dubga

iTrader: (8)

We all know how the taillights on the LT1 Firebirds can become delaminated along the black areas, making the black look like gray or a mixture of gray and black. Just generally crappy looking. New tail lights are very expensive, and good used ones on Ebay are hard to find that don’t already have the same problem. Some people get the LS1 tail lights, but those are also expensive, even used, and many of them seem to have a problem with getting corrosion on the reflector inside the housing.

I have seen several options for dealing with this delamination problem around the forums. Many people just spray them dark with VHT Niteshades, which may cause problems with visibility of your lights if you get it too dark, not to mention the cops paying extra attention. I even read something about heating the lights in the oven to soften the adhesive to pull the lenses off and repaint the black grids. That may work, but putting plastic in an oven just makes me nervous.

So I exchanged a few emails with Brent Franker who makes vinyl graphics for Camaros, Firebirds and Corvettes and suggested something that may help. As it turns out he had already tried something similar to my idea which had not worked out. So he made me some samples to see how it works out. Below is a how-to showing how I was able to make my old delaminated taillights look better than new, and still be legal.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

First, lets take a look at the delamination on one of the lights I will be reworking. You can see that almost all of the black is delaminated and looks gray. If you look at the bottom, you can see some areas that still look black and contrasts with the gray.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Here is a pic of what I got from Brent. It is a template of the Trans Am taillight in vinyl. He originally made a vinyl overlay that would cover the black area of the taillights to cover the black grids with vinyl, but because of the curve of the lights, it was impossible to apply evenly. My idea was to reverse his template and make vinyl to cover the clear squares, allowing the black areas to be sprayed leaving the squares clear.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Apply the vinyl pieces to the clear areas of the lights. I found it best to peel and stick them one-by-one. Take your time and line them up carefully. They are a very good fit, but the vinyl will stretch. So if you stick one in the wrong place and have to peel it off again, you will stretch the vinyl and it will have to be trimmed a little with a razor knife to fit at the end. You will probably notice a few places where I made that mistake in the later pictures. Here is what you will end up with once the stickers are applied.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

There is a sticker that covers the reflector strip along the bottom of the light, but I decided to just remove the reflector. It is held in place by two clips that come loose very easily. Look at the recess in the bottom of the light and you will see the clips. Just squeeze them with a pair of needle-nose pliers and push outward. Do the one nearest the center panel first, then the one that is closer to the outside. Once the clips are loose, the outside end of the reflector has a hook on it that will still be attached. Just pull the reflector toward the opposite end and the hook will slide loose.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Once you have the stickers applied and the reflector removed, sand the lights with 800 grit sandpaper. This will rough up the surface enough for the paint to stick but won’t make any serious scratches in the surface. Here is what it will look like after sanding.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Now its time to spray the lenses. I used VHT Niteshades because I have found that the Niteshades is a good match for the center panel once it is wet-sanded and buffed. Regular black paint seems to turn out darker and have a different finish to it. Apply a very light coat first, allow it to dry for a couple of minutes, then apply your next coat. Don’t apply your coats heavy, and allow about 5 minutes between coats. Keep applying until you can’t see any signs of delamination. Make your last coat a little heavier and try to leave it looking wet, but don’t get it heavy enough to run. Once it is covered, let the Niteshades cure for 24 hours.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Once the Niteshades cures, carefully peel off the vinyl stickers. They peel off pretty easy, but be careful that you don’t scratch or peel up the edges of your paint. If your paint does start peeling up, you probably either did not sand the surface first, or got the layers too thick, or did not let it cure long enough. Once you peel the stickers off, your light should look like this.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Now, if your clear sections of the lights look good and you want them to remain completely clear and avoid possible problems with visibility or the cops, you can skip to the next post. I chose to add a little bit of tint to my clear sections, but still leave them clear enough to see through. So I wet sanded the entire light with 800 grit, including the painted section, and applied a few more coats of Niteshades, and let it cure again for 24 hours. I wet sanded and sprayed my reflector strips separately, since they are a different color than the clear part of the lenses. I thought it would be easier to get them to match spraying them separately. I put them back in the lenses after they were cured.

This pic is after wets sanding with the Niteshades on the black grids, but before applying the extra coats to the clear areas.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Your black areas will look black now, but will probably be a little dull and grainy now. Here is where the wet sanding and polishing pay off. Wet sand the entire lens with 1000 grit sandpaper until it is dull and any grit or runs are smoothed out. Then wet sand with 2000 grit to smooth it out more. It is still going to look dull, but the polishing will take that out.

To get that mirror shine, use some type of fine polish like Meguiars Clear Coat scrub, Mirror Glaze clear coat polish, even Meguiars Plastix will work. The real key to getting the mirror finish is to use a rotary buffer with a foam pad. People say they are able to polish the Niteshades to a shine using an orbital buffer or even by hand. I have not tried those methods with Niteshades so I cannot vouch for that. Personally, I think that anyone who tries to keep their paint scratch-free should invest in a rotary buffer. It will take out imperfections that you can’t get out by hand.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Some people use clear coat over the Niteshades. I checked the VHT Paints website. For each of their products they list any recommended coatings. They don’t recommend clear coat for Niteshades, as it is a tinted clear coating already. I used Niteshades on a set of tail lights just over a year ago and it still looks good. But it is up to you if you want to apply clear over the Niteshades.

Whatever method you use, you should keep buffing until your lights are smooth and shiny. I took me about 5 minutes to get both of these tail lights to look like this using a rotary buffer. I am sure it will take longer with an orbital buffer or by hand.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

Hopefully this will help someone out. It is a low-cost alternative to get your tail lights to look great again. Niteshades is about $10/can. One can should be enough to do both lights. I used just over a can since I put the extra coats on the clear areas, so you might want to get 2 cans to be safe. The tail light masking templates can be purchased from Brent Franker, who can be reached at www.bfranker.badz28.com. His graphics are high quality, and I am sure he will make these tail light templates affordable for the Fbody crowd. He may not have them on his website yet, but if not, he has an email link. Just shoot him an email and ask about them.

Any questions, let me know.

vikingramair

Wow, cool!

94T/A5.7LT1

iTrader: (1)

Yea that looks great. My tails are delaminated now and I will most likely go this route instead of buying ls1 tails. can these graphics be applied on the inside of the tails also? Since my lens is already coming and have to glue the plastic back together anyways thought I will just do it on the inside.

dubga

iTrader: (8)

I guess that would work. I have never pulled the lens off to see what it looks like inside. If that black grid is glued to the clear lens, I guess you would have to apply the decals, then peel or sand off the old black grid, then spray the inside black again, then peel off the stickers. Then you would still have your clear lens protecting the grid from scratches and such and no wet sanding or polishing needed. That may be a better way to do it, but like I said, I was just nervous about trying to pull the lens off, not to mention making sure it was sealed securely afterwards.

bigtymer386

iTrader: (6)

AWESOME work man. They look brand new!

96silverram

iTrader: (12)

Very nice job !!!! Great write-up

HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

Very cool write-up/mod. You didn't say exactly which polish you used, what did you use?

dubga

iTrader: (8)

I used Meguairs Clear Coat Body Scrub on these. I have used Plastix on another set of tails I put Niteshades on last year, as well as on the center panel (no Niteshades on it).

transam5.7lt1

iTrader: (18)

Those look better than new!!!