Nissan 350Z Smoked Taillight Film DIY Install

Step 1:

Clean the lenses. Clean your hands. Make sure there are no residues from the cleaning process remaining on the lenses or your hands. Without removing the lens cover from the backing paper hold it up to the lens and make sure you have the correct one / orientation (i.e. Slightly ovoid lenses). If it is cool - below 65 degrees F gently warming the lens with a hair dryer will help things along. Wet down one lens with water - a clean spray bottle / plant mister works great.

Step 2:

If it is cool - below 65 degrees F gently warming the material with a hair dryer will help things along. Carefully remove the cover from the backing paper - handling the adhesive as little as possible - Use handling tabs when possible. Mist down the adhesive side and gently place on the lens. Handling the edges align the front point of the piece - (right side of the photo).

Step 3:

Then generally align the back corner and outside edge (far right on the photo). The piece will be 'floating' on the beads of water on the lens. Be gentle the adhesive is pressure sensitive.

Step 4:

Squeegee the front corner - about the first 3-4 inches.

Step 5:

Now firmly squeegee from the front corner where you started diagonally along the center-line down toward the inside lower corner. In the photo from 3 o'clock to 8 o'clock.

Step 6:

Continue squeegeeing down the center-line with firm pressure as in step 5.

Step 7:

Continue firmly squeegeeing as in Step 6.

Step 8:

Continue to the very bottom inside corner of the kit.

Step 9:

Re-wet the outside of the kit and squeegee firmly from the center-line you just squeegeed toward the edge of the kit as shown. NOTE: This kit was installed with ambient air temps ~75 degrees F. If it is cool out the use of a hair dryer on low will be necessary for steps 9-14. Do not overheat the film, you just want to warm to about 90 degrees F.

Step 10:

Continue squeegeeing down from the center toward the outside edge. Squeegee in .5 - 1.0 inch increments from left to right to distribute the film around the curve as shown.

Step 11:

Continue working in short firm strokes.

Step 12:

Squeegee to the bottom of the kit as shown.

Step 13:

Repeat the process in Steps 9-12 on the top half of the kit as shown. As noted earlier Steps 13 and 14 are probably easier with the hatch open as the material curves down into the recess a bit.

Step 14:

Continue squeegeeing firmly into recess, being careful not to trap any water / air bubbles along the curve inward.

Step 15:

With a sharp razor knife carefully trim off the handling tabs. If you have any areas that are misaligned or overhanging you can either wrap the edge if it a flat surface or simply trim off the excess. Go over the edges with a suede detail cloth / paper towel wrapped squeegee to make sure the edge is fully set. Gentle heat from a hair dryer on low can help things along if it is cool out.

Step 16:

Clean the lenses. Clean your hands. Make sure there are no residues from the cleaning process remaining on the lenses or your hands. Without removing the lens cover from the backing paper hold it up to the lens and make sure you have the correct one / orientation (i.e. Slightly ovoid lenses). If it is cool - below 65 degrees F gently warming the lens with a hair dryer will help things along. Wet down one lens with water - a clean spray bottle / plant mister works great.

Done!

Now you are done, stand back and enjoy! If there are ant small bubbles or small wrinkles they will flatten out as the water evaporated from underneath the film and as the adhesive sets. The Smoke (30%) covers shown in this tutorial will turn the bright red tails to a rich deep dark burgundy red. If you are looking for something darker you can select Stealth Smoke (20%). With our Smoked taillight covers you will be able to change to look of your vehicle - while still allowing your brake lights and running lights to function as intended. You can remove these at some point in the future if you are so inclined - though they can only be used once.