Tinting lights
VW Golf owners for example are well catered for when it comes to trick bits and pieces to change the look of their cars in particular there seems to be no end of colour options available for rear light clusters. The same unfortunately cannot be said for drivers of cars that are less popular because the manufacturers of aftermarket parts don't see a market. One of the coolest mods even now is changing the colour of your light clusters to green, blue, red and many other colours but unless you can buy them already done you have to do it yourself, here's how ...
Colour choice
The first job is to decide which colour and what it is that you are going to spray. It's worth noting that this mod is strictly speaking illegal but if you are careful what you spray and the original light colour shows through it may be possible to get away with it. There are no limits to colours available using this spray technique for colouring your lights it's up to you to decide what looks best.
The paints
While it is possible to use normal aerosol spray paints these are not generally suited because anything more than a thin coating of the paint will block too much light. This does look cool and i have seen show cars with completely sprayed over light clusters but it's illegal and would only be usable for shows. If you have access to paints a coloured lacquer is perfect, special light tinting spray is available in a variety of colours also. This is what i used and it worked nicely, I'm guessing here but I suspect that this paint is in-fact tinted lacquer. Many motorist shops as well as mail order specialists sell this spray and although it can be quite expensive usually only one can is required.
Is it legal ?
Well this is a tough question to answer, the light clusters that can be bought already coloured are legal and most come with TUV approval. this means they have passed the required safety laws and let enough light through. Remember it may sound harsh but lights on your car are there for safety and if people cannot see your signals then potentially this could cause an accident. I personally ran clusters i had sprayed red for over 3 years never got stopped by the police, in fact i did get stopped for other reasons (speeding) and they didn't comment on the lights. I passed 2 MOT's in this period and failed one MOT for the lights so it's clear that the rules are very mis-understood. Spencer ran black lights for over a year without getting stopped with many police ignoring his black lights until one day when a cop stopped him and he was ordered to remove the tint. Hard to know if you'll get away with it or not but if you don't go mad and keep it subtle you're more than likely to be ok. Our advice if you can afford it and they are available is to buy coloured clusters for the extra cash if you can afford it but this is a good alternative.
Spraying the clusters
The first thing is to remove the light cluster lense to be sprayed and make sure that is spotless. You can use a de-greasant spray of wipe it clean with meths or white spirit. Once clean and dry mask off any areas that don't require spraying.
It's always best to spray outdoors (as long as it isn't raining). Shake the spray tin vigorously and spray each lense on the outside with thin even coats from a distance of about 12 inches. I quite often leave the can on a warm radiator for a few minutes before hand to help the spray. Allow a few minutes for each coat to dry and keep applying coats until you are happy with the level of tint (or the tin runs out !!). You do have to be patient at this stage because the spray is almost clear and many coats will be needed. Don't be tempted to rush and blast loads on. This will only cause uneven patches or runs.
Once all coats have been applied and dried thoroughly the surface of the tint may be slightly uneven or matted. Don't worry this is perfectly normal. To smooth them out simply rub the entire lense down with some normal car polish. This will smooth and polish the surface and the lense will start to look really professional. Once you're happy with the result simply re-fit the light lense.
If you are stopped and asked to remove the tint, it can be rubbed back with a cutting compound like T-Cut or a special remover liquid can be purchased from the same place as the tint spray. Overall though it's an easy job with rewarding results.
Pictures