Update! JDM tailights smoked... sanded again and buffed!!!

CDepp · 01-28-2013, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westwood

EDIT added instructions...

you gotta remove your tail lights from your car.

1. Wet sand with dishwasher soap and a 2000 grit paper.
2. Rinse your lights with clear water
3. Clean/Wipe with a microfiber cloth/rag and make sure you dont leave any fingerprints.
4. Wait 5-10min to be completely dry (double check for fingerprints)
5. Spray 2 light coats of VHT... spray your 1st coat and wait 5min for the second coat.
6. Wait 10min and add 2-5 coats of clear
7. Let it dry for 6 hours or 2 days like me lol
8. Wet sand again with dishwasher soap and 2000 grit, very light sanding you only wanna take the imperfections out not your clear coat.
9. Rinse once again and let it dry for a few minutes.
10. Poor some rubbing compound on your lights, with a soft clean microfiber rag buff the s**t out keep buffing till you get that glossy miror look.
11. Wipe the compound off and put them back on your Z

Awesome looking job man!

Just a suggestion for long lasting good-looks.
12. Put a UV sealant (2 coats preferably) on them and buff in good.

The plastic comes with a sealant on it (at least most headlamp/taillight housings do from my exp). You could get 3-4 years without putting on sealant, but when you sand/paint/sand/buff you are left with 2 problems:
1. microscopic scratches/pits that aren't visible by the eye
2. exposed plastic to UV contamination (the yellowing of old computer parts or headlights).

Ref: People wash their headlamp housings with chemicals or buff them with the paint and remove the sealant.

Yes, even with the VHT and clear coating, your plastic will still be exposed to both oxygen and UV. Paint breathes.

Just my

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