Smoked Tail Lights 91-01, 02-05

[GT-N]

Hi, the search results didn't give me the info that I wanted.

I would like to see pictures of smoked NSX tail lights. Preferably '02+ NA2.

In this video, he says there are many ways to do this. I think it would make more sense to mix some black pigment into the clear?

At the end of the video, do you guys recognize a difference?

BTW here is clearconers' version which looks real good

 

[scorp965]

The Clear Corners lights look good; from the close-up, it seems like they removed the light diffusers, and perhaps tinted them from the inside?

 

[GT-N]

The Clear Corners lights look good; from the close-up, it seems like they removed the light diffusers, and perhaps tinted them from the inside?

hi scorp,

i have notice a trend, specifically when people do LED installs in their tail lights, people are removing the diffusers? something like this? http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/134598-Sze-Chi-s-2002-GTC-LED-Tails

what is the purpose for the diffusers anyways? to reflect light out?

I was looking at the pictures a little bit more and it looks so much better without the diffusers.

 

[scorp965]

I believe they're intended to obfuscate the source of light, eg an aura of light vs a lit filament bulb.

 

[eyecandy]

Ive done VHT niteshades (which sucks), mixed black in clear coat and mixed black in a clear basecoat... I think the best way was to mix the black into the clearcoat, then when you apply the amount of coats you want, spray 2 or 3 coats of nontinted clear coat ( that way you can wetsand and polish). I dont have access to my pics at the moment, but when I get back in a few days, Ill post pics of mine.

 

[GT-N]

i'm not an auto paint guy, but what's the difference between a clear base coat and clear coat?

also, please post some pics up here, would like to see what they look like.

thanks,

Greg

 

[eyecandy]

clear base coat is used when you need to blend panels together (if you were repainting a fender but not the rest of the car, you would basically thin out the paint to spray on the door, hood, etc to make the newly painted fender not stand out)

my old civic

my old nsx in primer

The civic was done with the clear/tinted basecoat and then clearcoated over
The nsx was done with tinted clearcoat and then clearcoated over

Ive done others too, but I cant find the pics right now

 

[A.S. Motorsport]

I believe they're intended to obfuscate the source of light, eg an aura of light vs a lit filament bulb.

Personally i find the obfuscation of the LEDs very important it does away with the ricer/audi look of the individual LED's and gives the sophisticated glow BMW's have

 

[GT-N]

clear base coat is used when you need to blend panels together (if you were repainting a fender but not the rest of the car, you would basically thin out the paint to spray on the door, hood, etc to make the newly painted fender not stand out)

The civic was done with the clear/tinted basecoat and then clearcoated over
The nsx was done with tinted clearcoat and then clearcoated over

Ive done others too, but I cant find the pics right now

thanks for the pics. Was that a lot of tint put into those? How much would you need to get the effect of JDM tails?

Personally i find the obfuscation of the LEDs very important it does away with the ricer/audi look of the individual LED's and gives the sophisticated glow BMW's have

I prefer the diffusers cut out, i think it's rather quite pointless to have the LEDs lit behind the diffusers.

do you have any pictures of this?

 

[TURBO2GO]

Am I the only one that likes the look of individual LEDs? Must be where I live. People don't customize cars here much. I've never seen individual LEDs on another car. I especially like how they look when off behind the lens. Especially the GTC style .

 

[DRIFTER]

Black one on the left was professionally done smooth and glossy as the factory paint. The one right is a lil more flat and was done with VHT. Both reduce light output by a lil bit but nothing dangerous. The VHT reduces light output more then the ones I had done.

 

[eyecandy]

thanks for the pics. Was that a lot of tint put into those? How much would you need to get the effect of JDM tails?

Yeah I put quite a few coats on to get them that dark. It really is just a matter of spraying them evenly til you achieve the level of tint you want. You can always go darker.

 

[TURBO2GO]

I think a coat or two of clear plasti-dip will create a smoke effect and it can be removed.

 

[DRIFTER]

I think a coat or two of clear plasti-dip will create a smoke effect and it can be removed.

They have tinted clear plasti-dip but it looks flat.

 

[GT-N]

here is an amateur question. Is there a solution to take off the clear if somehow the clear made the tail lights look too dark? or does it have to be wet sanded off, resprayed with smoked clear and then polished?

 

[eyecandy]

You need to wet sand it off and start over. You can't really wet sand to a certain point, you just need to sand it down and start over. My suggestion is to pick up a set of cheap used tai lights off of something else and practice on those first.

 

[DRIFTER]

Just have them done @ any tint shop. They can put tint over them and its removable. This wasn't available when I had mine done.