How To: Tint Your Rear Lights

[jjj_aygo]

Hi all

I have just tinted my rear tail lights on my Aygo Black and thought I would post a few pictures and a quick guide in case anyone was interested in doing it too!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I think it looks really cool but I can understand that it won’t be to everyone’s tastes!

Here goes with the short guide in case you do want to do it too...

(applying tint incorrectly may cause a failed MOT, I am not liable if you apply incorrectly!)

What you need:

10 mm spanner

E-TECH lens tinting kit

Window/glass cleaner

microfibre cloth

Masking tape

Plastic bag/freezer bag

I used E-TECH lens tinting kit (smoke colour) [other products are available] costs about £15 delivered.

The instructions suggest you do this while the lenses are still on your car but I would suggest you remove them to get the job done properly and accurately.

To remove your rear lights: pop out the pins and unscrew the screw holding the cover.

With a bit of wiggling the cover pops out....

Unscrew the nut holding the tail light on using a 10mm spanner....

Wiggle the whole light unit out gently and carefully unclip the three clips holding the lens on...

Two of mine snapped as they are so tight! So be gentle!

Unclip the connecter shown by the white arrow to remove the bulb housing.

I took my lenses inside and left the bulbs in their housing in the boot... this is “Spring” in Britain i.e. !Removed! freezing!!

Now to the actual tinting of the lenses...

The instructions say that the spray should not be applied in temperatures below 13°C (55°F) So I laid out newspaper in my bathroom, opened the window and had a fan on... ventilation is essential as this stuff really whips and the last thing you want to do (while tinting your lights) is to get high off solvents!

Mask off the areas that you don’t want tinted i.e. the edges and cover the inside of the lens in plastic as you don’t want any water getting in there.

Wet the lenses with dish soap and water and use very fine sandpaper to wet sand the lenses down. This will get rid of any minor scratches you have on the lenses. Left lens wet sanded... rite one not, don't worry the shine will come back!

Make sure that the lenses are really clean... I mean REALLY clean! Use dishwasher soap and water first, then window/glass cleaner. Dry off with a hairdryer... warming the plastic so the spray adheres successfully and being sure not to leave dust/oily fingerprints! Then use the cleaning sachet provided in the kit and allow to dry completely once more.

Clean again using the cleaning wipe sachet provided and allow surfaces to dry completely before applying spray.

Shake can vigorously for 3 minutes before use.

Holding the can around 30cm away from the lens, spray using alternate horizontal and vertical strokes, apply in very thin layers and allow first coat to dry for at least 5 minutes before applying a second coat. Maybe I shouldn’t have but I pretty much used the whole can i.e. 4 coats!

Leave to dry until you replace them following the removal instructions in reverse!

Finished product, as far as I can tell has not made the brake, fog, side or indicator lights any dimmer at all!

Hope this was useful/interesting!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

[Angryhatter]

Got any pictures with the break/rear lights off?

[jjj_aygo]

Got any pictures with the break/rear lights off?

Do you mean like this...

[Raistlin]

Excellent, You certainly have got the hang of posting pictures :D

A nice job on the lenses

[jjj_aygo]

Excellent, You certainly have got the hang of posting pictures :D

A nice job on the lenses

oh yea I may have got a little carried away! :P

Thank u :) I'm really pleased with the look, have had several people walking past stick their head down to my open window to express their appreciation of them lol :)

[Norfolk n Chance]

Tints look good

The T Sport Badge tho....

[cptechjosh]

Looks mint mate, glad you have done this as i want want to and can now use your hot to guide :D

[jjj_aygo]

Tints look good

The T Sport badge tho....

Cheers mate!

yea I realise that anyone with a real T sport Badge mite disapprove of me sticking one on an Aygo but I'm confidant enough that my Aygo is "sporty" enough to deserve the neat little Badge :P

[arbs]

looks great, nice write up too!

[Angryhatter]

Looks really good.

Cant really think about doing it with mine as i have the crome inserts in mine and tinting would hide that which looks nice with the blue.

[reece]

Legal?

[AygoFast]

Legal?

I didn't think it was. Besides, they looked better before.

[jjj_aygo]

Legal?

I didn't think it was. Besides, they looked better before.

I'm confidant they are legal... the brightness of the lights would only be slightly reduced if at all as the paint is translucent. If they are not legal i.e. don't pass MOT in January then I have a tint remover spray that will take them off easy peasy!

Glad to hear your opinion aygofast but like I said at the begining of the post... they may not be to everyone's tastes!

[Angryhatter]

Not 100% sure, but I believe you have made the car illegal thinking about it.

As you have hidden the relfectors. Sure i read some where that you have to have at least one reflector on the back for when your parked.

[Snoopy®]

The pictures look good. Also Angryhatter on the last picture the reflectors are clearly reflecting Lol.

[jjj_aygo]

The pictures look good. Also Angryhatter on the last picture the reflectors are clearly reflecting Lol.

Cheers mate

Yea they are... that is from the flash with the camera though so would be the same for car headlights...

I will put a pic up of it without a flash in due course... the area around the 3 bubbles in each light is clearly lighter than where the bulbs are but I agree... not quite reflective but I don't think they were really that reflective beforehand tbh.

Have had the old bill driving behind me today and I didn't get pulled over... quite the opposite in fact he came past and gave me an approving nod!

Like I said any probs on the MOT and I will let everyone know!

[Aygo.Lilly]

Yea as Snoopy said the reflectors are well reflecting in the pic =D... (Some people and their observation skills ha!)

The lights are fully legal and look a lot better tinted.

I myself have the lights tinted on my Aygo and imo looks a lot smarter.

Simple mod looks good =)

Keep it up.

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Looks great, nice work!

I tinted the top indicator strip on mine:

Yes it is legal ;) :P