Question about which route for blacking out lights

[KC2013ZL1]

Hey you all, brand new to the forum. Just picked up a ZL1. Looking to black out the tail lights, reverse lights and side markers. I have seen a few different options. I've also seen where people have just tinted the lights themselves. What's everyone's preference ? Tinting is obviously a lot cheaper. I just want quality. so what are my options and best options ?

[orange devil]

Big worm and the Anchor room are great for haveing precut DIY..and if you decide it paint them..i recomend having a paint shop do them .

[bigwormgraphix]

We have a ZL1 kit available or have just the tail light pre-cut kit available.

https://www.bigwormgraphix.com/2012-...ation-kit.html

[Arogg]

I had the ones on my 2010 painted. They used 8 parts clear and 2 parts automotive black and sprayed a few layers until it was the dark. Looks flawless and I wax them just the same as the rest of the car and they stay nice and shiny and black like the car. Its more expensive but such a clean look. I lucked out that my mothers neighbor owns a body shop and took care of it while the car was there for other touchups.

[KC2013ZL1]

Well I had thought about the idea of painting them. My brother was looking to do the same thing but for some reason couldn't find a shop in our area that would do it. No idea why.

[Arogg]

Originally Posted by KC2013ZL1

Well I had thought about the idea of painting them. My brother was looking to do the same thing but for some reason couldn't find a shop in our area that would do it. No idea why.

well, its not exactly "legal" in most areas so im guessing maybe that's why?

[bigwormgraphix]

below is a headlight pic and some led pics (easier to post here than send pics thru Private Message)

[KC2013ZL1]

The lights look great. I'm still torn on the black out option. I want the front lights as dark as the tail lights. That seems to be the issue

[bigwormgraphix]

Originally Posted by KC2013ZL1

The lights look great. I'm still torn on the black out option. I want the front lights as dark as the tail lights. That seems to be the issue

Since headlights are clear and tail lights are red to start with, you would have to make the them very dark (almost black) to make them exactly the same. By making them very dark you would lose a lot of night time vision. There is very little difference between our darkest and lightest material, unless we mention it most people never notice a difference in color. So we feel this is better than losing visibility at night. Plus you can't see the headlight and tail lights at the same time.

[rdsesq]

I tried vinyl "back in the day" (early 2000's) and was not impressed. I prefer spray tint/clear. Work with a paint shop, often the best plan is to be there when they are doing the actual tinting. They lay down a couple of coats, then you walk in, and can say darker. They spray another coat. (repeat process until you get the level of tint you want.) Also, I would agree with BigWormGraphix, you don't probably want the front and the back actually tinted the same amount. A lighter tint on the front will likely give you the look you want, and you really don't want to reduce night visibility.

And if some wanker is going to try and do a dead on compare of your front and rear level of tint and give you agro that "they don't match", tell them to bleep off anyway.