Tinted headlights

Just wanted to share a recent project (experiment) Recently bought my 996 and while the weather was nice I performed the #1 project I had planned on trying. Slightly tinting the surround of the headlights and the turn signals. The turn signals were tinted with a thick plastic when I bought the car, but didn't like the application. So I removed the headlights from the car, removed the plastic tint from the signals, cleaned up the lenses and masked off the headlight and driving lights. The sprayed with a 'tint' paint. My thought was to slightly tint the surround. Give the signals an extra coat if needed. And then spray with a clear coat. Here are the results. I ended up with 2 coats. No extra on the signals. Signals are nice and bright when used. The POC worked, but the spray paint spit a little and the spray pattern is so-so. I'll probably respray them in the spring with the black EOM color mixed with clear to achieve the same transparent look that the tint paint provided, but with the control of a professional spray gun. Thoughts? Jim

This is the first mod that I have seen to the headlights which I like. Nice work. What is this "tint paint" stuff?

Hey that's pretty well done and came out nice. Good idea that I'd like to try but I'm pretty sure it would end up looking ugly and moldy on a yellow 996.

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Thanks- I used this stuff. "VHT NITE SHADES NITESHADES Night Blackout Tint PAINT" You can get it from most parts stores. Will need to clear coat afterwards since the tint is a matte finish. The can I used 'spit' a little, not sure if it is typical. Also the spray pattern was narrow and you have to be careful to get an even coat. It is interesting that the tint is slightly blueish. I recently sprayed a spoiler with black OEM paint and was curious to see if I thinned it, would it also be blueish. Sure enough it was. Very similar. If you try this, clean the lens real good. Also practice spraying on some something else to get a feel of the spray pattern. Cardboard will work. The nice thing is if you don't like it, just wet sand with 600, 1500. Then polish with high speed wool buffer & 3M polish.

For a bunch of guys who claim that the "headlights don't matter" you are obsessed with how they look. Any tint will result in less bright lighting at night. In fact, application of that stuff violates US DOT lighting standards.

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Didn't sound like an obsessive post to me, and it doesn't appear that the application is really going to affect the regular operation of the headlamps, just the fogs and the turn signals. I wouldn't worry about it and you could specifically point it out to a cop and they wouldn't recognize anything ticketable in this case. I kinda like it.

My only concern is that in today's economy, the authorities are looking for any opportunity to ticket (income!) and when you alter lighting it becomes a safety issue. Trust me, your turn signals are now darker than before. (I personally like that look, but it's not me you have to talk your way through!)

I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think a cop would ever even notice, unless he's a 996 aficionado and has a big bug up his butt going out looking to be a d*ck. There's so many ricers runnin around So Cal with their coffee can exhausts and blacked out rear lights and headlights, and I don't see them in the fixit-ticket lines. I like the look! I'm with Dave, it has to be on the right color car for it to look right. And you have that color, 15psi!

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Well I did ask for thoughts.... Not really obsessed about lights- but I am obsessed about cars. This was a "what if". You might notice that the headlight and fog/driving lights are not covered at all . I masked them off. So they are as bright as ever. I was concerned about the brightness of the signal, I want people to know I'm turning. I checked it agains the stock one as I sprayed coats. Virtually no difference- was surprised how bright they are. The concept was to put on as little tint as possible and see through it. I didn't want black covers.

Looks pretty darned good to me. Well done!

Nice job Jim. Is that the 15psi red Miata in the background? Oh, and did you work on the wing yet?

You have to wonder why Porsche didn't offer that as an option on the appropriately colored (dark) cars--it looks very good.

I like the way it looks, although I think it would look even better on the lights without the amber lowers.

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I fully agree. Never liked the ambers. But I'll have to live with then until I can find reasonably priced 'clears'. 1k is too much for me for turn signal lens.

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Doug- That is one of them. Fun car. I painted and clear coated the Taco. With all the angles it is fun to have good coverage, and not have runs on the clear. Over the weekend, I wet sanded it and will spray one more clearcoat. Looked nice.

I like it - ALOT ! I'll send ya mine if you need more to practice on......

I think they look WAY better than some attempts I have seen - and I dont think its a safety concern at all... you didnt cover the parts that matter AND by polishing the lens you might have improved visability Way to go I need an xmas pressent you know (not headlights)

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Ok, lets all chip in and get Ed a GT2 spoiler and exhaust!

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I never liked the amber front headlights, but I could live with those just fine. Hell, Jim, I'd almost tell you to FedEx those modded headlights to me and I'd send you my clears back.

I don't care what people say about you in the other threads, you did a good job. Nice!

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I have those !!

I am thinking that this could be a nice winter mod. Other than taking off the lights and reinstalling them it can all be done inside. Very tempting!

I would like to try this. Looks great!

Anything other than oem is going to be an improvement. I think these look great but would be even better if darker. Great job

Nice job!

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Do you have any idea where one can find DOT lighting standards? ...I have been considering using a yellow tinted film for lens protection and snowy-day illumination here in Colorado. I am getting different responses from different State Patrol offices. There is definitely not anything mentioned in state statutes in Colorado related to the color of head lamps. ..anyone else have ideas on this?

Here in Indiana it is street legal to tint the head lights........just don't use blue or red. I have had the tint now for 3 or 4 months. Got it from a place called headlight armour. Works great and yes it protects the lense. I have seen posts where some are adamant about no tinting i.e. illegal. No worries here. Check with the DMV........Good luck.

I love it, great job! I used similar tint stuff on my motorcycle indicators and will definately consider this for my ugly 996 C4S.

Nice work. I haven't taken the headlights apart, so, I'm not exactly sure about the ambers. For less than $1K, you can try these guys - http://www.xenonmods.com/ I've been told that the lights can solve your "amber" problem.

I can't do it due to the police. It doesn't matter what the law is concerning some of them. Hawaii has a reconstruction permit law for making money. I'd imagine some would think it it to defeat their laser speed guns and start writing up everything under the sun. By the way. Got anything for keeping laser beams out of the lights and license plate

Who wants to be our test subject?

How did you mask the lights? Looks like a perfect radius to match the lights, good job. What was that process?

I am obsessed with how ugly our headlights are (as I have posted several times) and think this looks great. I went with the covers and the opening for the signals I put a smoked plastic so I have a round headlight and the signal operates fine through the smoked plastic. Have not had a citation in the year I've had them. I think the paint you have looks better though as the covers are not a perfect fit like the paint. I think it's great but looks best on black like you and I have.

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They advertise it as being good. Only way to find out it isn't good isn't very inviting.

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I removed the lights and then wetsanded the lens with 1200 paper. Then polished them with 3M polishing compound and wool buffing pad. Next I masked the light areas out with a narrow masking tape, by following the markings in the plastic. Then completed the masking with paper. I sprayed the assembly with a VHT tinting paint that you can find at your parts store. I was not totally satisfied witht his paint. It had a small spray pattern, occasionally spit and had a slight blue tint. In the spring, I am going to strip the paint off and repaint with the setup I use to spray cars. I was going to use the 996 OEM black paint but it also has a blue tint when it is thinned. I found that the paint I used for my 356 is pure black so I'll use it. I want the slight transparency. I'll post pics, as the temps warm up.

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+1 i really like like it, on black or gray but probably not on any other colors

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Great site on radar http://www.guysoflidar.com/index.html Review of Veil http://www.guysoflidar.com/radar-det...h-coating.html

Nice job on the tinting. I love it when people customize stuff. Many think that the best way is the factory way, especially on high end vehicles. The factory is one size fits all, it's acceptable to most while very few will love or hate it all. Changing things to appeal to your own personality it what makes any vehicle truly special. Unfortunately many people that have the money to fund creative projects, have very little imagination or artistic ability, and those with all the ability don't have the means.

Hey guys, I know some of you have already seen it but for those that haven't, I just did a "how to" writeup on blacking out taillights with a clear cutout. I would assume that this same process is also usable on headlights. check it out at https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=75046 Also you could always use headlight masks (which is what I did) the only thing is that the jobber ones are really very crappy so I ended up going with Techarts ($850,-) but sometimes you really do get what you pay for. Cheers, Sid.

Here is a recent pic...

I put the blue tint on my targa, it's the protective film that stops any stone chips from smashing the lense. I put this on for a track day and never took it off since I thought it looked so good. I've never had any issues with the police "yet" and it just passed its state inspection with not even a comment about the lights. I think the police just think it's some fancy porsche zeon light system.

I thought I would try my hand at tinting the headlights. This was just a first pass without much prep work or clean up. If I decide I like it I will go all out with the prep and the clear coat, etc. Let me know what you think. Not trying to be a poser but just trying to make it look more like what a Porsche should look like.

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What did you do with the covers for the headlight washers?

That looks great, very effective on a Black car. I'm not sure it would work with other colored cars.

Great look!!! You applied more tint than I did with my experiment. I like it. Now that it is warm out, I am going to redo the lights and might try your darker version. Did you use the VHT tint? I'll probably use the factory paint and a DeVilbiss spray gun.

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this one is the most beautiful one in my opinion... how do i get this done

I'm very jealous of you folks and your dark-colored cars. I don't think speed yellow tint on the headlights would work quite as well.

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I never had any headlight washers... RS- Thank you! I used the guys out of the Seattle location. I am sure you will have someone in your area that can preform this service as well. http://www.accutint.com/contact.htm

Hello oMenRC51, Do you have the name of the tech/person that did the work? Thank you for your help

15PSI, I did use the VHT tint. I didn't mean to go that dark but that is why I did an trial run. I think I like it enough that I am going to redo it next week and do the sanding and clear coat. I did two coats on the trial run and I may do the same next time but maybe not quite as dark. I actually like the look of yours a bit more. Thanks so much for the great mod.

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Contact, Caleb, at Accutint Seattle. Let him know I sent you. Cheers.

Looks great to me. The orange signals/corners aren't for me. Thinking about doing this on my ocean blue 99. Maybe the bluish tint will be just the ticket. Thx Todd 99 coupe

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You can always do an "amberectomy"

Body color is L744/ Metallic BLACK. Those protective films also serve to fend off stone chips.

How do you guys deal with the taping off of the oval on the headlight? All the tinting videos/write-ups that use vht night shades say to wet-sand the area you want painted w/ 2000grit then spray, then clearcoat, then sand again, then compound for a mirror finish. I'm worried that the tape I use won't be able to hold up to all this wet sanding and compounding. Thoughts?

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What front bumper is that???

omg guys, just get a 997

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Or........ if you like your car you can tint the lights, get the look you want, and save $19,960 by tinting the lights instead of trading your car in for a 997...

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Totally agree. I think if your car is black or dark grey, fine. On other colors, it will look off.

Here's my attempt at the same headlight modification using VHT and clear. A little orange peeling but that was to be expected with the rattle cans. Overall I'm pretty satisfied. We'll see how they look on the car tomorrow.....it's midnight metallic blue different light makes it look darker and lighter.......

Tinted vinyl film for headlights 996/986. Partial cover to highlight only the transparent area of headlights and fog. Color similar to the side direction indicator lens. Designed to be cut on printer plotter, without blade and risk to damaging the acrylic of headlamp. English by Google Translate -- 2001 986 Boxster S, Black/Black/Black, Manual 2011 987.2 Boxster S, Black/Black/Black, Manual (sold) 2009 997.2 Carrera S, White/Terracota, PDK (sold) 2008 997 GT2, White/Alcantara, Manual (sold) 2008 997 Turbo, Black/Black, Manual (sold) 1996 993 Turbo, Black/Black, Manual (sold)