You have got to be kidding me.

I spent $100 on nice set of tails from the yard and supplies and when I tried doing the nightshades + clear this is what BOTH taillights did and ONLY on the amber turn signal sections. Cracks started forming after the very first base coat. The brake and marker lights adhered perfectly. I don't see how it was improper prep since I sanded everything with 400, 600 then 800 grit sandpaper, washed and wiped down with rubbing alcohol.

I frigging hate these funky grid taillights I don't even know why I tried doing a resto on them in the first place. It's times like these I wished I owned a trans am.

What gives?

 

there is your problem... rubbing alcohol its a solvent and will crack old plastic... if you applied wet coats of any solvent on plastics that will happen.

 

cracks may be due to drying too fast and missing an ingredient to help the paint/nightshade be more flexible.

i know when painting plastic bumpers your supposed to add something to the paint to make it flexible so it doesn't crack easily if the plastic bends a little.

but looks like there wasn't enough paint sprayed so it dried very thin and cracked.

i could be totally wrong, try to get some paint remover and try again just lay it on a little thicker, it might do the trick.

goodluck.

 

Congratulations that's totally NOT what happened. the paint is what cracked the plastic was/is fine

 

The first tail I applied the base coat a little thick and thought that was why.

The second tail I applied it thin and it still did the same thing.

Also, I'd like to emphasize that the amber sections were the only spots this happened to. The rest of the tails were applied exactly the same way and turned out fine.

 

what pruduct and hardner are you using??

 

Hardener? I'm using VHT nightshades that comes in a can and ceramic engine enamel clearcoat. The clearcoat isn't what did it because it started before I laid it down.

 

I have been using Niteshaddes for year and have had good luck most of the time, but I have had it do the "crack" thing a few times. I have to redo the Niteshades on my truck taillight this week, due to getting Aceton on them, hope they come out nice again.

 

I can never understand why someone posts a thread looking for advice and then jumps on someone who gives an opinion you disagree with. He is trying to help. Be grateful he took the time to read your thread. I know you are frustrated with the way they turned out and disagree with the opinion expressed, but that doesn't seem like the correct reaction when someone is trying to help you out.

 

watersand the section u want to redo with 800 (wet) then follow with 1000(wet) dont use any solvents to wipe them off, just bottled water and dry it off.. apply two dry coats 1 medium, let it flash for about 10 minutes come back and finish it off...needless to say wear gloves at all times......


working with spray can products is tricky because they do not have commercial grade chemicals in them


good luck and keep us updated.

 

i didnt wanted to be the one to point it out

 

Granted I do owe him an apology for barking at him like I did because it was 30 minutes after the failure and I was steaming, he presented a theorized error on my part as fact without asking any more information. I definitely would have noticed a crack in the plastic prior to paint.

Normally that wouldn't be a big deal but on this board it happens ALL the time 70% of the people here are just using blind guesswork to solve a problem.

Honestly in hindsight TGO wasn't the right place to come for help on this subject but again my fault for not giving it enough thought before I posted.

 

I can see both sides here and as far as I am concerned it was a misunderstanding. I read the first post and thought the same thing, that the plastic on the taillight had cracked from the prep or nightshade. Obviously I did not understand it either.
I wish I had an answer for you but I have never used the VHT Nightshades. I might suggest seeing if they have any help info online.

 

Juan was half correct. When I sanded the amber lenses down, I found out the problem.

The rubbing alcohol did not cause the cracks to form, but while spraying the paint would cause tiny surface "Tears" in the lenses, which is why they went undetected until it was too late. It didn't crack the plastic all the way through they were just superficial.

I remedied this by spraying the first several coats very light and when I would see a crack begin to form, stopped it from cracking the paint by, are you sitting down? Using a toothpick dipped in superglue to draw in the crack then apply a coat or two of nightshade ontop before laying down the clear. When the lenses were done I masked those off and refinished the grid.

Anyways, here are some pictures and again, sorry for going off like I did.

 

Anyone know where I can get a set of those that have the Red lens for the signal.

Also. anyone know any good sequiental signal kits. that would do the Yellow Red Red, Yellow Red red.
Like this car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lW-4vIS7XA

 

Glad you got it worked out... they look really nice

 

Nice job. Glad you got it fixed up.

 

It looks good. Very glad you figured out.

 

 

You could go with these, kinda spendy but they look nice.

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/se...ed+tail+lights