Deep scratch in Headlights

Gauss

Member
One of my headlights has deep scratches in it.

Am I screwed and will I have to find another headlight or is there a way for a body shop to repair this effectively? Can't go to the shop till monday. Can't imagine headlights will ship any time soon.

:fuelfire:
 
I had a few deep scratches on my headlights when I converted to '05-06 clear lamps. What I did was get some 800 grit sandpaper and wet sanded the area until the scratch could no longer be felt with my fingernail. Then I moved up to 2000 grit sandpaper and did some further wet sanding (maybe better to move up to 1000 and then 2000, your call). After that, I used some Novus #2 plastic polish to buff out the haziness. I was a little skeptical about using sandpaper on clear acrylic, but it actually turned out very well. If you follow these steps, you should be able to buff out that scratch and your headlight will be good as new (and really shiney :))
 
Gauss - mister-roger has some great advice there. My only question woudl be how deep is deep? I had scratches on my lenses and in a previous thread illustrated how just using the porter cable polisher and plastic polish brought them back to brand new.

My tip on whatever you do woudl be to do it slowly. If you use any sort of machine tool at speed you can easily melt and 'spread/smear the plastic
 
Another recommendation in the process is to rub the sandpaper in linear and non-linear directions to completion, then as cj10jeeper, suggested: use the PC to polish with caution. Good luck.
 
If the scratches are bad enough for you to reach deep and order up new lights, you've nothing to lose by trying the sratch removal methods first.... if it goes pear shaped, then you were gonna ditch 'em anyway!

Take it easy, best of luck. Pics if/when you do it please!!
 
Gauss said:
The scratches are deep enough to be felt. I'll probably just order new headlights.

Where are you based? In the UK you can expect to pay £350 for halogen and £750 for Xenon - Each!!
Has to be worth a try to polish out the scratches first.
 
Citation 650 said:
Aebous said:
No repair possible....may as well sell the car get a new one.
That's what aircraft maintenance people do. :wink:
Nope!! I used to have a can of Aircraft Canopy Polish :evil:


Now, if only I could find another supplier of said polish :wink:
 
So....who scratched your headlight? Did you use an axe or butcher knife to hurt them, and how did you get rid of the body?
 
Greygate is perfect for finishing, I used the stuff on my headlamp unit. It's sold for polishing scratches out of ragtop plastic windows and about £6 a bottle.

Andy
 
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