Refinishing Delaminated GT tailights (Page 4/10)
IMSA GT APR 04, 01:23 PM

quote
Originally posted by FieroFiend:

Out of curiousity why didnt you unmask the outer portion?

Ive fixed some clear plastic head lights by sanding them down smooth with 2000 grit then clear coating them (looks brand new) wouldnt it work just as well and keep the clear even all the way across?

Id imagine you have a "lip" all the way around the clear section now right? or am I mistaken what you ment?



The only reason that I did not spray the clear portion of the lens is because with paint, if it gets scratched, you can repair it. With just clearcoat on a clear surface, if it gets damaged, it will be difficult to sand and re-clear without getting some distortion in the lens. Plus, I recently did a set for a member who requested that I clear over the entire lens. It looked great until I held it up to the light and noticed one of my cats black hairs ended up in the clear....what do you do now? Fortunately, it was so small that the only way to see it was to look very close at the lens but my point is that it wasn't perfect and that is what I strive for.

As far as a lip around the clear portion of the lens, I actually sand and feather the edge to where you barely feel any trasition between the clear portion and the painted. You CAN feel something but not anywhere as noticeable as you might think.

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 04-04-2009).]

FieroFiend APR 04, 01:29 PM
Thanks for clearin that up, keep up the good work
Tony Kania JUL 19, 04:36 PM
IMSA GT, thank you for posting up the know how on how to rid my GT taillights of the dreaded delamination. This has been something that has plagued my 87GT for many a year now. For anyone that has this issue, this is really a great way to rid your taillights of that unsightly delamination. Never again will i have to look at the plastic pealing apart. I would have given you a plus IMSA GT, but I already gave you one for something else.


Thanks again,
Tony

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Australian OCT 03, 09:12 AM
Wish i saw this thread before i started doing a not as good alternative.
Samohtneas OCT 03, 12:34 PM
Could you urethane the notchback tail lights? Mine are constantly being ruined by kicked up rocks, and there are now some marks I can't even polish/sand out.
ALJR JAN 07, 04:25 PM
Why not urithane the clear part of the lense? Rather then having to sand/buff it...
IMSA GT JAN 07, 05:44 PM

quote
Originally posted by ALJR:

Why not urithane the clear part of the lense? Rather then having to sand/buff it...



I cleared a few sets that I did for people. At first, I needed to get a test set so in case the clear didn't look right, I didn't damage a good set. Since I have tested it, I now clear the entire lens.
ALJR JAN 07, 08:15 PM
Any way to paint the inside? Or is that more difficult as you would have to remove the rest of the black before spraying...
IMSA GT JAN 07, 09:35 PM

quote
Originally posted by ALJR:

Any way to paint the inside? Or is that more difficult as you would have to remove the rest of the black before spraying...



Well, you can't remove the black since it is poured in during the manufacture. You can paint the inside of the lens if you want to tint them but you can't remove the black portion just to paint the lens. Now if you wanted to do custom lettering like I did for my IMSA, you can remove the black and re-stencil the letters in black paint:
vrossiter MAR 13, 01:08 AM
So, you remove all the black out of the lens and then restencil the lettering, or do you just remove the lower portion and stencil the 'IMSA'? Have you put up a specific thread about this? How hard would it be to do only 3 letters below the PONTIAC with the split in the tailight? That is awsome, by the way!
Vince