Hey CRUZIN NW , to tell you the truth I don't know why I didn't wet sand them first , I guess because I didn't want to mess up the lenses . I wasn't sure the sanding marks would disappear since the red was translucent . The alcohol was used just to clean them before painting . The red is a lacquer and lacquer is fairly aggressive , so I think it most likely etched the plastic enough to provide a good bond . Hope so anyway . If you do yours , you might want to get a scrap piece of plastic , sand it , spray it with the red and see what happens . So far my lenses still look great and I use the power wash bays a couple times a week , plus My pt stays outside . One thing has come up on the forums is people getting their tail lights stolen [only one screw holds them on] and someone suggested getting these one way security screws at Home Depot , ect. to hold them on . I think they come with a tool to remove them if needed . You might want to go to
www.ptcruiserclub.org and check a thread on the public forums under "exterior accessories , paint ect" last posted 8 -25 or 26 titled "finally , all red tail lights , ect". There are 26 posts about this subject and a guy named BALMER BILL has some pics near the end of the thread . His came out nicer then mine . Have a good day .