Gen 4 NiteShade Tail Lights

From Taurus Car Club Maintenance and Modification Wiki

THIS MODIFICATION IS FOR OFF-ROAD USE ONLY. CHECK YOUR LOCAL D.O.T. REGULATIONS

Materials Used

• VHT Nite Shades Paint
• Meguiars Cleaner Wax
• Paste Wax (your choice)
• Acrylic Clear Spray Paint (GLOSS)
• Red Scotch Brite Pad or 800-1000 Grit Sandpaper
• 2000 Grit Sandpaper
• Masking Tape
• Denatured Alcohol. (It evaporates with no residue left behind)
• Rags for wax, and just general rag usage.

• 1. Remove your tail lights. If you pull back the carpet near the tail light, you will see three bolts with nuts. There will be a big rubber plug with wires, but ignore that. You can leave it as it is. Remove the three bolts, and pull the lights straight back to remove it. There will be two bulb sockets. One if for the turn signal, and the other is the reverse light. Just give each one a half turn and remove it from the lens. (This is also how to get to your reverse light and turn signal bulbs.) At this point, the bulbs and sockets will be left dangling from your car. I suggest you put them in a plastic bag and tape it up around the wires so they wont be exposed if it happens to rain while you are working on the lenses.

• 2. Now, its time to prepare the lights for painting. Use the masking tape and tape off everything around the lens. You only want paint on the lens. Using the Scotch Brite pad (or sandpaper), rough up the surface of the lens. Don't dig into it, just sand enough to take the shine off. If you skip this step, then the paint will not stick, and you will just be wasting your time. Once it's scuffed up, use the alcohol to remove any dust or debris that might be on the lens.

• 3. Next, spray with the Nite Shade spray. This paint is VERY thin and will sag and run if you put a heavy coat on it. Follow the directions on the can for best results. I lightly sprayed, waited about a minute, then lightly sprayed again to get any spots that I missed. Waiting like that will let the paint get tacky so that when you add more it wont run and sag. This photo shows how one coat of Nite Shades (right) looks when compared to the stock lens (left).

• 4. After that coat is dry, you can apply another coat or just leave it. The level of tint is up to you. I went with two coats, and left it at that. This photo shows two coats compared with the stock lens.

• 5. Here are both lenses with two coats, before the clear coat. Notice that the Nite Shades has a flat finish. Clear coat is necessary to give it a nice glossy finish. Once you have the level or tint you want, begin with the clear coats. Again, LIGHTLY scuff the paint so that the clear coat will stick. Clean with alcohol again. Follow the directions on the can again. I put on two coats of clear, wetsanded with 2000 grit paper, cleaned with alcohol, and added two more coats. When I wetsanded, I just used a cup of water and dipped the paper to get it wet.

THIS MODIFICATION IS FOR OFF-ROAD USE ONLY. CHECK YOUR LOCAL D.O.T. REGULATIONS

• 6. Once the clear coats are dry, you will be left with a mostly glossy finish. It will have a slight texture. This is known as orangepeel, and is easy to deal with. I circled some spots so that you can see it better.

• 7. Almost done. Once the clear coats are dry, wetsand them smooth with the 2000 grit sandpaper. Listen closely as you sand, because if something gets between the sandpaper and the lens, it can cause deep scratches. Just listen for something that sounds different. It will sound like a high pitched squeak. When you hear that, just clean off where you were sanding with a rag, dip the sandpaper in water to clean it, and continue. When you finish, clean any residue off with alcohol. The lenses wont be shiny anymore, but don't worry. The scratches are made by 2000 grit sandpaper. The cleaner wax will remove scratches as rough as 1500 grit. Follow the directions on the bottle for best results. In this photo, the cleaner wax has been applied to the right side only. Notice the smooth glassy finish on the right side, and the dull haze on the left. The photo after that shows the whole lens waxed. (Sorry its a phone pic.)

• 8. Use the cleaner wax on both sides, followed by a good paste wax, and you will be finished. Not a hard project, you just have to take your time and be patient. Here are the results...

THIS MODIFICATION IS FOR OFF-ROAD USE ONLY. CHECK YOUR LOCAL D.O.T. REGULATIONS

Giant 01:13, 28 May 2007 (EDT)