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How To Restore Your Cloudy Sun Burnt Headlights
07-24-2009, 11:30 AM
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How To Restore Your Cloudy Sun Burnt Headlights I had alot of members message me on how to remove the sundamage/cloudy look on their headlights so I put together this post to get you started. Your headlights are constructed of a very hard plastic called polycarbonate. This plastic over time will deteroriate and become cloudy due to the suns harmful UV rays, acid rain etc. This is the best way to repair the damage to the clear lenses on your lights.
There are alot of quick fix products that you will see on the market but they will all eventually fail. These coating kits basically put a mask over the damaged area, its a temporary fix and will not correct the problem. Over the years I have had many of these kits which we offered to the dealerships and they all ended up in the garbage can. With that being said here is the corrct method to get your lights looking good as new without replacing them.
I have taught this method to many of my customers right here in our warehouse, it works everytime.
Things your will need:
Wet Dry Sandpaper 1000-1500-2000 Grits
Soapy Water (I used our Speed Glaze Body Shine, Super Slippery)
Fantastic Finish Polishing Compound (removes the haze from the sandpaper)
Hi-Speed Buffer
Wool Buffing Pad
This task will take you about 30-45min if the lights are left on the car. When completeing this task on the car pop your hood to get it out of the way. Also use masking tape to cover all of the painted areas around the light so you wont burn or scratch the paint with the sand paper or buffer.
The light I used came from a buddy of mines body shop. It is cloudy, scratched and just plain ugly.
Here I sprayed the Speed Glaze on the light, this allows you to wetsand the surface without clogging up the paper.
Use the wet/dry sandpaper starting with the 1000 grit, be sure to keep plenty of body shine or soap on the light so the paper glides smoothly over the surface. Work each grit until the light feel smooth when sanding, be sure to get the edges of the light and not just the center.
When you finished with the sanding the light should look like this.
Because I have the light out of the car it must be secured prior to buffing, unless you want to launch it off your work table across the room.
Here I applied the Fantastic Finish Polish to the light. Fantastic Finish is a one step polish that also has a synthetic paint sealant fortified with Dupont Teflon so it polishes and finishes off with the sealant leaving behind a layer of protection on the lights surface.
Use your buffer on 1800-2000 rpm setting with a white wool pad and start buffing up the lens surface. Apply even pressure and really work the polish on all areas of the lens. You want to work the polish in until its gone.
Here is the finished light.
And here is a direct comparison:
I hope this thread helps some members out. I have been polishing headlights for over 10 years now and I have yet to find a better, longer lasting way to achieve these results. If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me.
Everything used in this post is available on our website.
UPDATE: 8/20
I have had many members inquire about me restoring their headlights so I decided to put together some pricing. If your interested PM me and I will set everything up as far as payment and shipping address.
As long as your lights have NO water in them I will refinish them for the following flat rates:
Any members on the east coast: $85.00
Any where else in the US: $90.00
The extra $5 is just to help out a little on the return shipping back to you. You pay the shipping to get the lights to me and in the amount your charged to restore the lights the return shipping back to you is included. I will properly package up the lights for a safe trip home and I ask you do the same when sending me the lights.
Joe
St. Pete Auto Aids
www.DETAILSUPPLYONLINE.com
There are alot of quick fix products that you will see on the market but they will all eventually fail. These coating kits basically put a mask over the damaged area, its a temporary fix and will not correct the problem. Over the years I have had many of these kits which we offered to the dealerships and they all ended up in the garbage can. With that being said here is the corrct method to get your lights looking good as new without replacing them.
I have taught this method to many of my customers right here in our warehouse, it works everytime.
Things your will need:
Wet Dry Sandpaper 1000-1500-2000 Grits
Soapy Water (I used our Speed Glaze Body Shine, Super Slippery)
Fantastic Finish Polishing Compound (removes the haze from the sandpaper)
Hi-Speed Buffer
Wool Buffing Pad
This task will take you about 30-45min if the lights are left on the car. When completeing this task on the car pop your hood to get it out of the way. Also use masking tape to cover all of the painted areas around the light so you wont burn or scratch the paint with the sand paper or buffer.
The light I used came from a buddy of mines body shop. It is cloudy, scratched and just plain ugly.
Here I sprayed the Speed Glaze on the light, this allows you to wetsand the surface without clogging up the paper.
Use the wet/dry sandpaper starting with the 1000 grit, be sure to keep plenty of body shine or soap on the light so the paper glides smoothly over the surface. Work each grit until the light feel smooth when sanding, be sure to get the edges of the light and not just the center.
When you finished with the sanding the light should look like this.
Because I have the light out of the car it must be secured prior to buffing, unless you want to launch it off your work table across the room.
Here I applied the Fantastic Finish Polish to the light. Fantastic Finish is a one step polish that also has a synthetic paint sealant fortified with Dupont Teflon so it polishes and finishes off with the sealant leaving behind a layer of protection on the lights surface.
Use your buffer on 1800-2000 rpm setting with a white wool pad and start buffing up the lens surface. Apply even pressure and really work the polish on all areas of the lens. You want to work the polish in until its gone.
Here is the finished light.
And here is a direct comparison:
I hope this thread helps some members out. I have been polishing headlights for over 10 years now and I have yet to find a better, longer lasting way to achieve these results. If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me.
Everything used in this post is available on our website.
UPDATE: 8/20
I have had many members inquire about me restoring their headlights so I decided to put together some pricing. If your interested PM me and I will set everything up as far as payment and shipping address.
As long as your lights have NO water in them I will refinish them for the following flat rates:
Any members on the east coast: $85.00
Any where else in the US: $90.00
The extra $5 is just to help out a little on the return shipping back to you. You pay the shipping to get the lights to me and in the amount your charged to restore the lights the return shipping back to you is included. I will properly package up the lights for a safe trip home and I ask you do the same when sending me the lights.
Joe
St. Pete Auto Aids
www.DETAILSUPPLYONLINE.com
Last edited by z06_joe; 08-20-2009 at 07:44 PM.
07-24-2009, 06:02 PM
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a good thing i have learned is that when you switch sandpaper grits switch the direction your sanding. So for example start sanding with 1000 going horizontal, then do 1500 vertical, and finally 2000 horizontal again. if you keep going back and forth like that you can make sure you get all your sanding marks out from the previous step.
Great little how to tho!
Great little how to tho!
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08-19-2009, 10:07 PM
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These are the two products which will buff out the lights after wetsanding:
Fantastic Finish
Magnum 357 Leveler
Either one will work perfectly
Joe
Fantastic Finish
Magnum 357 Leveler
Either one will work perfectly
Joe
08-20-2009, 07:44 PM
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UPDATE: 8/20
I have had many members inquire about me restoring their headlights so I decided to put together some pricing. If your interested PM me and I will set everything up as far as payment and shipping address.
As long as your lights have NO water in them I will refinish them for the following flat rates:
Any members on the east coast: $85.00
Any where else in the US: $90.00
The extra $5 is just to help out a little on the return shipping back to you. You pay the shipping to get the lights to me and in the amount your charged to restore the lights the return shipping back to you is included. I will properly package up the lights for a safe trip home and I ask you do the same when sending me the lights.
I have had many members inquire about me restoring their headlights so I decided to put together some pricing. If your interested PM me and I will set everything up as far as payment and shipping address.
As long as your lights have NO water in them I will refinish them for the following flat rates:
Any members on the east coast: $85.00
Any where else in the US: $90.00
The extra $5 is just to help out a little on the return shipping back to you. You pay the shipping to get the lights to me and in the amount your charged to restore the lights the return shipping back to you is included. I will properly package up the lights for a safe trip home and I ask you do the same when sending me the lights.
07-30-2011, 10:10 PM
#17
http://tinyurl.com/3ohtz9y
Did you follow the weblinks at all?
You can BUY those ONLINE at those sites.
Or go to your local auto parts store & try something else off the shelf.
1000 & 1500 grit wet-sand paper, &/or the 3M headlight restoration kit & you should be set to go.
You can BUY those ONLINE at those sites.
Or go to your local auto parts store & try something else off the shelf.
1000 & 1500 grit wet-sand paper, &/or the 3M headlight restoration kit & you should be set to go.
07-30-2011, 10:12 PM
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07-31-2011, 12:22 AM
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