WRITE UP: My version of HOW to Polish your Headlights
I know there are many topics and reviews on polishing headlights.
Here's my version in case anyone was interested.
I bought my 98 prelude used, so I'm not sure what the car has been through.
Here are some before pictures of the headlights. It's dull and really nasty looking. It's not too bad, but looks like damage from the sun overhead.
* * * * * * * *
So here are the steps that I took to restore my headlights.
***STEP ONE***
I cleaned the headlights with water and soap.
Then, I turned the hose down so it's just barely flowing. I placed it over the headlights and took some 2000 grit wet sandpaper and started to rub the damaged area.
Yes, I jumped directly to the finest wet sandpaper I could find. This is because I only need to take off only a small layer of the plastic off the headlights. The deeper you go, the harder it will be to polish it crystal clear.
The key (I believe) is NOT to press down with the wet sandpaper. Just let the weight of your hand apply the pressure to the surface. Make sure to keep the water flowing over the rubbed area to clean off the removed plastic particles. Be patient. It will take awhile, but worth it in the end.
By doing the step above, it will make polishing much easier.
NOTE: I did not remove my headlights from the car. I don't think it's necessary. Just watch out and don't sand your paint. I used sloooow circular motions.
***STEP TWO***
After the area is sanded down smooth, wash it one last time and dry it with a towel.
Next, take your polish and apply it directly to the headlights on a SMALL area. Take your finger and rub it a little to spread it out.
With a dremel and polishing wheel, go ahead and start polishing the area.
The key is to adjust the dremel speed so it's not too fast. Plus, you want to keep the polishing wheel moving. You don't want to leave it too long in one area because it will burn or warp the plastic....especially if you're using a small polishing wheel like I was.
After you finishing polishing that small area, go ahead and buff it clear with a clean towel. You may have to polish it again, depending on how bad the damage is.
Now it's time to move on to the next small area. Continue with the same steps as above. The reasons for polishing in small areas is to ensure the polish doesn't dry up before you get a chance to get to it and so you don't loose track of what has and hasn't been polished. It's BEST to polish the headlight evenly over the whole surface. That way you don't get light or high and low spots.
This is the polish that I used.
*** DONE!!!! ***
Looks as good as new!! (not quite brand spanking new, but good enough for me...better than spending $800 for a new set)
Woow...what a difference!....I'm very PLEASED with the results.
Just out of curiosity did you just try the polish first? The reason why I ask is because it has been stated that the headlights, and not the fog lights, have a hardened and optical coating on them. This is why the JDM fogs get FAR more chipped than the headlights. By wetsanding the headlights you remove this hardened finish and possibly mess up your optics (though I doubt the optics part). So you maybe getting more rock chips in the future. Though again this is heresay, I don't have any confirmed issues of this. But I can tell you this much, my bumper, turn signals, and JDM fogs are far more cut up than my headlights.
Wow, that looks really good, I will have to try that when my start to become dull
__________________ Allan
'91 MR2 SW20 Turbo - 2.2 TD06 20G Stroked - Future track whore
'99 Prelude Base 5MT Premium Pearl White - Sold
'98 Prelude Base 5MT Diamond White Pearl - Sold
If you are worried about scratching your paint, surround the headlight with painters tape. That way if your hand slips you don't have to worry about damage.
You might want to cover the newly polished headlights to protect them from future damage with 3M heavy Scotchcal film. I got mine from www.xpel.com . After it's applied, it's completely invisible and very tough!
I tried just applying the polish to the headlights without wed sanding, but it didn't help much.
If you are worried about rock chips, you can buy 3M headlight protector and attach it to the headlight. It's similar to the clear bra, but thicker.
Scratching the paint shouldn't be a problem because I recommend sanding in small circles at a very slooooow speed. I had the weight of my hand apply the pressure and looked like an old grandpa inching my way throughout the surface of the headlight.
So, YES....if others are worried, applying some blue painter's tape will help!!
I started the dremel at a low speed. After I was more confident with my technic, I moved it up to a medium speed.
The amount of speed to set your dremel on will depending on what polish you use. Usually, the bottle of the polish will tell you the max rpm to use.
Lastly, THANKS everyone for the nice comments. I'm pleased with the results too.
You might want to cover the newly polished headlights to protect them from future damage with 3M heavy Scotchcal film. I got mine from www.xpel.com . After it's applied, it's completely invisible and very tough!
Nice job on the headlights! On the bit on the fogs getting chipped more... fog lights are closer to the ground and more road debris will hit them. I've had fog lights on a few of my cars and all of them had more chips than the headlights including expensive PIA lights.
Nice job on the headlights! On the bit on the fogs getting chipped more... fog lights are closer to the ground and more road debris will hit them. I've had fog lights on a few of my cars and all of them had more chips than the headlights including expensive PIA lights.
all his writeups have me saying that so when I need them I can just search for that.. ahhaha
__________________ 2004 Deep Blue Pearl Volkswagen R32 6 speed 2001 Satin Silver Honda Prelude 5 speed - SOLD! Myspace|Facebook|LinkedIN
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1500 RPMs is the only safe speed. Most dremels don't go below 3000RPM IIR. The wool pads are known to become matted very quickly with polish. The big ones on professional paint polishers a reprepped by dragging a long screw driver along the surface. This keeps the matted surface from making the pad get jumpy at speed.
Keep in mind that many polishes fill in the scratches rather than cut them (in this case UV decay). Cutting the surface is the only lasting way to bring a shine to them.
The dremel is ok, but a circular polisher is the best for the increase in surface area, choice of cutting pads, and control over RPM. Pressure sensitive or variable speed triggers are a plus as well. Mine was about $70 and has paid for itself already twice over in a short time.
Nice write-up. Next you can do a "how-to repair top mounting point on headlight"
Yes, a larger polishing wheel would have been better to ensure that a more even polishing was applied to the plastic.
However, I didn't have one at the time.
I don't believe the polish fills in the cracks, but basically shaves down the top most layer to match with the scratches and cracks....thus making them disappear. Thus, the deeper the scratches, the harder it is to polish it crystal clear.
Professional bodyshops sometime do this to paint surfaces. They wash it down and more or less wet sand the surface. Afterwards, they take a high powered professional polishing wheel with polish to buff down the surface smooth and clean. I've been told that it's recommended by amatures since the wheel could burn through the paint.
I'm sure there might be products out there that fill in the cracks to give an illusion that the cracks are gone, but after a few car washes, the cracks will reappear after the product is washed away.
yet another great writeup...
i know zaino's make unbelievable products, but costly?
How much is this product?
__________________
To some the Prelude is too loud, too rough, induces claustrophobia, and is completely impractical. To me it's perfect.
"To days of inspiration, playing hooky, making something out of nothing, the need to express, to communicate. To going against the grain, going insane, going mad. To loving tension, no pension, to more than one dimension, to starving for attention, hating convention, hating pretention... not to mention, of course, hating dear old mom and dad. To riding your bike mid-day past the 3-piece suits, to fruits, to no absolutes, to Absolut, to choice, to The Village Voice, to any pas
