roushpwrd Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) I have smoked head lights and just ordered smoked fog lights to compliment them. All I need to do now is smoke the red reflectors on the rear quarter of my Mustang. I'm sure it isn't legal to do however that isn't a concern right now. Has anyone ever done this to their reflectors or purchased lenses that are smoked? I did see that there were lights available however these are not lights....pictures attached for a visual. PS....it was only out for pictures here in the snow and then back in hibernation!!! Edited January 24, 2009 by roushpwrd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-V8V Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Looks great Jim !!!!! And your right, none of that is legal in Taxachusetts :help::help: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontiacgt201 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Well I dont have reflectors on my car anymore. They are shaved off. It can depend on how strict the cops are in your area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roushpwrd Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Well I dont have reflectors on my car anymore. They are shaved off. It can depend on how strict the cops are in your area.They don't bother me here....many of the cops are my friends and that is only because they are fans of Mustangs and own them themselves! They see me go by and give a big wave! It's better than the blues in my rear view!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roushpwrd Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Looks great Jim !!!!! And your right, none of that is legal in Taxachusetts :help::help: What a state we live in.....I can't see why they are illegal from the daytime driving standpoint. In the day it's all about looks. Then again....how would they know you have them at night if they are bright enough such as mine. I was once told I needed to remove the honeycomb from my tail lights also as I was getting an inspection sticker. Still got the sticker and still go to the same place every year for one. He never mentions it anymore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Jim, you could outrun any police vehicle in the state anyway in that Supercharged Beast you have!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntrepidBus IV Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 How about pick up a can of Niteshades and modify the ones you've got! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRQuarto Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Jim, you could outrun any police vehicle in the state anyway in that Supercharged Beast you have!! Yeah, but it's the helicopter you have to watch out for! This should help you out. It's from the Team Shelby Forums, one of the users there posted up this how to, it is a good one and I know people who have used it and had awesome results: Thanks everyone for the compliments, and yes I need to tint the third brake light as well. As far as the process goes it was pretty simple, just a bit time consuming. I would also, if you are using paint, to purchase another set of tails, just in case you have any issues with the poilice, cause usually they will just issue a fix ticket, and trying to remove everything once it's on would be a pain, if not impossible. I found someone that had wrecked their 06 V6 and sold them for 20 bucks, so maybe go that route. Step 1. Wetsand the lights with 800 grit wet paper. The idea is to get all the "shine" off the lights. This will also get rid of any of the perfections like scratches or chips. Once that is done, clean off the lights with any kind of cleaning solution. I just used water and Isopropyl alcohol which seemed to work just fine. You just want to get all the fingerprints, and sanding residue off before painting. Step 2. Tape off any areas that you don't want painted, such as the trim around the lights. Pretty self explanatory. I used the blue painters tape. Step 3. Here is the fun part. Time to start painting. Find a dust free area, that has plenty of ventilation, cause this paint stinks. There are few products that you can use to smoke your lights, such as VHT Nightshades, using a mixture of auto clear and black. I used a window tint spray paint by Pactra which is found in most hobby stores, that is used to paint the underside of RC race car bodies. The key here is layers. If you spray too much at once, it will just run, and then you will have to start over so patience is the key. The first coat will almost look like nothing is on, but after the 2nd coat you will start to see the lights slowly getting darker. I ended up putting on about 5 coats, letting each coat dry for 10-15 min, to get the level of darkness in the pics. Also I found that once you put the clear on, they will get a bit darker, so just use your best judgment. Also I found that this paint does have a tendency to splatter so use a "follow through" motion when spraying. Once you have the lights at the desired darkenss, place them in a box or other dust free environment to dry. Let the paint cure for at least 24 hours or longer, to give the paint time to settle. Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image Step 4. After the lights are dry, it's time to apply the clear coat...You want to make sure that you use the same paint type for the clear as your smoke paint. I found out through the manufacturer that the Pactra brand paint is lacquer based, so I just went to my local auto store and got some auto clear from Duplicolor, since everything in there auto paint line is lacquer based. I applied the clear a bit heavier but still using the basic ideas of layers. I put the down the first layer fairly thin, but then applied the others a bit heavier. You want to apply as many coats of clear as you can, since we will be sanding some of it down in the next step. I ended up getting about 8 good coats of clear out of one can. Try to get even coats if you can. I let each coat cure for 10 min. After you have your lights cleared and they are nice and shiny, place them back in a dust free environment and let them cure for at least 48 hours. I let mine cure for a whole week before doing the next step. Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image Step 5. This step is mainly the cleaning and smoothing of the clearcoat to get that glass like shine from your lights. First thing you want to do is go over the lights with some 1500 grit wet sand paper using a soap and water solution. You want to go over your lights ever so gently to remove any bumps, or orange peel left from the clear coat. Make sure your paper stays plenty lubricated during this process. Once you have gone over the entire light clean off all the residue, and repeat the step using 2000 grit. This will smooth out any scratches left from the 1500. Using the same process sand the entire surface very gently. You are probably thinking "Oh crap, my poor lights" but don't worry. Step 6. Polishing. Wash off all the residue from the lights to ensure we have a clean area for polishing. Grab any kind of polishing compoud and start using polishing the surface. I'm sure any brand is fine, but you want something that has some abrasives in it it so that you can cut into the clear. This will probably take some time but just keep working the polish in, and you will begin to see the shine coming back. This is the main reason why you want a good number of clear coats on the surface. With my lights I applied a three step system, where I used a rubbing compound, a finishing polishing to remove any let over scratches from the first polish, and then a glaze to give the lights a bit more gloss, and then a wax. After this step is done, you should have a finish identical to your body paint. Here are the products that I used.. Pactra Spray Window Tint http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCY44 Duplicolor Clear (T125) http://www.duplicolor.com/products/truckvansuv.html I will have to get the numbers for the polishing stuff, but basically and kind of polish that has abrasives will work. Let me know if you have any other questions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roushpwrd Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 How about pick up a can of Niteshades and modify the ones you've got!I think that is what I am leaning to now. I never heard of Nightshades but just looked it up. I think I'll do it as soon as it warms up a bit around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2008fx4 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 most police officers will leave you alone as long as you can still see a little red through the tint. two of my cars are done this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roushpwrd Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Jim, you could outrun any police vehicle in the state anyway in that Supercharged Beast you have!!Thanks Adam... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRQuarto Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Just in case you were wondering how those tail lights turned out after he was done painting them, here are some photos. All the orange peel is gone, and they look awesome: Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roushpwrd Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Nice....if there is enough faith in the product to use it on a Shelby than I can certainly use it on my reflectors....I'm off to Auto Zone!!! Thank you all for the great info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-V8V Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 And take us pictures !!!!!!!! We love pictures :jester::jester: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjwvette Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Looks great:2thumbs: Get er done and post some pics:mail: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRQuarto Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Nice....if there is enough faith in the product to use it on a Shelby than I can certainly use it on my reflectors....I'm off to Auto Zone!!! Thank you all for the great info! My pleasure I actually intend to do this to my own Shelby soon here, I just haven't had the time The process is EASY though, I have a buddy who used this exact writeup to do the brake lights on his fox body mustang, turned out great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I'm sending mine off to this guy. It's pretty cheap IMO. http://www.jonstintedtails.com/index.htm I think he told me 90 bucks for both rears on my G8. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humster21 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I got pulled over for having the tinted covers on my 99 Mustang GT, while leaving Carlisle one year. $80 fine and a nice lecture on how they were illegal on PA roads. When I lived in Cali I bought them again and no problems at all. Depends on your state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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