# I tinted my tail light and front marker lights



## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

Looks good! Not too dark, not too light. Great job, too bad you couldnt do the 3rd brake light?


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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

But you should have covered the back up light before painting.

What's the reason for sanding? Will the paint not adhere without it?


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

Mick said:


> But you should have covered the back up light before painting.
> 
> What's the reason for sanding? Will the paint not adhere without it?


Yep. Surfaces need to be a little rough to capture the paint, otherwise it will just run off. I actually like the reverse lights tinted. It looks sharp.


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## Gritts (Jan 23, 2011)

Holy twins, Batman! _Two_ Cruzes in the family?


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## boats4life (May 28, 2011)

Looks really good! Can't wait to do mine, but I saw that plastidip has a smoke color that's transparent, but I haven't found anywhere to order it from!


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## InsaneSpeed (May 7, 2011)

Looks good!

Your bench looks like the garage floor, wierd:sarcasm:.

If you get them cleared, you can then wax them with your car and makes them shiny like stock.
Later,
Steve


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## CHUV (Jun 25, 2011)

Ouuuuuuu I like them! I'd personally go with laminex instead of the spray tho in case I ever want them off.


But Why would you want the reverse lights to be not tinted? It would look uneven.


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## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

OnlyTaurus said:


> Looks good! Not too dark, not too light. Great job, too bad you couldn't do the 3rd brake light?


3rd brake light is leds, Its bring when it comes on, grabs your attention.



Mick said:


> But you should have covered the back up light before painting.
> 
> What's the reason for sanding? Will the paint not adhere without it?


 Have to sand it to get the paint to stick, It would look funny it i only did the red and not the clear, IMO.



Gritts said:


> Holy twins, Batman! _Two_ Cruzes in the family?


 We Love Our Cruzes........



InsaneSpeed said:


> Looks good!
> 
> Your bench looks like the garage floor, wierd:sarcasm:.
> 
> ...


Our Bench was a trash and recycling can, then a piece of card board. I did hand buff them with polishing compound, I will take the power buffer when i got more time.


I think its a perfect color, not to bright (stock) and not to dark (cops ATTENTION.) just right. I love the front tinted amber running lights also.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Not sure why everyone says it looks good. I'll be honest, the concept looks good; the execution is very poor. You went from a nice, shiny, and glossy plastic to a matte finish. It doesn't work at all.

You need a few coats of clear coat and need to take the time to thoroughly polish them before they look what I would consider to be acceptable.


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## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Not sure why everyone says it looks good. I'll be honest, the concept looks good; the execution is very poor. You went from a nice, shiny, and glossy plastic to a matte finish. It doesn't work at all.
> 
> You need a few coats of clear coat and need to take the time to thoroughly polish them before they look what I would consider to be acceptable.


There is 2 coats of clear, The power buffer will hit them Sunday, I didn't have time to do it today and i wanted them to harden up, i will post back to see if it passes your standard. Thanks for your opinion.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

silverram323 said:


> There is 2 coats of clear, The power buffer will hit them Sunday, I didn't have time to do it today and i wanted them to harden up, i will post back to see if it passes your standard. Thanks for your opinion.


Good to hear you're going to get them polished. I don't think 2 coats of clear will be enough, but maybe that's just me. 

My experience with VHT Niteshades has been less than stellar as the darkness fades over time. 

Here's what I started with 6 years ago. 3 light coats of Niteshades and 5 (yes, five) coats of clear, polished by hand:

































And here's what it looked like 1.5 years ago. It's a bit dirty, but you can blatantly tell that the darkness faded away almost completely:

















I stopped paying attention it, as it's now just red like it was before I sprayed it and I bought the Cruze as a replacement. 

I don't have a particular standard, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. In order for it to look good, it has to have the same gloss as the rest of the car. A matte finish just looks incomplete. 

Looking forward to see the finished result.


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## leeclark (Mar 25, 2012)

Defiantly would like it if it was a little bit more shiny. I like the black with the blue topaz.


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## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

Ok right trunk is done.










Driver side.









Side by side, shined up good.











other pics taken


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

That looks 10x better. Very, very nice. I really like the look.

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## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

wife wasnt to hot about them at 1st, after i polished them up , she wants me to do hers now.


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## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

I swaped my lights to hers, mine are drying as we speek. I think they look good on her red car.










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## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

Well I got mine done, I think these ended up a touch darker, i only did 2 coats. they are polished up.

here is a bunch of pics.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Well done! That polish really makes them look like they belong on there.


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## leeclark (Mar 25, 2012)

They do look darker on the blue one. I like them a lot. My cruze is the same blue and I'm thinking about doing this now!


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## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

leeclark said:


> They do look darker on the blue one. I like them a lot. My cruze is the same blue and I'm thinking about doing this now!


lol Look what i started. I think the blue plays a trick on your eyes, i held them side by side and the looked the same but when i put them on it looked darker.


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## chuck5330 (Oct 1, 2011)

Gritts said:


> Holy twins, Batman! _Two_ Cruzes in the family?


He's not the only one. Check out my Garage...


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## leeclark (Mar 25, 2012)

Yeah i think it does play tricks. But i think this will look good along with some black wheels and emblems.


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## iCruze1.8 (May 7, 2011)

Looks really nice. Good job man.


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## JstCruzn (Mar 19, 2013)

silverram323 said:


>


What did you use to polish and buff them up? Looking to do something similar.


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## trevor_geiger (Nov 29, 2012)

Love the way they make the car look, keep up the good work man!


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