I gone n dun did it. tinted the tails. (pics)

[JerseyShoreA4]

Well after Kirk did his and mentioned the brand paint he use and i saw the outcome.... I had to give it a shot.. I'll post pics tomorrow. Maybe one in a bit off the car. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so I might not install them just yet. I did three coats on the clear of the light then followed with three coats on the whole light. Tint on the red is fairly subtle but the clear portion is noticable. Thanks for lighting the fire under my ass Kirk.

[JerseyShoreA4]

probably going to buff them and clear them and buff again. They are on the car now and at night they look a little dark for my liking in certain light. Wanna see how they look in the day time. will buff anyway to shine them up and get a good clear on them so they look nice and glassy.

[DELUX]

I like! Looks like the darker tails that came on the mk4 gti!

[JerseyShoreA4]

Thanks. I was going for that look. Wanted to keep it looking as stock as possible. I don't like the lights too dark on the silver or white cars. The cars are just too light and the contrast is too extreme for my liking. With my joeymodded headlights and my smoked sidemarkers I figured it was time to tie the whole thing together.

[JerseyShoreA4]

Weather is supposed to be nasty tomorrow but they are on the car now. If i can snap a photo on the car and post it tomorrow I will. I will definitely post up when they are buffed and cleared. I'm juggling the lights and finishing spraying my spoiler before H2O. The spoiler was ready for clear last night and it fell last night and damaged the finish. I had to resand, fill and resand again. It's ready for a spot prime and respray but i don't know if I'll have time to get it on before the show. Kinda upset about that.



There's the image of it' sitting on my trunk last night after it fell. Hard to see the damage but there were some nicks. It'll be on there soon enough. I think It should look good with those tails. The fitment of the spoiler is great for a replica. It's no where near where it's supposed to be mounted in that pic. Just set it there to check color match.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

Nice man and where's u get that spoiler it looks badass!

[JerseyShoreA4]

i bought it at waterfest from a vendor selling used parts. dont remember the name. im useless.

[pondside36]

Nice job on the tails, perfect IMHO. The spoiler looks real nice to hopefully you can get in on before H2O so everyone and myself can check out your handy work. See you this weekend.

[OneBadAudi]

lookin good, i got the same kind of plate...hahaha hope to see ya at h2o...

[JonnyQ]

What paint did you use for the tails? Nightshades or Testor tinted window paint or ?

[JerseyShoreA4]

pete i cant wait for this weekend. doubt the spoiler will be on. weather is looking kinda shitty. i will definitely be hanging in the az tent rain or shine. jonny, thanks for the heads up on riverside. i'm real happy with my new lower. I used tamiya rc car tint spray and i have testor clear coat that i havent sprayed yet. i'm debating whether tp use the testor or my automotive clear coat to finish them off.

[JerseyShoreA4]

[JerseyShoreA4]

shiny..... im clearing them in my basement right now. they look so much better with some shine. i'm probably stoned outta my mnd from poor ventilation. hope the finish comes out ok. not really the controlled environment of a paint booth.

[JerseyShoreA4]

[JerseyShoreA4]

Waiting for them to dry so I can polish them up and install on the car. My car is parked outside right now with plastic bags hanging off the back because we are having some shitty storms up here. I don't know how long I have to wait til I can polish and it sucks because I'm impatient. like I said, the finish isn't perfect because I don't own a paint booth and I'm not working in the best conditions. Kinda rushing it because I work too much and using any free time I have to get this done before the show on sunday. Still doesn't look half bad though.

[lfloodt]

looks real good, i've been putting this off for a while and now that i've seen you 2 do it i'm gonna get on it too. what clear did you use, and what are you polishing it with?

[JerseyShoreA4]

So they are ready to go back on the car. I just used exactly what's in the last pic plus a terry cloth towel for buffing the polish. microfiber to buff after the initial polishing. I can probably buff them a little shinier but that'll wait till they are on the car and a i do a full detail. The meguiars quik detailer is just a temporary finish to protect them til I can do the detail. Here you guys go and I'll get some pics on the car soon enough. And everyone at H2O will get to see them in person.

[JerseyShoreA4]

Just an update on this thread for anyone looking to tint the tails. I didn't like the quality of the model clearcoat. I wetsanded and recleared with Duplicolor automotive clear. I don't know if i ever mentioned that in the thread. I didn't reread but I wanted to let everyone know of the change.

[LampyB]

damn i really want tinted tails but i'm still on the line about the overall painted look. i really want them to be shiny and glossy, and even after buffing i don't know if it's up to my standards....

[JerseyShoreA4]

that's after the duplicolor. I want to reclear them before waterfest. I have seen a couple of guys around the Jersey shore that have had their tails done by John's Tinted Tails and their lights look glassy. really good quality work. Better than mine came out.

[absolutegtr]

I have always wanted to tint my tails....but how do you get THIS "smoked" look:

[JerseyShoreA4]

just tinted clear and no red? i did three coats of just the clear before i did my whole light. all you do is mask off the red section of the light and just spray the clear secion. then clearcoat the whole light after you remove the masking. i was tempted to stop at that look but decided to go the whole way. i did 6 coats of color on the clear section and 3 on the red. these were very light coats.

[Charlescrs6]

I have always wanted to tint my tails....but how do you get THIS "smoked" look:

My friends M3 is the same exact car, but in white. CSL trunk, LED smoked tails, blackout logo package, and the CF rear valance.

[LampyB]

that's after the duplicolor. I want to reclear them before waterfest. I have seen a couple of guys around the Jersey shore that have had their tails done by John's Tinted Tails and their lights look glassy. really good quality work. Better than mine came out.

these pics look really good, a lot better than the first shots. is this after fully polishing them? also how do i get in touch with John's Tinted Tails? haven't heard about him in a while...

[JerseyShoreA4]

Those pics are actually just after i did the duplicolor with minimal wetsanding and polishing. there is still orange peel but not bad. I am going to rewetsand and respray a few more coats and buff the hell out of them before waterfest. But for not being completely finished, they shine pretty damn well. If you are looking to get intouch with Jon's tinted tails, it's pretty simple.. http://www.jonstintedtails.com/ I've never been to their site but I typed it out just like that and got it right away. lol. I think guys were saying they spent like 200-250 for the tinting? I could be completely wrong with that number. I think I did mine for like 25 after buying all materials.

[absolutegtr]

No.

Those M3 tails are smoked from within. Theres a big difference than how yours look (not saying your look bad....just saying)

[whiteUSPflow]

So you didnt like the model tint so do you think that Night shade would work better. Or does anyone have any reasons why not to use Night shade.

[audi4u2nv]

im thinking of doing mine

[audistheonlyone]

jerseyshoreA4 : where did you get the lip spoiler?

[CMorA4]

that looks really nice on the car man... good job

[JerseyShoreA4]

back from the dead.. lol, I didn't get any updates that people had responded so i stopped watching. I got the lip at waterfest for 80 and painted it myself. it's an abt replica.

As far as the tint, i liked the model tint. I hated the model clearcoat and used the duplicolor clear after the model clear failed miserably. I haven't used niteshades so I can't comment on how hard or easy it is to work with and what the final outcome is.

[Dakine17]

wow good job on the buff work. i'd like to see someone smoke just the upper turn/reverse portions.