Hey guys, I bought a base 05 350z last week after months of searching.. Decided to finally settle with one with minor cosmetic issues.

Anyway, I need advice on what to do with these taillights.. The previous owner tinted them and they look pretty shitty. They just look dull as if they have been sanded or something. I know absolutely nothing about tint so I don't know what method he used. Is there any way to make the taillights shiny like they should look?

I searched google and came upon this thread: http://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-in...se-cutout.html

My lights look like the g37s's taillights after the sandpaper and before the buffing/polishing. Do you guys think I could just buff/polish it and that'll work?

Here's a pic:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/enoneshallpass/8303237714/" title="IMG_9747 by eNoneShallPass, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8221/8303237714_0291f55189.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_9747"></a>

If it's just a matter of shitty tint, would it be possible to remove it without ruining the tail lights?

Sorry, again. It's my first car so I'm trying to learn as much as I can to take care of it in the best way. Thanks in advance.

 

My car had the same treatment when I first bought it. One of the tail lights looked GREAT, while the other looked horrible, and the light was much more dull than I would've liked it. I bit the bullet and did swapped a set of OEM tail lights in there, the car looks 10000x better in my opinion. As a side note, the previous owner also tinted the clear reverse/turn signals on the rear bumper with a very light tint - those turned out great, and it's an often overlooked part that I still get compliments on believe it or not haha.

 

Without seeing your car in person,its difficult to determine what kind of
"tint" process the previous owner used.I'd think buffing the lenses would
improve what you have now.If he used a spray on tint,removing it by
using some solvents that would not damage plastic would be by first
step.Next,use a plastic/acrylic cleaner.The best stuff I've used for this
type of application(works great on our foggy headlites too)are 210 PRODUCTS.
There is 210 PLUS which is cleaner scratch remover and,210 cleaner/polish.
You can buy 210 online.I've not seen it sold at any auto parts stores.Some
parts departments at high end car dealerships may sell.
A quick temp fix to "clear" your T lights is to spray on some WD-40.
It'll look better until it rains lol!

 

Here's how you fix it.

Go to advance auto and grab the following:

1000 grit sandpaper
1500 grit sandpaper
2000 grit sandpaper
Polishing compound
Mcguires headlight restoration kit.



1: Take the tail light out.
2: get some dish soap and water in a bowl.
3: start with the 1000 grit paper, dip it in the bowl and sand the day lights out of the lens. Keep dipping and sanding until the entire lens is really hazy.
4: clean the lens with clean soap and water.
5: move up to 1500 grit, repeat.
6: wash with clean soap and water.
7: move up to 2000 grit, keep sanding.

(All this sanding is going to really wear out your arm. If it doesn't start hurting your not doing it hard enough.)

8: wash the lens again. It will look like ****. Hazy, cloudy, and generally awful. But that's ok. The whole point here is to sand off the top layer of plastic. Which this will successfully do.

9: now to get that lens crystal clear. Get out your mcquires kit, use a fast drill and follow the direction. Keep biding that thing until its clear.



All in all this isn't hard, it's just time consuming.

 

man, just get you some 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper and sand all that **** off, and get those tail lights re-cleared and you are good to go. shiny and back to oem look.

 

Awesome thanks everyone for the replies! I'm going to try to remove it with sandpaper and polish/buff it. Thanks!

 

maybe see if someone is converting an 05 back to stock and trade for 06+ tails. easier method imo

 

Not even worth saving your current set since 03-05 lights are less than $75 and 06+ LED rears can be had for less than $300

I would just save up for the 06+ LED's instead