Headlight restoration and other stuff

[Jumppr]

So I started out today with the intent of restoring my headlights using the wet sand and polish method. Has anyone had any good success with this? Of course I didn't get to it because when I started taking stuff apart I decided that I needed to peel the chrome off the grill and paint it to match the truck. So now my truck has no headlights or grill and I've got nothing done.

 

[The Butcher]

Sounds like how I spend my time on projects... Intend to get one thing done and end up starting two or three other projects right in the middle of the one project I'm trying to complete...

I don't have any suggestions on the headlight polishing, but after looking at the cost of new lights/lenses I thought it best to just buy some new ones versus buying the polishing kit and spending all that time on something that would probably fade again in 6 months. Just my $.02.

 

[Jumppr]

This was the almost finished project. I didn't get my headlights cleaned, but I did get it back together.

 

[Joe In Montana]

I did the lights on my wife's Astro 4-5 years ago and I used 3M buffing compounds.

Start with regular Medium Cut and picked my wool muff, I changed to Swirl Remover, re-picked the muff and ran some Finishing Compound.

Final application was pure Mother's Pure Carnauba Wax without cleaners or cutting agents. Buff the wax with firm pressure but slow speed so you don't burn the lense. California Gold is OK too.

I also use this system on my stock Chevy taillight lenses too.

 

[350K5TBI]

The 3m kit works well with the 500 grit, 1000 grit, 3000 grit, rubbing compound. That is assuming they are plastic headlight lenses. I have done probably 75-100 sets and most of them came out well. Certain types of plastic lenses won't sand down properly for some reason. Also if the clear coat has not faded off that part will be very tough to sand down.

 

[JT88K5]

An auto body shop refinished one side and replacd the other after a deer incident on my daughters mx6. I asked them to replace the other and I would pay for it because they were really yellowed. he said nah, we'll just polish it, you won't be able to tell. Turns out, I could barely tell the difference and the casual observer would never notice. They pretty much used the method 350 described, although I think they started at 1000 grit. Anyhow I was surprised to find out they also sprayed them with clear coat to protect from UV damage. That was over a year ago and it still looks factory.

 

[Jumppr]

When I get back from the desert i'm going to give it a shot. New ones are less than $100 for all for so i'm not out too much if it doesn't work.

 

[JoshHefnerX]

You have to put the uv coating on them or they will yellow up real quick again after a polish. The road grit punches little holes in the uv film and allows the uv to break down the plastic. I've seen people polish their headlights here in AZ and less than 6mo later they look terrible again because of a lack of uv protection.