Headlight renovation WITHOUT buying "a kit" WITH PICS
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 11:13 am
Ok,
Not sure if it's been posted before, I know people have used the "kits" available on fleabay and the like, but thought I'd do mine without one..
Bagged myself a set of facelift xenons for the bargain of £200 delivered.
Upon arrival, noticed the lenses were showing the usual age related clouding, so decided to remove this before fitting them. You can do this in situ, just make sure you mask the areas around the headlight with TWO layers of wide masking tape, to prevent paint scuffs.
This is how they looked.. Photo doesn't highlight just how bad they were.
So, after washing them, I proceeded to hand sand with plenty of water, and 400 grit wet & dry. At this point, if you haven't done it before, you'll probably be thinking "oh hell, what I have I done" but don't worry.. The aim is to get the surface smooth all over and remove the hazing/cloudiness. Sand in a circular direction, NOT straight lines, or it'll be harder to remove the sanding marks at the next stage. By now, they should be looking like this;
And after a wipe down, like this;
If there are still clear or excessively cloudy sections at the above stage, continue wet sanding with the 400 until the whole surface is an even dull matt like the above pic.
After that, I used a 1500 grit disc in my DA on medium speed, again wet sanded, until it looked like this;
Washed off and swapped to a 3000 grit disc, again at medium speed and wet, until after wiping, the lens looked like this;
Finally, I switched to a pad and did 3 passes each with meg's 105 cutting compound, followed by 205 polish, before finally sealing with a couple of coats of Collinite 426s, which left the headlamps looking like this;
Total time, around an hour to do both and a few pence in wet&dry/sanding discs....
Very rewarding!!
Mike
Not sure if it's been posted before, I know people have used the "kits" available on fleabay and the like, but thought I'd do mine without one..
Bagged myself a set of facelift xenons for the bargain of £200 delivered.
Upon arrival, noticed the lenses were showing the usual age related clouding, so decided to remove this before fitting them. You can do this in situ, just make sure you mask the areas around the headlight with TWO layers of wide masking tape, to prevent paint scuffs.
This is how they looked.. Photo doesn't highlight just how bad they were.
- 20170802_140204.jpg (168.63 KiB) Viewed 8587 times
So, after washing them, I proceeded to hand sand with plenty of water, and 400 grit wet & dry. At this point, if you haven't done it before, you'll probably be thinking "oh hell, what I have I done" but don't worry.. The aim is to get the surface smooth all over and remove the hazing/cloudiness. Sand in a circular direction, NOT straight lines, or it'll be harder to remove the sanding marks at the next stage. By now, they should be looking like this;
- 20170802_140209.jpg (193.79 KiB) Viewed 8587 times
And after a wipe down, like this;
- 20170802_141246.jpg (157.39 KiB) Viewed 8587 times
After that, I used a 1500 grit disc in my DA on medium speed, again wet sanded, until it looked like this;
- 20170802_142422.jpg (176.64 KiB) Viewed 8587 times
Washed off and swapped to a 3000 grit disc, again at medium speed and wet, until after wiping, the lens looked like this;
- 20170802_143328.jpg (223.85 KiB) Viewed 8587 times
Finally, I switched to a pad and did 3 passes each with meg's 105 cutting compound, followed by 205 polish, before finally sealing with a couple of coats of Collinite 426s, which left the headlamps looking like this;
- 20170802_145325.jpg (233.32 KiB) Viewed 8587 times
Total time, around an hour to do both and a few pence in wet&dry/sanding discs....
Very rewarding!!
Mike
