so i just tinted my tailights using vht nightshades and after the clearcoat i sanded it down. I used rubbing compound with a buffer for 2 coats on each tailight, and then 2 coats of plast-x and after that i used 2 coats of wax, but the shine is still not there. My tailights are still kind of a flat black color and only show some shine. It really looks ugly because the flat black sticks out in contrast to the shininess of the rest of the car. Should i just keep applying coats?

 

What grit did you sand it down with? And did you do a wet-sand?

You're supposed to wet-sand clearcoat with atleast 1500 grit.

 

i wetsanded with 2000 first and then 1000 for the heavier orange peel

 

The ending with the 1000 grit is what killed you.

You need to do that first.. then work your way up to 2000 grit.

 

oh ok. . . . so if i sand with 2000 grit now then it should look ok?

 

Yeah if you haven't sanded down all of the clearcoat yet.

I would do 1500 then 2000 both wet. Then you can go polish your arms off.

 

ok sweet ill do that. . . .and if worse comes to worse can i just add a clear coat and not sand it. . .because it looks pretty good just like that too

 

The fact that you don't know what to sand with just means you shouldn't be doing this at all.

Not trying to sound like an a$$ but there are MULTIPLE threads on here that show you how to properly do it. You never sand with 1000 grit unless you are experienced with it. Always use the least aggressive approach first.

 

yea i learned the hard way dont try to do stuff you have no idea how to do

 

happened to my first set of tails i ever smoked. wet sand them, re clear them, wetsand and then buff with a good rubbing compound. I first tried the turtle wax crap and didnt work, but the 3M stuff works wonders, then throw on some wax to protect it

 

Hey i used turtle wax rubbing compound. . .do u think if i would have used 3m that it would have worked properly?

 

First did you redo your wetsand? The 1000 grit is not a good ending sand.. you needed the higher grit sand for a finish.. then do the polish and wax.

 

what kind of clear coat did you use?

 

At this point use 1000 grit smooth it out and recoat it.. Be careful it dont lift now ..

Like mentioned before for best results you shoulda taken it to a pro..

I have people come in all the time with things they try to do them selves.. In the end its cheaper for me to do it to begin with then fix others mistakes!

 

Yes a pro would have been the easy solution..

However it was logic that failed here. You have to work on orange peel first, then recoat, then finish wet sand with a very high grit. After all this you can polish and wax.

 

thanks everyone for the help Next time ill go to the pros.