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Tinting Tailights S40

5K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  Bersh 
#1 ·
So I had seen some people had gone with the actual film for tinting the taillights but has issues with the curves so I decided to do it with the VHT NightShade. The things your going to need are:
1 Can VHT Night Shade
1 Can gloss clear coat
1 Bottle of paint thinner
1 Roll painters tape
2000 Grit sandpaper
Needle nose pliers
10mm ratchet

Best to do this in a garage or in some place where there wont be any wind and dust flying around and then just have patience and time.
Also here is a video I watched and based all of my work off of for reference.


Good luck and let me know what you guys think!
Before

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Location of the tailight access panel and plastic clips you need to remove

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After you have the cover and clips out


Those are the wiring harness' you need to remove. The grey and green clip are attached to the car. the little white one is attached to the tailight housing and doesnt come off however, it still need to be unplugged.

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Then just go ahead and pinch the two clips to remove the bulb bracket and just place it to the side. You should look like this at this point.

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Next you need to remove the 4 nuts holding the tail light in. They are 10mm in size. Dont have a picture with them in the car but I have one of the tail light out of the car. I needed to move the trunk liner out or the way some to get to the one bolt.

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The next step is to take the tail lights in side and start to sand them down. Using the 2000 grit sand paper and some dish soap do a wet sand in the sink. You want the light to have a nice haze on them.
Left has haze. Right is untouched This is the point of no return more or less:eek:

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After you have it all scuffed up go over it with a rag with the paint thinner on it to clean it up and then buff rub the paint thinner off till the lights are dry and look hazy again.

I wanted to leave the reverse lights and blinker untinted so I went ahead and used the blue painters tape and cover then up. Easiest way is just do a square and then take a thin blade like and exacto knife and cut around the the outside edge.

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Now this is where personal preference comes in as far as darkness. I wanted to still have a little bit of read show and know light was going to get through. ( Less hassle from the police:thumbup:) I did 2 coats on mine.

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Next all you need to do is apply the clear coat. I did 2 coats of this as well. If you have the issue I had and you get an uneven spray pattern just simply go back inside and do a light wet sand again just to scratch up the clear coat. Go to hard and your scratch the Night Shade off.

Once all of that dries just go ahead and follow the steps in reverse to reinstall the tail lights. Be careful and don't drop the bolt when your trying to thread it on because it'll fall underneath the entire trunk covering. ( Couldnt find mine after. :facepalm: You might have better luck)

The end result should look something like this

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#2 ·
Like. nice job.
 
#4 ·
Why would you tint them? I'm sure if you get rear ended all someone would have to say is that they couldn't significantly see your brake lights.
You can still see plenty of light shine through. The running lights even come through and those were moderately dim to begin with. Thats also why I went lighter rather than darker.
 
#5 ·
There will be a tail light removal video soon. But probably not until closer to Christmas. Good write up!

Looks pretty good with black. I lightly smoked mine. Went from the vibrant Volvo red down to burnt cherry (like GMC tail lights). My only complaint is that it seems impossible to get them as glossy as professionals do. I may just take it off...

Did you consider smoking the white part and leaving the red part? Kind of like the outlining tail lights Volvo now has (sort of like what TG did with vinyl)
 
#6 ·
[QUOTEMy only complaint is that it seems impossible to get them as glossy as professionals do. I may just take it off...

Did you consider smoking the white part and leaving the red part?[/QUOTE]

Yeah I've come across that same problem. I'm not sure if its because I didn't give it enough time to cure between coats or it was just the products I was using. As far as doing the reverse of what I did here, no I had never though about it. Even if I had I don't think I would have done it though. I wanted to tone down the red since it was so bright against everything else on the car.
 
#7 ·
Supposedly, the trick is to wet sand after every coat (even the clear coat), and then polish like mad afterwards. I just can't do that without getting an uneven finish, but I'm going to reattempt when I get the chance.

What clear gloss did you use? I used an automotive paint clear coat, which seems to have had better results than the Krylon that I had originally used on my mirror turn signals.
 
#8 ·
Yeah I had gone ahead and resanded my original clear coat and reapplied it because I felt like I had an uneven spray pattern. I used Rustolem (However its spelled) How do you like having the mirror turn signals done? I have been toying with the idea in my head.
 
#9 ·
Mine were yellowing, so it was easier and cheaper than replacing them. I'm happy I did, I like the stealther look.
 
#10 ·
Yeah that makes sense. My only issue with it in my head is just like I left the clear on the tail lights for a little bit of contrast I feel like those do the same for the side of the car. Plus this isn't really something that can be so easily reverted.
 
#11 ·
Power rubbing with gasoline should get it off. But I hear ya! (plus, it would be really hard to rub off on a mirror)

Considering that your car is newer, I would leave them clear for a while. I can see how they're complimenting to the tails; maybe one day you'll want to tint them as well, just don't rush to do everything at once.

Have you considered removing the "S40" and "2.4i" off the back? That would also clean things up a bit!
 
#12 ·
Yeah well for the mirrors for my car they disassemble real easy and the lens just comes out from what I've seen. Only took the mirror cover off never tried to remove the lenses. Yeah I've hopefully got time before I have to worry about any yellowing or things of that nature. As far as the badges on the back never put to much thought into taking them off. I feel like its kind of empty with out anything back there. Have thought about switching out the "Volvo" lettering though to the bigger more spaced out style. I see it on the newer models but not sure of a specific year. I feel like mine is just squished together.
 
#13 ·
#15 ·
Just some 3M double side foam tape from Walmart. IIRC, it was the tape rated for up to 6lbs. It's held on great for months and many washes.

Kind of looks like this:
 
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