Scary Stuff!!!!
 

...taking sandpaper to the inside of the outer lens.

The inside of the lens was badly gouged and had some scratches and the only other option was replacement, so I went for it.

Wet sanding, 500 grit.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...photos/033.jpg

Wet 1000 grit.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...photos/034.jpg

Wet 1500 grit.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...photos/035.jpg

Wet 2000 grit.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...photos/036.jpg

Wet 2500 grit.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...photos/039.jpg

Foam bonnet and plastic polish.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...photos/041.jpg


Wash with warm water, Dawn dish soap, and clean fingertips only! No cloths or sponges.
Shake water off.
Flush with 90% or better denatured alcohol to rinse remaining water drops off.
Use canned compressed air to remove any lingering alcohol.

Fin...

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...otos/042-1.jpg

Easily one of the scariest things I've done :eek:

wow. I wouldn't have ever attacked with 500 grit!

Was there a nasty scratch?

A gouge about 0.5-1mm deep! :eek:
Several, actually.

The headlight had suffered significant internal damage. The lens was only a small part of it.

nice job mate ,its one of those jobs that you never know the outcome till you start ,then after you've made the first rubdown you then have to keep going , no stopping half way through ,well done on a gr8 result

Charles,
Looks great!

Nice job.
What grit did you finish up with, or did you use 500 all the way through?

I wonder how the inside of a lens gets messed up like that? Car wreck?

Nice work, you are the master:cheers:

I've been buying wrecked or damaged headlights on eBay for parts.
This means I can use damaged lenses now, too ;)

I finished up with 2500 grit, then polishing compound, then straight polish.
Afterward, as I posted, the polish had to be washed off, but any type of cloth will just scratch it again, hence the warm water, soap, and fingertips only. Using alcohol and compressed air to flush out the water dries it with 0 water spots and no touching ;)

Thanks for the encouragement guys! :cool:
It was tough setting that sandpaper down for the first time...

Are you going to start selling completed units? If not, you need to. When you compare these to buying a set of stock Litronics, there is no comparison for those of us with the OEM halogens IMO.

That's the plan, Bruce.
A lot of people want the projectors, but can't go the 2-3 weeks without headlights, so I thought I'd convert a few pairs for those who just want the whole unit ;)

I think you are going to be very busy:cheers:

I already am!!! :eek:

Ok, I need to get off of here and get to work :D

You wouldn't ship Int'l by any chance? I've been playing the purist porsche type guy and hidden my crush for the angel eyes for too long ;)

I have a set here that could do well in a garbage can. Lenses were off for a few months and since a few people played with them. They are completely wrecked. I'll try your technique on a hot day here and see if I can rescue those.

If this works I'll report back to confirm that you have found the perfect combination of abrasive grits for lenses restoration!

Fred, if you only have light to moderate scratches, a foam bonnet and polish will do the trick ;)
Maybe some compound first if they're stubborn.

I should have said busier;)

Particle, you should apply a "Core Charge" model so when they get their new set installed and send in their old set they get the core charge back, and then you don't have to go looking for new headlamps on ebay and in theory the quality of the product should remain high because you will eventually be using other folks good lenses instead of ones from ebay that may be a little sketchy sometimes. You could also justifiably raise the price a bit as well if necessary.

The trouble would be the "core". Some would be in excellent shape and some, well, you get the idea.

Bruce, check again, the guy can bring them back from the dead almost.

Got ya now ;)

How does inside of lens get scratched?

Seems mostly unlikely.

My Litronic lenses are crazed. They look perfect until you turn them on. I assume this isn't reparable.

Car accidents, user accidents, etc.
Anything that causes pieces to float around inside.

One problem I've seen is people touching or trying to wash the inside of the lens during retrofit. This causes many fine scratches that can be seen extremely well with the headlights on.