work with for the final buff.
 
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While I had given myself plenty of paint to work with, once everything dried it had a heap of orange peel, you can see it in the light reflection.
 
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So I left everything to cure overnight and next morning busted out the sand paper again and wet sanded everything smooth. I then hit them again with some Meguiar's ultimate compound and here is the result.........
 
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And for those curious what colour my indicators and reverse lights are now.......
 
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So the verdict. For $40 I am extremely happy with the results. It has made a few small cracks a little more obvious and they could probably use a bit more wet sanding for a super smooth finish. See ya pinkies, your outta here..........
 
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Russ I painted the outside. It looks like I would have to use the old "Lights in the oven" trick to soften the glue to split them. I'm not putting 20 something year old lights in my oven.

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I have a spare set I want to sell. If I give them to you next time can you do the same so I will get a better price for them?

 

Im sure we can work something out Ken, Should have my wheels by this Friday, will arrange a trade?

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What, your new wheels for my old tail lights? Sounds good to me. :rolleyes:

Ha! I was thinking of trying my hand at painting some wheels next. You don't mind if you get yours back and they are fluro orange?

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Fantastic outcome, thanks for posting your instructions.

Will certainly be adding this job to my list of 964 tasks because I too have pinkish lights that have bothered me since day 1.

 

P.S. car looks great!

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