How do you polish headlights?
 

Hello all,

This is mainly directed at Charles (Particlewave) because I've seen his work, but anyone can chime in.

How do you polish a set of headlights, and how do you UV protect them?


I know the basic steps: sand the big stuff out, use progressively finer grit polish. What grit do you use to sand? What polishes are you using?

Thanks

Tony

Mild to moderate yellowing and light scratches can be polished out with a one-step process using Meguiars Plast-X polish and a terry cloth or wool bonnet. I use terry cloth and a 6" random orbit buffer. ;)
Only wet sand if absolutely necessary.

New UV coat is trickier. There are a lot of off-the-shelf options and as many opinions. Most consumer products are very temporary and will need to be re-applied every month or two, depending on how much sun your car sees. The best UV coats require sanding the old finish off completely and use of a UV cure light (which I don't even have).
That's really best left to a pro. I've only had limited success with complete restoration and only on my personal headlights.

I generally stick to polish and it does make a significant difference. ;)

Believe it or not, over the years I've used toothpaste and a damp cloth, you'll be amazed by the results achieved, honestly:)

You can see what I did on this thread:
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/54697-advice-used-litronics.html

I liked the Sylvania kit because of the UV coat they include in the kit. I finished my project in February or March, and I have not yet seen any signs of yellowing. However, I need to note that Particleweave has been on the mark with his advice, so I would not ignore the possibility of yellowing.

I think some folks have tried automotive clear coat as a UV inhibitor, but I do not have any personal experience with that or the toothpaste. The set of headlights I had were in poor condition, so Skoosh1970's method may work well on a pair that are in less need of attention.

Why not buff them nice and shiny and clean and then apply a film over them to protect them from rock chips and UV?

Porsche Boxster (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) Headlight Covers

I used this brand on my wife's new ES350 and it's done a great job of protecting the headlamps, you can hardly see its been applied to the headlamps, and after 2 years in the sun it has not clouded or yellowed. Of course, I keep it waxed, but nevertheless... good protection for cheap money.

I spray painted mine with a clear coat. Some also use Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane. You can apply it by using a lint-free towel, and wipe on with the liquid Urethane.

There's a thread at HIDPlanet about using films. You can buy precut like linked above or by a sheet and cut it yourself:
How to: Clear lens protection on curved headlights (incl 11yr aging result)

Wait, to protect from UV rays, you cure a special coating with.........UV RAYS?? :eek:

+1 on this. My headlights still look like new.

I just bought a set off eBay for $400, and I assume they'll need some work. The film idea has some merit.

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

I've done lots of headlights. Some pretty bad, like mine were.... Got them looking almost new starting from a heavy grit sand paper to remove all the yellowing, all the way down to 5000 Grit, Then clean with alcohol and clear coat with UV Clear. Looks awesome.

Don't think you need to go all the way down to 5k grit. If you are painting the lights (Sylvania clear or Minwax spar varnish gloss). All you need is 400 then 800 and paint. About a 1/2 hour job.

I've done mine 3 times now, and I think I have a working solution that I will use next time.

400 grit wet/dry paper - wet sand with lots of water
then
1500 grit wet sand - lots of water
then
2000 grit wet sand- lots of water
then
plastic polish (from a turtle wax polishing kit)
then
toothpaste
then
prime with turtle wax polishing kit primer
then
seal with turtle wax polishing kit sealer

The sandpaper greatly speeds things up.

I did one headlight with the toothpaste and frankly did it half a$$ed as it didn't seem to be doing much of anything.

Skipped the toothpaste on the other. The result is they look the same, and quite good in the daylight.

At night with the lights on it is strikingly evident where the toothpaste was used or not. With toothpaste the lens is clear with the lights on, without toothpaste there are so many micro scratches the lens looks frosted at night with the lights on. Oh well, I'll get it next time.

Will try. But is it really the tootiepaste that made the difference between frosted look at night and clear look? Did you also sand that light?

Yup. Toothpaste. It's a lot of work by hand which is why I skimped. I noticed a drill run kit at Autozone. When I do it again I've decided to do it that way to reduce manual labor. If I went manual again I'd also start at 2000 grit and get even finer paper as the 400 and 1500 hundred eliminate the yellow fast, but leave sanding scratches that take time to remove.

http://www.off.ca/en-ca/products/pub...dw-aerosol.png


Crazy Russian Hacker :cheers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAv_r_wcETM

if they're bad and cloudy, Sam's club will make them look brand new for $30

If you're just trying to maintain crystal clear headlights, Zymol wax works well because it's a cleaner wax so it's a mild polish. Try that every few thousand miles. I usually use a orbital buffer but you can do it by hand.

Brasso...FTW!

Will this eliminate those pesky mosquito bites on the headlights as well?

Anyone else remove a film like this from their headlights?


http://imageshack.com/a/img905/8328/uRoPyk.jpg

I try every few months . I have tried the headlight cleaners among other things and I cant get that damn film off. I bought a orbital polisher a while back I think that's going to be my next option then I will sand if that doesn't work.

So annoyed that I will have to sand them. I don't even know what the film is

My guess would be UV and rock protection. My lights look worse than yours the top where I got the film off look nice the bottom not so much. I winterized mine yesterday I prefer my cayman in the winter so not sure if I will bother with it till next year.

I know I'm very late to the thread, but I just cleaned the headlamp covers on my 2002 986, which had gotten pretty ugly.

I tried just using 600 and 800 grit, and found that while I got rid of the crud, the plastic looked very dull and cloudy even after using PlastX. It was only when I then used 2000 and 2500 grit that the lenses cleared up entirely, and now (with another coat of PlastX) look brand new. I'll add the paint tomorrow.