DISASTER!!!

B

benben

Member
So I tried restoring my headlights using the 3M kit and the left hand light came out pretty good and when I went for the other one there was a smudge made when sanding with 500grit sandpaper and it wouldn't go away no matter what I tried so I used a 100grit sandpaper (not in the kit) to take the smudge bits out which completely scratched the hell out of my headlights (do not go any coarser than 500 grit lads).

The lights are so bad that I am thinking of buying a new headlight...Does anyone have any ideas how I can get rid of the scratches? :headbang:
 
Yep, Done that and apparently all you need to do is put some detergent in the water and use it to wet sand it with grit 320, then 600 and finally 1200. Add a polish at the end and should be sweet as.

I shall try this out tonight :thumbsup:
 
You used 100 grit sandpaper and didn't expect it to scratch the sh*t out of the PLASTIC? 320 and 600 are way to heavy never mind 100. :headbang:
 
benben said:
Yep, Done that and apparently all you need to do is put some detergent in the water and use it to wet sand it with grit 320, then 600 and finally 1200. Add a polish at the end and should be sweet as.

I shall try this out tonight :thumbsup:
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any pics? hopefuly you will be able to get it out. 100 grit is brave
 
I've done lots of headlights on various cars including my own and I use 800 wet n dry then 2000 wet n dry.I then use a coarse polish with a machine polisher and then a fine grit polish with my machine polisher.It is a lot easier with a machine polisher.
 
There's quite a few forum members that have sorted their headlights in a similar way - I'm sure you'll get there in the end.

I have difficulty believing that any sand paper or wet and dry won't leave scratches. . .

but that's why we've got the forum to get advice from those in the know. . .

:poke: for some. . . . . . :x

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
paulgs1000 said:
I have difficulty believing that any sand paper or wet and dry won't leave scratches. . .
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Of course it does, but the whole idea of polishing is that you leave finer and finer scratches until they become, essentially, invisible - after the finest grades of paper you move onto a liquid polish.

Remember, any proper polish is an abrasive, albeit a very fine one, and when you polish your paintwork, by hand or machine, you're abrading the top surface - do it enough and you go through the clearcoat
 
PerryGunn said:
paulgs1000 said:
I have difficulty believing that any sand paper or wet and dry won't leave scratches. . .
Click to expand...
Of course it does, but the whole idea of polishing is that you leave finer and finer scratches until they become, essentially, invisible - after the finest grades of paper you move onto a liquid polish.

Remember, any proper polish is an abrasive, albeit a very fine one, and when you polish your paintwork, by hand or machine, you're abrading the top surface - do it enough and you go through the clearcoat
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I get it Perry - just supporting the new forum member who seemed to be getting hit by a bit of criticism. . . .

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
paulgs1000 said:
I get it Perry - just supporting the new forum member who seemed to be getting hit by a bit of criticism. . . .
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Sorry Paul, I was typing without thinking - always in a rush...
 
Yorkie Z said:
100 grit lol

What was your next step a nail gun :rofl:
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That did make me laugh.

OP if you dont have any luck a bodyshop with a polisher will be able to sort that out in no time and wont cost too much.
 
Haha there is a story to it. So a while back this "pro" came over and polished the lights but all he did was use a liquid and kept rubbing it I'm till headlights cleared. No sanding no nothing. Apparently they use a liquid that dries up and sticks to the headlight. So when I tried sanding it turned into smudge and I couldn't get rid of it no matter what I did. Only way it would come off was with a 100 grit. You know the rest....
So tonight did a 320 600 800 1200 and 2000 grit wet sand and pretty much all of it came off. :thumbsup:

Normally though don't go that coarse. The 3m pack uses 500 800 and 2000 grit and that works just fine.
 
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