What's the generally accepted best headlight clear coat?

[Oldcarguy]

I use a mix of products. To start, I apply the surface activator from Sylvania. I mention this because it was pretty amazing to see the ‘yellow’ melt away in the spray runoff. YMMV, but it worked for me.



Middle steps are the typical wet sanding, 600 through 5,000 grit starting by hand, then with small DA sander and hand touch up as required, then a final pass with the surface activator using a clean rag. Then a pass with a tack cloth immediately prior to final finishing.

Regarding the OP’s question, for final finishing I’ve had really good results with the SpayMax headlight system. It’s a 1k primer with a 2k (catalyst) top coat. You are supposed to use the primer followed by the top coat. Spray Max does not recommend using the 2k without the primer. Lens damage, bond promotion??? Who knows. I used both per the directions.

Make sure you have an appropriate, real deal paint respirator and ventilated work space. The 2k paint can be deadly.



Final result after polishing. The yellow-green tint on the projector lens in the pic below is just a reflection of our trees, The lense is perfectly clear. Note the ‘u’ shaped smudge on the inside of the lens. It’s discolored from heat I guess. Nothing can be done without taking the light apart. It’s not that noticeable in person.



Here’s a pic after the 2k coat, prior to final polishing:



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[rexcramer]

Those look great. How long did each side take?

[Oldcarguy]

Originally Posted by rexcramer

Those look great. How long did each side take?

Hi Rex, Thanks. About 3 hours per side including drying time and final polishing. I took it slow and I wanted to be sure that all the original UV coating layer was off the lenses. A 3” DA sander is perfect for the job.

The best is to get both lenses through sanding, priming and drying, then mix the catalyst and do the final coat on both lenses one immediately after the other.

Here’s a pic after the final sanding, just before primer:



The primer goes on milky clear and dries to a clear satin mat finish. It’s in the process of drying here:



And here’s the lens with the primer completely dry:



There’s no sanding between the primer and 2k finish. After the primer dries, another quick pass with the tack cloth and you are on to applying the 2k top coat. Here’s a pic after the top coat, before final polishing:



I did have some minor orange peel (my fault) but the final polishing after 2k application took care of that.