well about 2 months ago i got my tail lights smoked with spray paint stuff and now the stuff startred comming off and fading so i decided to get oveerlays the guy that smoked them for me told me he woudl redo them but i figured id have the same problem all over again...so i tried taking the paint off my tail lights with paint thinner thats what he told me to use. i used paint thiner and one of those sponges for dishes with the green rough part and it scraped the lights...so now im wondering if i can remove the scratched.. maby buff them out.. its like really scratched.. not deep scratches but it looks like it can be buffed out..now i need to figure out how to remove the paint and fiux the scratches so i cdan get these overlays on.. or am i gona need new tail lights? where can i get them and how much?

 

Have any pics??


Sounds like you could possibly get 1000-2000 grit sandpaper and sand out the scratches then buff the lenses.. But you'll have to be carefull cause when you buff plastic if done wrong you will melt the plastic.

Or check with one of the sponsors for new tail lights if you dont want to risk screwing up the taillights more and just ebay your old set..

 

u think i can take it to a detailer or soemthing to have it done?

 

Possibly or maybe even a bodyshop.

 

I have wet sanded the headlights and I assume the same holds true for the real lamps as well. Start off with 2,000 grit (wet sand) and see if that helps. If not then you need to go down to 1500 and if that doesn't then 1,000. If you end up at 1000, remember to hit with 1500 then 2000. After the 2000, use some rubbing compund, medium courseness to buff it out, the light rubbing compound. Then use a fine polish. After wet sanding your best best is to use an orbital for the compounds/polish. They will look good as new! No reason to take them to someone. If the wet sanding doesn't work, there is nothing they can do!

 

how do i wetsand?lol is there a machine or seomthing i need to get and how much is it?

 

man thx for the info.

 

Just get a set of '05 taillights, you know you want em.

 

how much are a new set of tail lights? and where can i get them?

 

IDK, do you have a sedan or a coupe?
I know nissanperformanceparts.com has all oem parts.
everythingg35 has the '05 sedan tails

 

Paint thinner and a Scotchbrite pad? *ouch*

I'm with Diesel1 on this. If you take it to a bodyshop that's exactly what they'll do... ...but you might also incur collateral damage such as overspray, etc. Just be carefull and do it yourself. Use minimum pressure needed to keep it on the surface and let the grit of the sandpaper do the work.

Wet Sanding: EASY! Get sandpaper that works wet and dry (usually indicates for automotive use, but not always). Should be breeze to find anywhere you can find sandpaper. Have a spray/mist bottle handy and/or a wet sponge. You want to keep a pretty constant flow of water (not a heavy flow) running over the work area and rinsing the paper free of buildup. You're lubricating while removing the sanded debris.

Don't freak when even the least-gritty paper scuffs the **** out of the plastic. You'll remove all of that with rubbing compound and the follow-up polish/buff. This is exactly what a fresh paintjob needs in order to get that deep shine.

 

Another tip is to wrap the sandpaper around a soft spong to avoid creating valleys from where your hand applies more pressure...ie fingers. It will be barely noticeable, but he spong will help. Also, use blue masking tape to tape off the car around the lights to avoid accidently hitting the paint with sandpaper. It wouldn't be a bad idea to also tape off the bumper under the ligh to avoid the dirty water running down from settling on the paint. Not a must do, but couldn't hurt!

 

That's one long sentence. I'm not sure it'll ever be the same if you try to buff it out. I might just invest in a new set.

 

where can i get this rubbing compound??

 

i went and bought the sand paper..1500 didnt work to well so im using the 1000 grid..works great! butt it just takes a lot of scrubing so far i have half od one tail light off..now the red looks really dull.. what do i do to fix that? plastic polish?