[Rich J]

I can't seem to do it. I am using that Rustoleum lens tint, and I am doing everything that should give me a nice shiny finish but for some reason it's not happening.

I wetsanded with 2000 grit
Applied 2 coats of tint
Wetsanded with 2000 grit again (very very lightly)
Put on 4 coats of gloss clear
Wetsanded again
Used Meguiars rubbing compound and polished them.

This is what I got, they aren't shiny at all.


What did I do wrong?

[Ace417]

I bought mine shiny

[Rich J]

Bout to redo mine, want to make sure they come out nice and shiny lol. Just finished taking the tint off (yet again).

[BadassSN95]

Mine were done with clear/black and they nice and shiny. I never had any luck with VHT crap.

[PanikRev41]

So after you spray them and let them dry, wetsand just as you did and then polish them with Maguiers ultimate compound and finally polish them once more with Zymol car wax. I did this and they came out super glossy. Hope that helps man.

[Rich J]

Originally Posted by PanikRev41 So after you spray them and let them dry, wetsand just as you did and then polish them with Maguiers ultimate compound and finally polish them once more with Zymol car wax. I did this and they came out super glossy. Hope that helps man.

Yea I did the exact same thing to get the results in the pic. Except I used Auto Glym wax. I am guessing I MUST have missed a step that I can't think of because there is no reason why I can't get a glossy finish and others can doing the exact same steps.

Just finished wet sanding them with 2000 grit again and sprayed one coat on each. Going to let them sit for 20-30 minutes before I hit them with the second coat. Then I am probably going to hit them with 4 coats of clear each let them sit for a little over an hour before wet sanding with 2000 grit again then ultimate compound and waxing time comes. Will post pics, hopefully I get the finish I WANT. This is the 3rd time I have done this to my lights (other 2 times were for different reasons)

[03SonicBoom]

Did you make sure to clean the sanding crap before spraying tint and then clear? When I tinted mine w/ VHT I did the following:

Sand 1000 grit
Clean and dry
Apply desired number of VHT coats and allow to dry
Light sanding w/ 1500 or 2000 grit to remove imperfections
Clean and dry
Apply coats of clear and allow to dry
Sand with 2000 grit
clean and dry
buff

They turned out just like paint. Before applying wax you should let them cure for a few days.

[Rich J]

Originally Posted by 03SonicBoom Did you make sure to clean the sanding crap before spraying tint and then clear? When I tinted mine w/ VHT I did the following: Sand 1000 grit Clean and dry Apply desired number of VHT coats and allow to dry Light sanding w/ 1500 or 2000 grit to remove imperfections Clean and dry Apply coats of clear and allow to dry Sand with 2000 grit clean and dry buff They turned out just like paint. Before applying wax you should let them cure for a few days.

Yea so far my exact list on what I have done is:

Cleaned old tint off
Washed lenses
Wet sand with 2000 grit
wiped down with rubbing alcohol and cleaned
dried them and sprayed 2 coats of tint

I heard the wet sanding after the tint isn't needed if it dries smooth, if I don't wetsand after only tint I will hit it with a few coats of clear then wet sand and buff with rubbing compound. I will also wait a couple days to use wax. Thanks

[whyxitx]

He did his with VHT, and they came out really nice.

[dschack]

i did mine with VHT, the first time i did it they looked just like yours, the second time i did it i put down a real light first coat and a heavy second coat and it came out a lot smoother, a couple days curing a little wax and they turned out glossy. Hope that helps ya a bit

[Rich J]

Well I am about to go spray the clear so I will find out soon enough.

[whyxitx]

Goodluck.

May the force be with you

[03SonicBoom]

Originally Posted by Rich J I heard the wet sanding after the tint isn't needed if it dries smooth, if I don't wetsand after only tint I will hit it with a few coats of clear then wet sand and buff with rubbing compound. I will also wait a couple days to use wax. Thanks

Yeah, it's not necessary and shouldn't effect how shiny they are. But since it was coming from a spray can, I noticed some orange peel that I wanted to get rid of and that's why I sanded.

[Rich J]

Yea I went to go spray the clear a little bit ago so I gave them a real good inspection first and everything looked good so I started spraying, on my second coat now. Might just wetsand after that one is dry.

[tommy93]

It might be the Rustoleum... I tried that stuff when i first started tinting lights and never had great success with it... VHT on the other hand has yet to fail me.

The process i use to get excellent results is
-Wet sand lights with 800
-clean
-spray tint (however many coats desired)
-let dry
-wetsand lightly with 2000
-spray clear (like 4+ coats)
-let dry
-wetsand with 1500
-wetsand with 2000
-buff with scratch remover
-buff with plastX
-wax

[Rich J]

Yea man, I just finished mine and they look the same thats in the pic and I did everything right. I have to grab some VHT for sure. Closest store that has it is about 30 min away lol.

[whyxitx]

weren't your tails blacked out before? Wtf happened to them?

[Rich J]

I untinted them because I started liking the stock look but that went away after about 2 weeks.

[whyxitx]

Once you go black you never go back

[tommy93]

Originally Posted by Rich J I untinted them because I started liking the stock look but that went away after about 2 weeks.

hahah yea... thats why i have 2 pairs of tails
one stock
one tinted

Mmmmm shiny