tinting OEM fogs to selective yellow questions

[ken garchow]

on my 2006 ford super duty i am going to tint the OEM fog light lend selective yellow using duple color metal cast yellow.
the question is if i should paint on the outside or inside of the lens. was wondering if anyone hare has don't the tinting one way or the other.

i see the plus to doing the outside is ease since don't have to split the light apart and reseal, but even with good clear i am not sure how long the color will stay looking nice do to normal road wear

doing the inside also has its possible issues, mainly that the inside of the lens around the edges is fluted and may take the paint uneven and the inside of the lens also has the oem labeling in raised letters on it which may also take paint unevenly

any lens tinters have any recommendations

thanks

 

[-Virgil-]

Unsealing the lens = killing the lamp. Do the outside.

 

[ken garchow]

V
are u thinking i can't get it back together air tight again?
thanks

 

[-Virgil-]

There is a slight (very slight) chance you can get the lens off without permanently damaging one or more parts of the fog lamp, get the inside of the lens evenly coated with the yellow material, and reassemble it with an adequate seal and with a material that doesn't happen to aggress the reflector and/or outgas.

But the odds are much better that one or more of the bad things I just said will happen. Just do the outside.

 

[ken garchow]

V
i see your point (s)
outside it will be

now do u guys think if i sand fronts of lenses for adhesion with say 1,000 grit, the yellow will fill and hide the sanding scratches

 

[-Virgil-]

Oh, yikes, no! Don't sand the lenses, you'll ruin them.

 

[-Virgil-]

Or you know, if you want to have an easier time with this project and want it easily reversible in case it doesn't work out the way you hoped, there's another method you could use. Buy this or this, clean the lenses very thoroughly so they're spotless and dustless and lint-free, heat the lenses up to around their maximum normal operating temperature, carefully apply the Capton film to the lens, working from one side to another and carefully pressing/squeegeeing to make sure there are no air bubbles, trim to neaten and fit, allow to cool, and give that a try. Should hold up at least as well as yellow spray.

 

[ken garchow]

V
good idea, but i tried the lam-x film and liked the look and color of the light, but do to the compound curves on the lens and the way the lens extends out from the housing i couldn't get a good fit

I'm thinking the paint will do the job and i can tint them to my liking

 

[-Virgil-]

Suit self. Note that the linked Capton is very much thinner than that Lamin-X junk.

 

[KXA]

V
i see your point (s)
outside it will be

now do u guys think if i sand fronts of lenses for adhesion with say 1,000 grit, the yellow will fill and hide the sanding scratches

Would you sand your glasses?

 

[KXA]

Virgil, I'm surprised by your suggesting a yellow laminate. Have you tried this yellowing technique? If you have, how were the results?

 

[-Virgil-]

Virgil, I'm surprised by your suggesting a yellow laminate. Have you tried this yellowing technique? If you have, how were the results?

Yes I have, and the results were good. On the rare occasion I recommend something I haven't actually tried, I make it clear I haven't tried it.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Would you sand your glasses?

LOL!

I'm not surprised by -Virgil- suggesting a laminate-- I'm surprised that there is a laminate up to the task for him to suggest! The usual suspects, like Lamin-X, are clearly not up to it (nor are they even really all that *clear*).

 

[ken garchow]

finished sanding and painting my spare set of OEM ford SD fog lights and installed them, they look great on the truck, sets it apart some to me
now wondering what bulbs would work best in conjunction with the selective yellow tint i have added to the lens

 

[Alaric Darconville]

finished sanding and painting my spare set of OEM ford SD fog lights and installed them, they look great on the truck, sets it apart some to me
now wondering what bulbs would work best in conjunction with the selective yellow tint i have added to the lens

So, you ruined that spare set of fog lamps' lenses? Or were the lenses already in bad shape and *needed* a sanding to get them clear again?

Seems like these use the 9145, or at least as far as the Sylvania Bulb Guide states (check your owner's manual or the lens markings for the authoritative answer on the bulb used). Get these or the ones you already have and save even more money-- those fog lamps aren't serious lamps and are best left switched off.

If they use the 9006 instead, then get the Philips X-Treme Vision-- and still leave them switched off.

 

[ken garchow]

i kept the original OEM set as is (clear) and bought a second OEM set to tint yellow, before i painted them i sanded the fronts to get the rock chips out and they turned out very nice painted on the outside

9145/H10 is the fitment and ill just run the bulbs that came with them

i tinted them mostly for the "look" as i thought it added a nice pop of color to the front end. don't plan on using them very often

thanks all for the help

 

[Alaric Darconville]

i kept the original OEM set as is (clear) and bought a second OEM set to tint yellow, before i painted them i sanded the fronts to get the rock chips out and they turned out very nice painted on the outside

Whew! I thought you'd taken some new ones out of the box and did what we suggested not to .

9145/H10 is the fitment and ill just run the bulbs that came with them

That's the best plan.

i tinted them mostly for the "look" as i thought it added a nice pop of color to the front end. don't plan on using them very often

And smarter than trying to color match the fog lamps to HID lamps, and running them all the time. Thanks for that!

thanks all for the help

You're welcome!