DIY painted GTR tails (sedan)
07-29-2012, 11:13 AM
#1
DIY painted GTR tails (sedan)
Please check local laws regarding tinting your lights prior to modifying your lights.
Here’s a few pics of my GTR style painted tails after an intial buffing, still have to do a final polish. And some DIY tips. Followed wakeboard & yogregb’s great DIY links
https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...se-cutout.html
https://www.myg37.com/forums/picture...per-gloss.html
Those were both coupes so there’s a couple different things w/ the sedan. Removing the lights is simple, just remove the inner clips on the trunk lid to access the reverse lights, remove 3 nuts and then pull the lights from the trunk lid. When pulling the reverse lights you’ll separate the foam seal but it’s pretty pliable and just pushing the lights back onto the separated seal should still provide a good weather seal. The main taillights are even easier to remove since there’s no sticky seal tape to deal with, just 3 nuts and presto! I followed yogregbs DIY since I was going w/ the GTR look. I used extra vinyl that I had to make the cutouts for the ring lights and a small slot for the side marker LEDs and the reverse lights. I used VHT NiteShades, and Industry quality clearcoat (Dupont Acrylic Clear A-7480s). I started by wet sanding as per the above DIYs w/ 1000 grit, just enough to get rid of all the shine on the lens. You then tape up the hole over the reverse light and also around the rubber trim on the reverse light and the hard black plastic upper edge/flange on the main lights. I then wiped it down w/ Isopropyl Alcohol and applied the vinyl cutouts where needed. I then wiped the lenses down again w/ Alcohol to remove any finger oils/residue. I put all the parts to be painted at waist height so I’d be sure to get a good spray along all the edges, if you lay them on the ground to paint you’ll have a tough time getting good edge coverage. I sprayed them in my garage w/ a box fan venting outside (with all vehicles parked safely next door) to lessen the chance of dust & bugs landing on fresh paint. If possible it's best to paint one light and move it away from the spray area (so you won't get overspray mist back on your freshly painted light) and move on to the next light. I put down 2 medium to heavy coats of the NiteShades w/ about 15 minutes wait between coats. Spray around the edges first then spray across the lights. After the first coat decide how much darker you want them ( I wanted dark to blend w/ my black G) and spray accordingly. I waited another 15 minutes after the second coat then removed the vinyl from the main lights (it’s better to remove it when the paint’s still drying so you won’t have a chance to peel any paint away when removing the vinyl after the paint’s fully dry). If you happen to get your fingers on the lens under any vinyl be sure to dab out any prints or residue w/ more alcohol prior to spraying again. The final Niteshades coat covering the entire lens is a bit lighter coat than the previous two coats, you don’t want the actual lights any darker, you may even decide to avoid a coat over the entire lens if you want the brightest (stock) taillight output. DO NOT remove the vinyl on the reverse cutouts, just do a third Niteshades coat over the reverse light w/ the vinyl still applied to keep your reverse lights bright & useful
(but be sure to remove the vinyl from the reverse lights 10-15 minutes after spraying the third coat). I then let the Niteshades set for 12 hours and then very lightly wetsanded w/ 2000 grit (barely ANY downward pressure applied) just to haze over the paint and get rid of any slight dust debris or anything else that may have landed in the paint, it also gives the clearcoat a better surface to bond to. I STRONGLY suggest investing in industry quality clearcoat, it’s 10-15 dollars more than the Rustoleums or Krylons but it’s a better paint that will last longer, goes on thicker, w/ a better spray as well. Evercoat Cut-in-Clear, Spraymax 2k cut-in-clear, or the Dupont clear I listed above are all excellent clearcoats, usually can only be found online or at auto-paint/body shop supply stores. If you can’t find the premium clearcoats Duplicolor RV, Truck & Van clearcoats get good reviews.
Again, wipe the entire lens w/ alcohol to get rid of the sanding debris and skin oils and then shoot a medium-heavy coat of clear, wait 15 minutes then apply a 2nd coat and so on until you get 3 heavy coats of clear on your tails. The premium clearcoats go on thicker than the cheap stuff so only 3 coats is plenty, otherwise about 5-6 coats of the cheaper clear is about right. If you can’t locate the better clearcoats I’d recommend shooting Niteshades on a scrap plastic piece, let it dry then shoot the clearcoat on the scrap just to be sure it sprays clear, some cheaper clearcoats go bad or just don’t mix right w/ the Niteshades and it’s much better to find this out on a scrap rather than having to do a complete redo.Let the clear dry overnight and then it’s safe to install the lights back in your G. I’d wait another 48 hours before finish buffing. I used 2000 grit to get rid of all the orangepeel, just sand till you see no imperfections on the surface, followed by 2500 grit for a final smooth over, then a final buffing w/ Macguires Ultimate Compound by hand (cheapest place for this is Target of all places, about 7 bucks a bottle) w/ micro fiber pads ( I don’t have a power buffer
). If you have a power random action buffer I’d follow wakeboards or yogregs buffing info. There really is no need to invest in a buffer if you don't have one, the lights are a small area and you can get mirror like results by hand, just takes a bit more sweat. If anyone out there wants to do this GTR tail style I can provide you w/ the precut vinyl pieces to save you time and insure an accurate fit. Just PM me & I’ll hook you up 
Sorry for the horrible pics, I'll try to post some much better ones after the final polish session
The following two pics shows the reflective strip under the main tail lights, this only appears under a camera flash (the translucent nature of Niteshades), the last pic shows what the lights actually look like at night.
Here’s a few pics of my GTR style painted tails after an intial buffing, still have to do a final polish. And some DIY tips. Followed wakeboard & yogregb’s great DIY links
https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...se-cutout.html
https://www.myg37.com/forums/picture...per-gloss.html
Those were both coupes so there’s a couple different things w/ the sedan. Removing the lights is simple, just remove the inner clips on the trunk lid to access the reverse lights, remove 3 nuts and then pull the lights from the trunk lid. When pulling the reverse lights you’ll separate the foam seal but it’s pretty pliable and just pushing the lights back onto the separated seal should still provide a good weather seal. The main taillights are even easier to remove since there’s no sticky seal tape to deal with, just 3 nuts and presto! I followed yogregbs DIY since I was going w/ the GTR look. I used extra vinyl that I had to make the cutouts for the ring lights and a small slot for the side marker LEDs and the reverse lights. I used VHT NiteShades, and Industry quality clearcoat (Dupont Acrylic Clear A-7480s). I started by wet sanding as per the above DIYs w/ 1000 grit, just enough to get rid of all the shine on the lens. You then tape up the hole over the reverse light and also around the rubber trim on the reverse light and the hard black plastic upper edge/flange on the main lights. I then wiped it down w/ Isopropyl Alcohol and applied the vinyl cutouts where needed. I then wiped the lenses down again w/ Alcohol to remove any finger oils/residue. I put all the parts to be painted at waist height so I’d be sure to get a good spray along all the edges, if you lay them on the ground to paint you’ll have a tough time getting good edge coverage. I sprayed them in my garage w/ a box fan venting outside (with all vehicles parked safely next door) to lessen the chance of dust & bugs landing on fresh paint. If possible it's best to paint one light and move it away from the spray area (so you won't get overspray mist back on your freshly painted light) and move on to the next light. I put down 2 medium to heavy coats of the NiteShades w/ about 15 minutes wait between coats. Spray around the edges first then spray across the lights. After the first coat decide how much darker you want them ( I wanted dark to blend w/ my black G) and spray accordingly. I waited another 15 minutes after the second coat then removed the vinyl from the main lights (it’s better to remove it when the paint’s still drying so you won’t have a chance to peel any paint away when removing the vinyl after the paint’s fully dry). If you happen to get your fingers on the lens under any vinyl be sure to dab out any prints or residue w/ more alcohol prior to spraying again. The final Niteshades coat covering the entire lens is a bit lighter coat than the previous two coats, you don’t want the actual lights any darker, you may even decide to avoid a coat over the entire lens if you want the brightest (stock) taillight output. DO NOT remove the vinyl on the reverse cutouts, just do a third Niteshades coat over the reverse light w/ the vinyl still applied to keep your reverse lights bright & useful
Again, wipe the entire lens w/ alcohol to get rid of the sanding debris and skin oils and then shoot a medium-heavy coat of clear, wait 15 minutes then apply a 2nd coat and so on until you get 3 heavy coats of clear on your tails. The premium clearcoats go on thicker than the cheap stuff so only 3 coats is plenty, otherwise about 5-6 coats of the cheaper clear is about right. If you can’t locate the better clearcoats I’d recommend shooting Niteshades on a scrap plastic piece, let it dry then shoot the clearcoat on the scrap just to be sure it sprays clear, some cheaper clearcoats go bad or just don’t mix right w/ the Niteshades and it’s much better to find this out on a scrap rather than having to do a complete redo.Let the clear dry overnight and then it’s safe to install the lights back in your G. I’d wait another 48 hours before finish buffing. I used 2000 grit to get rid of all the orangepeel, just sand till you see no imperfections on the surface, followed by 2500 grit for a final smooth over, then a final buffing w/ Macguires Ultimate Compound by hand (cheapest place for this is Target of all places, about 7 bucks a bottle) w/ micro fiber pads ( I don’t have a power buffer
). If you have a power random action buffer I’d follow wakeboards or yogregs buffing info. There really is no need to invest in a buffer if you don't have one, the lights are a small area and you can get mirror like results by hand, just takes a bit more sweat. If anyone out there wants to do this GTR tail style I can provide you w/ the precut vinyl pieces to save you time and insure an accurate fit. Just PM me & I’ll hook you up Sorry for the horrible pics, I'll try to post some much better ones after the final polish session
The following two pics shows the reflective strip under the main tail lights, this only appears under a camera flash (the translucent nature of Niteshades), the last pic shows what the lights actually look like at night.
Last edited by blnewt; 09-27-2013 at 04:38 PM.
07-29-2012, 11:14 AM
#2
Here's the fresh pics as promised after the final Ultimate Compound buffing, hopefully they're better
This pic shows the side marker slot I made to show the side marker LED strip to keep me safe at night
Here's a few more out of the garage so you can see they're really not as dark as they may have appeared in the previous pics.
This pic shows the side marker slot I made to show the side marker LED strip to keep me safe at night
Here's a few more out of the garage so you can see they're really not as dark as they may have appeared in the previous pics.
Last edited by blnewt; 07-31-2012 at 09:51 PM.
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04-29-2013, 01:35 PM
#3
Registered User
nice DIY, wish i would have found this sooner, i followed one for a coupe from wakeboardr116, note to self: dont attempt to tint them in direct sunlight, or else when you do the first coat it doesnt look any different then OEM. take it out of the sun and try spraying. mine came out a little too dark, but might consider redoing the whole process. i would love to get a copy of those cut outs
check out my current situation:
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check out my current situation:
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05-05-2013, 08:26 PM
#5
nice DIY, wish i would have found this sooner, i followed one for a coupe from wakeboardr116, note to self: dont attempt to tint them in direct sunlight, or else when you do the first coat it doesnt look any different then OEM. take it out of the sun and try spraying. mine came out a little too dark, but might consider redoing the whole process. i would love to get a copy of those cut outs
check out my current situation:
check out my current situation:
Thanks for the kind words, sorry I only have the proper templates for a sedan
08-31-2014, 03:14 AM
#6
I just got done finally taking some pics of the gtr tail light mod. I bought the vinyl cutouts from blnewto. Wow it came about 3 days after I ordered it. I have never done anything like this before but it was defiantly a learning experience. Blnewto had great instructions and helped me via email and they turned out pretty good (not as good as his of course. I started by wet sanding with 1000 grit sand paper until everything was dull, I even sanded the reverse lights so the clear would stick to it. After that I carefully placed the vinyl overlays multiple times. I had to cut the reverse light template down just a little but after looking at it I probably did not need to. I then cut a slot in the center vinyl so I could shape it a little better and not get any wrinkles around the edge. I made sure to get the "V" just right. This took a good hour to do just so i made sure everything was right.
After that I went to the garage and sprayed a med coat of night shades over everything. I placed everything at waist level and propped everything up so I could get a an even coverage. I applied a med coat so everything looked wet. THIS IS WHERE I SCREWED UP.....I would recommend doing this outside in the sunlight. My florescent lights in my garage were not bright enough to really see how dark I was going. Also it was hard to match up each one because the light would hit it at different angles and it was hard to compare. So don't be like me, wait until early morning when the wind is down and the sun is up to get an even coverage and match them up. Also it seems like night shades drys darker than it looks when its wet going on, so its easy to over do it!
After that I applied one more coat of the night shades it was was almost black. I took the vinyl off the tail lights and put a light coat of night shades over the entire lens to make the red look deeper red. One worked out well the other one I guess i held a little too close and it was noticeably darker than the other one.
I waited a day for it to dry and wet sanded it with 2000 grit paper. I was slowly able to wet sand the darker one a little more to get it to match up better. After that I used rubbing compound, and polish compound and the hard lines from the vinyl I could not feel anymore and looked like it was made that way! I then scuffed it up again with 2000 grit sandpaper and wiped everything down with rubbing alcohol. I shot about 5 genorious coats of dupi color perfect clear coat. I went through 4 small cans of it!
After it dried i got some pretty significant orange peel so i sanded it very lightly with 2000 grit sandpaper. It cut some of the high points off but made the black area look gray. I did not want to go anymore and go thought the clear coat so i applied another coat of clear and it got the dull sanded spots out. The orange peel is still there as i was afraid to touch it again.
I then tried to using some rubbing compound but it started scratching the lens and then i tried polishing compound and it did the same thing. I shot another layer of clear and let it dry for another day. After that I was afraid to touch it so i just put on about 5 coats of paste wax and it made it look a lot better. It still is not as clear as the stock lights. When the sun hits it you see more of a glare than seeing through the light but it looks pretty good. I may get it polished by an auto shop but i dont know if it would ruin it.
The finale product was not totally black on the sides it was dark but you could still see some red and then the parts where the lights were even lighter red.
Thanks again blnewto for all the help and inspiration for getting me though this project. I would defiantly buy his vinyl cutouts as it saves hours of time!
. I started by wet sanding with 1000 grit sand paper until everything was dull, I even sanded the reverse lights so the clear would stick to it. After that I carefully placed the vinyl overlays multiple times. I had to cut the reverse light template down just a little but after looking at it I probably did not need to. I then cut a slot in the center vinyl so I could shape it a little better and not get any wrinkles around the edge. I made sure to get the "V" just right. This took a good hour to do just so i made sure everything was right. After that I went to the garage and sprayed a med coat of night shades over everything. I placed everything at waist level and propped everything up so I could get a an even coverage. I applied a med coat so everything looked wet. THIS IS WHERE I SCREWED UP.....I would recommend doing this outside in the sunlight. My florescent lights in my garage were not bright enough to really see how dark I was going. Also it was hard to match up each one because the light would hit it at different angles and it was hard to compare. So don't be like me, wait until early morning when the wind is down and the sun is up to get an even coverage and match them up. Also it seems like night shades drys darker than it looks when its wet going on, so its easy to over do it!
After that I applied one more coat of the night shades it was was almost black. I took the vinyl off the tail lights and put a light coat of night shades over the entire lens to make the red look deeper red. One worked out well the other one I guess i held a little too close and it was noticeably darker than the other one.
I waited a day for it to dry and wet sanded it with 2000 grit paper. I was slowly able to wet sand the darker one a little more to get it to match up better. After that I used rubbing compound, and polish compound and the hard lines from the vinyl I could not feel anymore and looked like it was made that way! I then scuffed it up again with 2000 grit sandpaper and wiped everything down with rubbing alcohol. I shot about 5 genorious coats of dupi color perfect clear coat. I went through 4 small cans of it!
After it dried i got some pretty significant orange peel so i sanded it very lightly with 2000 grit sandpaper. It cut some of the high points off but made the black area look gray. I did not want to go anymore and go thought the clear coat so i applied another coat of clear and it got the dull sanded spots out. The orange peel is still there as i was afraid to touch it again.
I then tried to using some rubbing compound but it started scratching the lens and then i tried polishing compound and it did the same thing. I shot another layer of clear and let it dry for another day. After that I was afraid to touch it so i just put on about 5 coats of paste wax and it made it look a lot better. It still is not as clear as the stock lights. When the sun hits it you see more of a glare than seeing through the light but it looks pretty good. I may get it polished by an auto shop but i dont know if it would ruin it.
The finale product was not totally black on the sides it was dark but you could still see some red and then the parts where the lights were even lighter red.
Thanks again blnewto for all the help and inspiration for getting me though this project. I would defiantly buy his vinyl cutouts as it saves hours of time!
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12-21-2015, 09:18 PM
#10
Premier Member
Okay. The GTR look is perfect. Your tails look sensational! I have to do this now. I'll have a look around for tips on vert tail lights. But, other than removal the process should be the same.
Brad, are the cutouts going to be different for the vert? Not sure if the circles would be the same diameter? If so, and you still have some available, pm me. I'm very interested.
Verts have (maybe we all do?) a small led strip on the side of the lights, for side of car indication, that I'll tape off to keep closer to DOT code. Otherwise, I think I'll follow this DIY to the letter. Thanks!
Brad, are the cutouts going to be different for the vert? Not sure if the circles would be the same diameter? If so, and you still have some available, pm me. I'm very interested.
Verts have (maybe we all do?) a small led strip on the side of the lights, for side of car indication, that I'll tape off to keep closer to DOT code. Otherwise, I think I'll follow this DIY to the letter. Thanks!
12-21-2015, 09:28 PM
#11
Premier Member
DIY painted GTR tails (sedan)
Do the edges of the reverse light housing reflect in person like they do in the photos? Might be something the camera picks up that isn't noticeable in person.
If it is visible, any thoughts on reducing the reflection or making it appear to be less in contrast to the trunk lid?
If it is visible, any thoughts on reducing the reflection or making it appear to be less in contrast to the trunk lid?
12-21-2015, 10:05 PM
#13
No I believe the edges are a rubber gasket material. I know mine are a little faded as it drys more grey over the years. It really dosent stand out as long as they are in good condition.
Do the edges of the reverse light housing reflect in person like they do in the photos? Might be something the camera picks up that isn't noticeable in person.
If it is visible, any thoughts on reducing the reflection or making it appear to be less in contrast to the trunk lid?
If it is visible, any thoughts on reducing the reflection or making it appear to be less in contrast to the trunk lid?
12-21-2015, 11:51 PM
#14
I still supply the vinyls cutouts, but only for the Sedans, it's $11 paypal, just shoot me a PM if you're interested, it makes the job a lot easier w/ best results.
