Best product for resealing headlights after restoration?
 

I finally spent the time to clean the headlights on my car after 100k miles and 20 or so years of being on the road. The lights had 3m protection film on it when I bought it and it lasted another 4-5 years until it was starting to degrade and yellow and I removed it. I have noticed it left a slight yellowing to the lights in places almost like an adhesive but not something you could clean off...just like an etching. After the restoration, that is all finally gone now and they are almost as good as new but I know that the UV inhibitor and protection is gone and would like to put whatever works best back on there to protect them from the elements. I may do the protection film eventually but for now I am looking for whatever UV protection product will work...any products based off experience you would recommend? Thanks.

I'd ceramic coat them. Not one of the dozens of spray on coatings that have appeared lately, but something like CQuartz. But it won't last year's on plastic.

So for most people, probably best to get something like McKees 37.

Anything off the shelf is low grade, at best. Most are useless.

Call around to some paint shops and see what they’ll charge to spray them with automotive UV clear coat. It will last as long as the original. ;)

I'm going to respectfully disagree with clear coating them.

Unless there's now clear coats that are engineered to go on top of plastic instead of paint?

2k automotive clear coat sticks great to polycarbonate and will last as long as the original clear if applied correctly. It’s certainly much, much better than a wipe on or rattle can solution.
I haven’t used or looked in to the ceramic and I’m not saying it’s a worse option.

Mine look terrible after 5 years, right? :D
(Sorry for the poor quality photo. It’s dark out.)

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02/5551568432805.jpg

X2. I sprayed an automotive clear over my headlights over 3 years ago and they still look brand new. The front of my car gets a daily dose of Texas sun too

Hi Woody, I'm working on a pair of headlights and when I'm finished I'm going to use this Eastwood 2k clear for the UV sealing. When I get the lenses completely clear and scratch free, should I then go back and wet sand them with 800 grit again before spraying them?

No, 800 grit would leave deep scratches. Use 2000 to 3000 grit.

Thanks I thought I saw 800 somewhere. If the lenses are polished after the 2000 or 3000 will they be too smooth for the clear coat to adhere?

1500 or 2000 is fine. It's very important that you do very light coats and leave time for them to dry in between coats. If you put it on too heavy the clear will get spider cracks.

Once you get enough light coats on, then you can start laying it on thicker so you get less orange peal.

Thanks Woody!