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Rear lamp tinting, in a subtle manner

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 8:48 pm
by Hamburger
Hi guys, thought i'd do a small write-up on how I semi tinted my orange indicators and reverse light in an OEM style so they still shine orange and white respectively. I noticed some cars use red lines in the moulding to disguise the orange and white of indicators and reverse lamps, so thought i'd try it out myself. I have fully tinted lamps red in the past, but this means painting the indicator bulbs green so they flash more orange and its never a really good solution. also the reverse lamp just shines red, which is great for looks but not so great when negotiating out of a space in a supermarket carpark.

Start by buying some 3mm wide fineline masking tape, I used ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270916002418

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Then some red tint spray, again ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280942543598

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also get some cheap masking tape from poundland and an old newspaper

Clean and dry your lights, I used window & glass spray

now you're ready to mask.

use the fineline tape and follow the lights natural lines, go straight down and keep a 3mm gap between. you can make the gaps narrower if you like, this will result in a redder looking lamp but may degrade the orangey-ness of the flashing, which we're trying to avoid.

once the vertical masking is done, mask around the circles with the fineline.

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then get the wide masking tape and go around again.

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now mask it off with the paper. mask a good 10-12 inches from the light to avoid overspray, as so

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Give the can a good shake, at least 90 secs, and apply the first coat using up and down strokes. keep the can 6" from the light, and just dust it on. you don't want it to run.

here's first coat

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now repeat for the second coat, but this time go left-right strokes.

heres second coat

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now repeat again for the 3rd time, up and down strokes.

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that's enough tint now. leave it half an hour and peel the masking off carefully in stages

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et voila! tinted lamps that look great (in my opinion) and still shine the right colours (MOT legal). In the photo you can see the orange still, but in person it just looks mostly red.

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Cheers

Re: Rear lamp tinting, in a subtle manner

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 12:40 am
by igeak691
Do you have a picture of what it looks like with the reverse lights on? I've already used vinyl to tint the turn signals but would like to get rid of the clear/white reverse lights if possible.

Re: Rear lamp tinting, in a subtle manner

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:01 am
by andysat
That looks like a LOT of work. :)

Re: Rear lamp tinting, in a subtle manner

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 12:49 pm
by Hamburger
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Reverse looks like this when illuminated

Less than an hours work on a windy afternoon, what better way to spend it than tinkering

Cheers

Re: Rear lamp tinting, in a subtle manner

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 3:54 pm
by igeak691
Looks good, might do it. Why does one side look more red than the other side for the reverse lights?

Re: Rear lamp tinting, in a subtle manner

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 6:02 pm
by Hamburger
Right hand side is a red foglamp in UK market

Cheers

Re: Rear lamp tinting, in a subtle manner

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 6:44 pm
by Toe-side
Good write up :thumbsup: Welcome!

Rear lamp tinting, in a subtle manner

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 5:46 pm
by Jl-c
igeak691 wrote: Sun Jan 11, 2015 3:54 pm Looks good, might do it. Why does one side look more red than the other side for the reverse lights?
I assumed you meant the reversing light itself? If so, it is just the camera angle, it is taken from the left side, not straight on.