VHT Nite shades vs. Tail light Overlays.

[Dzanga]

I had overlays installed on my 2012 WRX, when I had my tint done which cost a totally of $70( a little too much i think). The tint guy told me that these usually don't last very long and will start to peel after being out in the sun for awhile. And having the OCD that I have, I didn't want to have to deal with that so I went and bought VHT brake light lense spray and last night. I sprayed my tail lights red using 3 coats of VHT and then 3 coats of clear lacquer. I used 1200 grit sand paper and pulled off the lights lightly sanded them. wiped them down with lacquer thiner until there was no residue. Then sprayed 3 coats of VHT, then wet sanded with a little dish soap until it felt fairly smooth without taking of too much paint. Wiped that down with water and a mrco fiber rag and then dried it with another. Then i sprayed crystal clear lacquer. I liked the finish of it so i left it, but if you want a smooth glassy finish you would wet sand it again and then polish it. I suggest this route instead of overlays any day! A quarter of the cost and 5 times the quality!

Overlays.


VHT!!

[spirited09wrx]

looks very nice...im thinking about doing something with my tails, 09 sedan, subscribed in case I chose this route

[Dzanga]

Nice man good luck post pics lets see how it turns out

[2011WRX-SD]

Pretty sick man

[mangostick]

I did this with my '10 a while back.. except I couldn't find the tail lens tint anywhere and substituted duplicolor metalcast. While it has a really nice candy look to it.. it fades in time. The VHT or duplicolor tail tint should hold out for a good long time.

Nice work man.. looks good.

[Amaterasu]

That looks really good! I'm going for the same look except with a more Crimson/Black instead of the red. And tints over here are around $200 for windows and I was quoted $100 for taillights!

[mangostick]

What you want to make sure of is that you dont severely reduce the amount of light output. Taillights/brake lights are mostly for your own safety.. no sense in decreasing how well they work.

That said though, our tails are painfully bright when un-tinted.. so how far you want to go is up to you. Worse off, if you dont like how dark it is you can always wetsand down until you have the exact tint amount you want. Cant do that with overlays

[Amaterasu]

What you want to make sure of is that you dont severely reduce the amount of light output. Taillights/brake lights are mostly for your own safety.. no sense in decreasing how well they work.

That said though, our tails are painfully bright when un-tinted.. so how far you want to go is up to you. Worse off, if you dont like how dark it is you can always wetsand down until you have the exact tint amount you want. Cant do that with overlays

Yup, that's very true. I was thinking of doing something like this:


c.fernandez31

I don't know why but I don't like the look of the overlays from just pictures. When I saw them in person, they looked so good!

[11blackwrx]

Wow those turned out great