Ok so I ended up using some very fine steel wool and very lightly brushing across the lights. It really helped smooth them out. I then applyed two coats of a gloss clear coat. The appearance is alot more shiny now, and I'm happy with the result. here are two pictures of them on the car. Keep in mine on the first picture the clear section isn't deformed, it's just an illusion from the sunlight on picture. Also My car is really dirty, I have no shade/carport/garage at my parents.
They are pretty dark, I did 4 coats of nightshade. I wanted them to really blend with my body color and not just be a tinted red color. Keep in mind they aren't quite as black as they appear in pictures, but they are pretty black especially from a distance. I checked the running lights when i reinstalled them and I could see them quite well even in broad daylight. I didn't have a chance to check brightness of brake lights because I was alone at time.
Sorry I am doing this day by day with minimal free time before work. I will post pictures soon of the running light and brake light brightness (4 coats) so you guys thinking about doing it will have a good idea of how dark you want to go.
To the question about 1 coat: It is noticably tinted, but still quite red. you would probably lean towards adding another coat once you saw it, but it really depends on how you want it to look. Check out Member "schrute"'s journal he has a picture of what one coat applyed looks like.