Polishing side markers and tail lights

[transampimp]

I have my side markers, turn signals, brake light, and tail lights in the apartment right now. I sanded off all the factory letters and began wet sanding all the pieces. I started with 400 on the heavy scratched stuff. 600,800,1000,1500 Then I hand polished with some Mothers power ball plastic polish. The parts are much smoother, however swirls are still visible, and some of the pieces have a slight haze to them. What do I do to get them shiny as glass? Will the power ball do the trick? Maybe a different compound, for hand polishing?

I'm either going to take these to a paint shop and have them all smoked, or buy a few cans of VHT night shade.


I'll see what I can do for getting some pics up soon.

[JoeliusZ28]

a powerball is too harsh of a medium to achieve a swirl-free shine. You need a rotary buffer with a softer foam pad.

by the way, if you are going to nightshade them anyway dont even bother. Youll need to wetsand and buff the VHT when youre done with that step anyway.

[transampimp]

a powerball is too harsh of a medium to achieve a swirl-free shine. You need a rotary buffer with a softer foam pad.

by the way, if you are going to nightshade them anyway dont even bother. Youll need to wetsand and buff the VHT when youre done with that step anyway.

I was told that I should use 400 grit before spraying down night shade.

If I use night shade, followed by clear I'll be in the same boat. I will still need to get a nice buffer right?

I could just keep sanding all the letters off, get them smooth. Take them to a shop and pay $50-$75 to get a professional job.

[JoeliusZ28]

yes you need a buffer... however for a job as small as this, you could get away with using a single-speed angle grinder with the right attachment.

[transampimp]

I've been meaning to buy a buffer for some time. What do you recommend?

[JoeliusZ28]

makita all the way. theyre expensive but well worth it - will pay for itself in one use if you know how to buff.

[c0ncEpT]

Just use VHT. It was one of the 1st things I did when I got the car

BEFORE



AFTER




Its kind of hard to see but I think it looks great. I think that going clear or blacked out are both big improvements over stock.

[JoeliusZ28]

you still need to buff nightshades out if you want it to look good... especially on tailights. They would be dull and hazy otherwise.

[c0ncEpT]

I never said you didn't have to. All I said was that I think going the VHT route looks better than polishing stock amber and red.

[93formulalt1]

Here are my taillights after VHT and a nice polish. . .

And here are the pics of the corners. . .

[JoeliusZ28]

here's mine

watermark.jpg

[transampimp]

Those look nice guys. What kind of clear should I use, or did you just polish the nightshade?

[JoeliusZ28]

i just used a rattle can of basic automotive clearcoat i had laying around the house

[GETGONE]

Tinted automotive clear still looks a million times better than VHT does. I used VHT years ago and still have part of a can aroudn somewhere. I had some leftover clear from some other stuff I had painted and added black till it looked dark enough. I then laid down about 5 coats to get the right darkness on the lights. I wound up trading them to Baker5209 on here after I got my exports. I have a couple sets of stockers and some other marker lights and 3rd brake lights I'm going to be tinting when it warms up and I have time to go to my parents and spray them.
400 grit is WAY too rough for VHT or anything else. I sanded the letters off my light with 600 grit then did the whole light in 800 before I cleared them. I never sanded or polished them after I sprayed them. Here's pics on my car(only one I can find) and then on Rick's car.

[Thedon619]

how good does the light shine through those with the night shade ont hem ive been going against blacking them out because people wouldnt be able to see them.