I saw a few threads like this with before and after pictures, and I am sure there is one that has step by step pictures somewhere, but I figured no harm in making another in case there isn't.
I found a thread that uses different sandpapers but lists almost the same products, and a very similar process. Also, I felt no need to remove the headlights from the car to do the job, why create more work if the finished product is not better? He chose to paint the headlight housing, which was probably his reason..
headlight restoration tips
Quote:
Originally Posted by preludejtstyle
From lude_vtec:
You are going to have to remove the lights from your car to do this and it WILL take quite a bit of time and elbow grease. In fact, it's just plain tedious. But here are the steps and things you'll need.
Things you'll need:
1. Bowl of water
2. 2 Sheets 400 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
3. 2 Sheets 600 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
4. 2 Sheets 1000 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
5. 2 Sheets 1500 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
6. Turtle Wax No. 5 (heavy duty/red) rubbing compound
7. Turtle Wax No. 7 (light/white) polishing compound
8. McGuire’s Clear Plastic Cleaner
9. McGuire’s Clear Plastic Polish
10. Soft terry cloth towels
Steps:
1. Remove lights from car.
2. Use the 400 grit sandpaper and start sanding the surface of the lights lengthwise in only a side to side motion. DON'T CHANGE DIRECTIONS (up/down or circles). At first don't use any water, but add water as the clear coat starts to come off. You'll be able to tell where it is and isn't coming off.
3. Repeat above procedure with the 600 grit sandpaper after all of the clearcoat is removed (use water).
4. Repeat using 1000 grit sandpaper with water.
5. Repeat using 1500 grit sandpaper with water.
6. Now use a soft terry cloth towel to work in the Turtle Wax heavy duty rubbing compound using same side to side motion. Work that in for about 5 minutes and rub clean and dry.
7. Get a new terry cloth towel and work in the Turtle Wax Light Polishing Compound. Work it in for about 5 minutes and wipe clean and dry.
8. Examine the lights and see that all of the clearcoat is gone and that most of the hairline scratches from the sandpaper are gone.
9. If it looks pretty good, apply the McGuire’s Clear Plastic Cleaner with a clean terry cloth towel. Work that in until it's clean and dry.
10. Now apply the McGuire’s Clear Plastic Polish with the same towel. After being rubbed in thoroughly, use a clean towel and wipe it dry. The light should look close to brand new.
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I wouldn't mind advice on how to get an even better finish, I will probably go and get 1k and 1500 grit sandpapers and see how much that may improve the finished product.. because of impending rain and the sun going down, I was a bit constrained time wise.
Instead of the sand papers listed above I used 220 grit,400,600,800. The 220 grit removed the nasty yellowish stuff far quicker than 400 does, and all the scratches disappear. Total time spent on one headlight was about 20-30 minutes, though I will likely try again with finer sand papers later to get more of a brand new look. Maybe you can tell me if I should bother?
Products used(In order of use): Many many paper towels, Sand Papers named above, Turtle wax rubbing compound, Turtle wax polishing compound, Meguire's mirror glaze Clear Plastic Cleaner, Meguire's mirror glaze Clear Plastic Polish
The before pic of the headlight being done:
First step, use your lowest grit sand paper with water, making sure that in all sanding steps you make sure the entire headlight is done Equally. You should have a yellowish mess as pictured below, rinse and repeat until you get a white frothy mess as shown in a later picture.. once it is not yellow, you have removed most of what makes it look bad.
Even if you used a finer sandpaper than I did, it should look rather horrible like this picture:
It is not at all ruined, you will see how great it will look with some work.
You will progress from your lowest grit, mine was 220, to your highest grit using the same method. Others have said only do side to side motions, but the finished product will look the same as long as you don't spend less time on some parts of the headlight and neglect other parts. I skipped taking a picture after 400 grit, but here is after sanding and rinsing with 600 grit(Step 3):
This is what it should look like after all the yellow stuff has been removed, hopefully before getting to your 4th sandpaper grit(This was using the 800 grit):
Here is after sanding and rinsing with 800 grit(step 4):
800 grit was the highest I used, I have some 1000 grit somewhere, but I can't find it. Either way, you will see how much different it will look after using the products I listed above.
Step 5: Work the turtle wax rubbing compound into it as much as you can, adding fresh stuff once it has dried until you are satisfied. Remove like wax, or rinse it off and dry with paper towel. Will look like this before removed:
After removing it, you can see it should look better than after the last sand paper step:
Step 6: Like the last stuff, work the turtle wax polishing compound in, and remove as stated before with whatever method you feel most comfortable in. <Remember, these steps do the most to bring back the NEW look, so these are where you spend the most time!>
After removing the compound in step 6:
Close up:
Step 7: Already you should see a big difference. As before, use this and the next stuff as liberally as possible. The more effort you put in, the better it will look. Work the Clear plastic cleaner with paper towels, or if you choose, use some sort of soft material or a polishing rag for these last 2 steps. This is what it looked like after the plastic cleaner:
Step 7: Use the plastic polish in the same way, though I definitely recommend using something better than paper towels for this step, this is what makes the most difference appearance wise. Make sure you spend as much time as possible on these last 2 steps. This is after using the polish:
I think this is after I decided it wasn't going to start raining yet, so I polished some more:
Closer picture to show how little scratches there are:
There are NO noticeable scratches from far away, and the tiniest faint scratches from closeup.
Looking at the finished product of both:
I think I spent a total of 1 hour, maybe a little more. I may try going a little farther, I have seen pictures that make headlights look brand new, and that is my goal.
My questions:
How to protect the finished product. I have thought about getting Lamin-x for the headlights, but I am not sure the finished product shown above is good enough, so I could use some advice here.
Until I have the money for something like Lamin-x, should I wax it, or what would you use?
I hope this is helpful for someone.. I have done my wife's car, my brother in laws car, and at least another dozen for other people(50 bucks a pop).. Some stayed that showroom quality, others started to yellow again shortly after, but every one looked beautiful after the job was done.
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