Refurbish Tail Light Lenses, They come out almost as good as new Options

[TC/914]

Thank Goodness I got here in time!

I just did a cool thing to a pair of well used tail light lenses that I picked up from "Kerrys914."

Grab up an old lens to use as a test, wash it really well, use a tooth brush if you have to, but get rid of every spec of dirt.

Tape off and spray the clear "back-up" section inside and out with two coats (let dry for a few minutes between coats) of Dupli-Color Clear Wheel Coating (#HWP103 WHEEL COATING CLEAR) let it dry for a half hour or more.

Then tape it off and coat the red part, two coats inside and two coats outside (let for a few minutes dry between coats) of Dupli-Color Metal Cast Red Anodized Color Paint (#MC200 RED ANODIZED) make the final color coat on the outside a nice smooth one to build up the shine.

Let dry for a half hour and carefully untape the clear section. Let dry for another half hour and CHECK OUT WHAT YOUR BAD SELF DID . . .

The results are just PISSA! Now compare that formerly tired old lens to the ones that you thought looked perfect. Pretty cool, Huh?

You HAVE to try this out if you haven't already, it REALLY WORKS NEAT.

Luck,

TC

[aircooledboy]

Man I hate being the buzz killer: (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)


This works and looks great for about a year or so depending on the conditions, then the shoe drops. This is actually an old used car lot trick. They just used clear, but the end result is inevitable: it will begin to flake and then it looks like dog shit. These paints are not intended to adhere to plastic, and they will only do so for a while. Once they start to flake, it goes downhill pretty fast. Then you are left with a lense that looks like crap and you are stuck because there is no easy way to get the paint that did adhere off without damaging the lense worse than it was when you started. I would only do this to a lense that is beyond repair or that you don't intend to use for long.