To tint or not to tint...?

add_issan

add_issan

Well-known user
May 22, 2009
4,296
420
Devon & Thailand
Right, I need help with a little dilemma i am having, I have been thinking about tinting my side repeaters and rear lights, I was thinking of taking the light covers off and tinting the light units and replacing the covers after on the rear light, and while i was doing that, whip off the side repeaters and tint them too.. as unintentionally my Cat has taken on a kind of frosty and dark look with the carbon bits and the wheels..
So i need a few opinions on what other think ? would it look ok? and would i have hassle with the plod if i tint the rears? as i would like them quite dark but not too dark to obstruct the light.. if you know what i mean??

Cheers. (y)
 
Do you think it would be a legal issue tinting the rear lights chap, I have read so many conflicting stories i am not sure? But yes it looks like my car is heading for frosty carbon and tint... (y)
 
I think the rule of thumb is that the various lights still have to be clearly visible to other road users (when lit, obviously!). I'd say the safest thing to do would be to source a spare pair of rear lights for MOT day and also as a 'fall back' if PC Plod ever did pull you and insist you remove the tint. I imagine a response along the lines of "Of course Officer, I'll go home now and put some bog standard lights back on the car." would be preferable to "Oh come on mate, they're not that bad."
 
Relliott6879 said:
I think the rule of thumb is that the various lights still have to be clearly visible to other road users (when lit, obviously!). I'd say the safest thing to do would be to source a spare pair of rear lights for MOT day and also as a 'fall back' if PC Plod ever did pull you and insist you remove the tint. I imagine a response along the lines of "Of course Officer, I'll go home now and put some bog standard lights back on the car." would be preferable to "Oh come on mate, they're not that bad."
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I agree whit that Rich, I have a spare set of lights here anyway, I really did not want to go too dark with the tint, Just noticeable, so you would clearly see the light colour through the tint.. the side repeaters i would like to do slightly darker... (y) i was worried in-case it looks chavvy...
 
Relliott6879 said:
I wouldn't bother fannying around tinting the repeaters mate, there's any amount of smoked ones readily available.
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Having bought 2 sets of smoked ones recently and both where pants to be honest and i returned them, one set had just a black backing with a crystal front and was not very good, the other was so lightly tinted it was barely noticeable, I have come to the conclusion the only way to do it right is to do it myself... also after my MOT failure on the 3rd brake light mask, i will be tinting that too if i go ahead with this, then they can't complain that it's more than 50% obscured... Cheers for the input Rich, Much appreciated chap.. ;)
 
Add, I'm thinking much the same with my rear lights, as thinking that it won't pass the next MOT with the lense covers fitted...unless I just stick relective stickers on for the MOT??? I do like the look of the tinted lenses and unlike you, I don't have a spare bog standard set (maybe I ought to pick some up....hmmmm???? ).

Surprised at the crappy side repeaters though - the ones I have are brilliant, although I did pay quite a lot for them...£19 for the pair if I remember correctly.
 
I think a spare set of lights is the way to go Tim, and if you do happen to get stopped as Rich says you can just change them over, As for the repeaters, one set was around a tenner and the other £15, so not cheapy nasty ones just poor quality.. I am thinking i may as well tint all the lights all round apart from the fronts..:D
 
I was thinking about the rear covers , if you cut them down a bit to expos a reflective section would that not be good for mot ?
 
chazSTv6 said:
I was thinking about the rear covers , if you cut them down a bit to expos a reflective section would that not be good for mot ?
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Some have a small triangle already cut out to expose the reflective part of the lens. Look at Alan Pid16v's for example (y)
 
chazSTv6 said:
I was thinking about the rear covers , if you cut them down a bit to expos a reflective section would that not be good for mot ?
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I have passed 3 MOT's with them on no problems, the only problem like that i had was the 3rd brake light had a mask on it and they said it was obstructed by more than 50% and it's a failure..
 
mofo sob said:
Some have a small triangle already cut out to expose the reflective part of the lens. Look at Alan Pid16v's for example (y)
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I had my reas smoked for a while, i sold them on to sabretooth when i fitted the covers i now have.
For the tint, i used the savage spray and iirc i put three coats on followed by a couple of laquer. These passed a couple of MOT's without comment.

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That's just about the right amount of tint on that Al, and looks good mate, better with the covers on though.. I will be re-fitting my covers after the tint too if i do decide to do it... I have ordered some tinted repeaters today anyway to save hassle, and hope these are better than the last 2 pairs i have ordered..
I am going to wait a few weeks before i decide on tinting or not now, as project bonnet vents may start tomorrow.. I can't get a GTE bonnet cheap enough so i am going to just try and cut them in to the spare bonnet i have and then see if my mate can work his magic on blending and spraying the whole thing, we shall see... :)
 
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