I've been thinking about this for a while and think I have a pretty good idea I haven't seen done so I don't know if it will work or not.

The idea is to pull the taillight lens then the grid off. There's always the grid still visible, so has somebody hand painted it back in? It seems pretty straightforward. The acrylic lens will make it shine and look good on the other side. All you'd have to worry about is buffing the outside. (and I have to patch cracks)

Has this been done? Does it work? I'm not wanting to tint my tails, but I will if this proves pointless.

 

The thought has crossed my mind to flood a transparent adhesive or clear coat of some kind between the pulled up grid and the lens. The idea being that the cloudyness comes from the gap. A clear flowed into the gaps should (in theory) cause the cloud to disappear. The clear places in the grid would remain clear since the darkness of the grid would come from the existing plastic grid. Of course I haven't tested my theory, but if I had a set of beater lenses around, it'd be worth a try.

The trouble with painting the grid is the level of complexity. It'd take a lot of careful masking to make it look decent. A person could conceivably have a mask laser cut as a single piece, apply to the inside of the lens, paint, and remove... But it'd be a chore getting the mask prepped, making sure it was completely adhered, then removing it without damaging the lens or paint... Seems like a lot of work with a low chance of success.

 

I'm not talking about spraying and masking. I mean to hand paint it. The grid is still visible so all you have to do is use a paintbrush and paint it in. I don't foresee it taking too long really.
My only concern is how it will stand the test of time.

 

Best of luck to you... I guess some people like professional sign painters and old school pin stripe painters can get good results painting freehand with a brush. Personally, if I tried that it'd look like the coloring pages at the grocery store where the majority of children completely ignored the lines, much less colored outside them.

The inside of the center section on 85-90 Firebirds is simply painted on the inside, and it generally holds up fine.

 

I ran into the same issue with mine and gave up. had someone tint them with hand dyed clear. After polishing they look great