|
REMOVING THE TAILLIGHTS. |
BODY LIGHTS STEP 1. |
Materials
needed:
- 1/4" socket driver
- 1/4" extension
- 8mm socket
- Flat blade screwdriver (medium sized)
- Phillips screwdriver (#2)
VW TECH BY:
Zachary Brem |
A. Body Lights
1. Open hatch, and proceed to pull back the
carpet in both rear corners of the luggage area.
There should be one round plastic clip on each
side. Just unscrew these with your hand. If you
can't you are a weakling! Pull back the carpet a
bit.
Top grommets
are the bump stops for the hatch. Bottom ones
are screw clips that if you cannot remove only
if you are a weakling.
|
|
STEP 2. |
STEP 3. |
|
2. Remove tailight
wire harness. To do this just squeeze the two
clips together and pull. Then remove the (3) 8mm
nuts that hold each tailight in place. There are
(2) on top, and (1) on the bottom. |
3. Remove each
tailight CAREFULLY!!! These cars are getting
quite old and very brittle. In some cases
wiggling back and forth might break the rubber
seal loose. If your rubber seals are dry rotted
or cracking, now is a good time to replace them.
Now with the body lights removed lets move onto
the lights in the hatch itself. |
|
HATCH LIGHTS STEP 1. |
STEP 2. |
Remove the plastic
panel on the underside of the hatch. It runs the
entire length of the hatch and is held in by (6)
plastic (one turn screws). Using a phillips (#2)
only turn these one turn to loosen them. It then
almost falls out.
Here is the plastic panel.
 |
Each of these
assemblies are also held in with (3) 8mm nuts.
(2) on each side, and (1) under the bump stop on
the hatch. First remove the rubber bump stops on
each side of the hatch w/ a flat blade
screwdriver. Then remove each 8mm nut. Next
remove the other 2 nuts on each side of each
taillight.
This is where the bump stops were. A nut is
hidden in there.
|
|
STEP 3. |
TINTING THE TAILLIGHTS. |
At this point the
lights are ready to come out. Start wiggling
them to break the rubber seals loose. But
remember they are only plastic. Don't break
them.
You did it the taillights are out!! Now close
the hatch so you don't drain the battery, and
get ready to sand and sand and sand. |
Materials
needed:
- paper towels
- Windex (or other cleaner)
- razor blades
- 600, 800, 1500 grit wet sandpaper
- water
- Palmolive dish soap
- masking tape
- tack cloth
- VHT Nightshades (transparent black taillight
paint) Part #SP-999
- Clear coat - preferably professional quality
- Polishing Compound
- Cleaner Wax
 |
|
PREPPING THE TAILLIGHTS. |
STEP 2. |
|
After the lights
are removed, clean them THOROUGHLY with Windex
or other brand window cleaner. No I am not Greek
(I love that movie). The ammonia is a great
cleaning agent. Also you will be wet sanding so
do not worry, it will not harm the paint or
clear coat! |
After the lights
are clean, take a razor blade and CAREFULLY
remove the raised lettering. This will make it
much more easier while sanding and won't take so
long. Be careful ALL STATES REQUIRE DOT
APPROVAL!! It just depends on how flexible
your local law enforcement is going to be.
Here are the
lights after I used the razorblade to remove the
writing (see above).
|
|
STEP 3. |
STEP 4. |
|
Begin sanding by
filling a bucket with just a drop of Palmolive
dish soap and warm water. This procedure is used
by many old timers in body shops because it gets
rid of natural oils from your hands as well as
oils and residues on the taillights as you are
sanding them.
 |
Start off with 600
grit paper to really get rid of the rest of the
letters and markings on the lights. You want to
sand evenly across the lights. DO NOT FINGER
SAND. This will make them look uneven and
like sheite. Keep sanding and sanding and
sanding. This stage is going to take a while if
you want your lights to look good. Don't forget
the sides of the lenses. Remember to keep you
paper wet while sanding and do not get any water
inside the bulb holes. It will not look good
when it dries.
 |
|
STEP 5. |
STEP 6. |
With most of the
markings gone, step up to 800 grit paper.
Remember to sand evenly across the entire light.
By this point the markings or any pitting
(besides the factory divets on each light which
are impossible to get out unless you have a
sawzall) should be gone. You are just smoothing
the lights now. Remember to keep you paper wet.
Here is a comparison of the one sanded light to
the original light.
 |
At this stage most people will say sand with
1200 grit. DO NOT SAND WITH 1200 GRIT. If you
sand with very light paper the lights will be so
smooth that the paint and clear coat will not
stick to them. And if it does stick it will not
be for long.
|
|
STEP 7. |
STEP 8. |
Clean lights
thoroughly with clean water, with no soap and
let dry thoroughly. From now on whenever you
handle the lights wash your hands with Palmolive
right before you do. Believe it of not oil from
your hands will do some pretty funky stuff to
paint and clear coat.
|
Tape off the lights with masking tape. This
should take some time also. The Corrado
taillights have some tricky curves. All of the
black plastic around the lights should be taped
off including the red sections. Yes this also
means the divider between the amber and red
lights you lazy ass!
Here are some pics of the tails masked off.
 |
|
STEP 9. |
PAINTING THE TAILLIGHTS. |
Before painting
make sure there are no fingerprints, dust, or
water on the lights. So set down the chicken
wings with extra sauce, and wash your hands with
Palmolive . Use a tack cloth and wipe them down
to be sure. You are now ready to paint.
**All good paintwork is a product of great
prepping so keep that in mind while you are
cursing aloud. I cannot emphasize this enough.
My dad was a body man and I thought I was anal.
He was like my drill sergeant while I was
sanding! |
Crack open the VHT Nightshades and put on
VERY THIN LIGHT COATS evenly across the
taillights. Try and do this in a well ventilated
are because this stuff really wreaks. My mom
almost had a heart attack when I painted them in
my basement! But it was too cold outside to
paint! Put on a light coat about every half an
hour. Repeat this about 5-6 times or until
desired darkness is reached.
**Remember it is unsafe and dangerous to
make your taillights too dark. Please be
responsible and courteous to other drivers. I do
not want anyone to get hurt over a set of
taillights being too dark to see brake lights or
turn signals. It is really not worth losing a
life over a set of cool frickin taillights. |
|
STEP 2. |
STEP 3. |
|
Let the taillights
dry AT LEAST 24hrs. This brand of paint
takes some time to set up, and you can never be
too safe. When dry you may wet sand VERY
LIGHTLY again with about 1000grit to get rid
of dust and prep for clear coat. REMOVE ALL
MASKING TAPE FROM THE LIGHTS/ EXCEPT FOR THE TOP
SECTION OF THE BODY LIGHTS. You have to
clear all of the lights. |
I
took my lights to a friends bodyshop to clear
them. Professional clear coat is the best to use
and I highly recommend it over store bought. I
slipped the guy $20 for his materials and he was
happy . If you do not have access to
professional clear coat, use an ENAMEL based
clear coat. Do not use a lacquer based
clear coat because it will strip all of
the Nightshades off the taillights. |
|
STEP 4. |
STEP 5. |
|
Before you clear
coat them wipe down with the tack cloth again.
Once again when spraying the clear coat on the
lights, apply thin light coats of clear coat. I
put on 3-4 coats and let them bake for a while
in the booth. Let them setup for about 24hrs.
|
When they are dry, remove the remaining masking
tape. You are ready to wet sand with 1500 grit
to get rid of the orange peel. I have not done
this yet because I have very very minimal orange
peel due to my anal retentive prepping
procedure, and I was too excited to get them on
the car.
Here are some pics of them tails after they were
cleared.
 |
|
STEP 6. |
STEP 7. |
|
Now if you want,
you can buff them with polishing compound and
watch them shine like no other . Mine were not
hazy at all so I'm not going to do this step.
You can also put on a coat of car wax to protect
them from the elements. |
To install them back into your car just follow
the removal instructions in reverse. Make sure
you align the light in the hatch to the ones on
the body. It will look ten times better if you
do.
Smile because now your car looks even better!!
Here is a close up of the tails on the car.
 |
