[n55jb4]

Long story short: I asked my local paint shop to make my tail lights darker. They did it using clear coat that has some black paint added to it (I'm not 100% sure of how it's mixed). Result was good in terms of quality, but I realize now it came a bit too dark than I would like. Probably they did too many coats and thus it came out darker a bit than I wanted or they mixed/added a bit too much dark paint to clear coat.
Any easy way to make tail lights a bit lighter - take some coats of clear coat away somehow? I was thinking clay bar with elbow grease should do it, but I'm not sure? It is possible to wash it off if I focus on taillights only and give it a good wash and repeat until it get lighter?

[SHEEDI]

I guess with light wet sanding then compound and polish

[Detailed Image]

A clay bar is non-abrasive and will not remove paint. Detailing clay will lift bonded surface contaminants from on top of paint, but it will not actually remove any material. You need an abrasive product to remove paint.

If you want to start very light, you should use a polish or cutting compound to remove a very fine amount of paint. Examples would be Meguiar's M105 Cutting Compound and/or Meguiar's M205 Fine Polish.

In this case, I would probably jump right into wet sanding. I'd begin with 1500 or 2000 grit sanding paper to begin removing the paint. After sanding, you will need to compound and polish the light to restore clarity. This is the same process we use to restore headlights that have become hazy/faded.. you can use these articles for reference.

Headlight Restoration Process by Todd Cooperider
Restore Your Heavily Oxidized Headlights by Kevin George
Quick and Easy Headlight Restoration by Ivan Rajic


If you wish to remove all of the paint, you can start with 600-800 grit. Then work your way up to 1500, 2000, compound, and polish.

Let me know if you've got any questions!

-Zach

[e92ben]

Paint thinner

[n55jb4]

Thanks guys I'll try wet sanding and then use polish compound

e92ben - thanks man, I think paint thinner is a bit too much in this case - as it will completely remove all paint, while I'm just trying to remove top coats to lighten taillight a bit