sanding headlamp lenses. I did it!

[ben g]

Finally grew some balls :lol:

Picked up a 3M headlight restoration kit for my drivers side lens, which had gone cloudy and looked terrible. The passenger side was perfect so didn't anything doing to it.



Before. You can see the cloudy area at the top of the lens, which gave off an awful green look at night, when the headlights were on.





Started with 500 grit and worked my way up through the set, which was 800, 3000 and then rubbing compound which was the last step.

I was a little worried after the 500 grit as I didn't think i'd be able to get it clear from this:



But in the end there was no need to worry as it came out lovely. Looks brand new now.









I thoroughly recommend this kit. So easy to use if you own a cordless drill (2 batteries needed). Total cost was £16.85. Much cheaper than paying for a pro to do it.

 

[mr wilks]

My lad has just done his Mk5 Golf this morning with same kit , brilliant result for not much money

 

[ekimj10]

Looks very impressive, was the sanding polishing all done by hand, or did you use an orbital polisher?
I'm just about to do mine and was thinking, the first stage using wet/dry by hand, the compound and polishing by machine.
What do the 3M instructions say?

 

[ben g]

You need to use a cordless drill. The kit comes with an attachment for it and the sanding pads stick on to it via velcro.

It's all pretty self explanatory and it comes with instructions too.

 

[Lee Young]

Good write-up. Will definitely use this when mine need doing. Cheers.

 

[ekimj10]

Does the initial sanding remove scratches reasonably easy? there are a few on mine, not particularly deep but are the main reason to cleaning them up.
There is some 'haziness' which will come off very easily with 500 grade disc, but obviously I will need to go deeper to remove the scratches.
Just wondered what you thought. Thanks

 

[ben g]

Possibly, although it entirely depends on how deep the scratches are.

I had one vertical scratch which didn't get removed entirely but is hardly noticeable now. I couldn't see it from a foot away, whereas before I could.

I wouldn't trust myself to go with a lower grit paper, but i'm sure if you're used to sanding, it'll be fine.

 

[ben g]

Cheers Johnny. I used some collinite 476s wax at the end to add a little protection, but i've ordered some uv protective sealant as this kit didn't come with any, so they shouldn't go cloudy anymore.

 

[Dewi]

Looks a good, a job well done - bet you're chuffed to bits with that? You can actually stop headlight plastic going cloudy and / or yellow in the first place though by regular mild polishing with normal car polish and finishing with Autoglym's Extra Gloss Protection. Although it's intended for car pantwork I've used it for years on both my bike and car headlights and never had one go cloudy yet. I read a review of it somewhere years ago which implied that that it puts a UV barrier on the surface, it also seems to protect the front from stone chips to some extent as well, my MX5s were never as bad as some I've seen and I used it regualrly on both of them.

 

[TheHoff]

You can get them looking a lot better than that with the various grades of G-Techniq products - sealing them afterwards is also important, to stop the plastic reacting with UV.

 

[ben g]

Cheers Johnny. I used some collinite 476s wax at the end to add a little protection, but i've ordered some uv protective sealant as this kit didn't come with any, so they shouldn't go cloudy anymore.

All u need now is Gloss black grills

I know I know :lol: but the 3.0 has the graphite grilles to show everyone it's not a puny engine

 

[T2FFN]

Having done mine years back and them looking like crap again i was all set to redo them, then I started youtubing and saw another method, that is meant to last for years without maintenance rather than months. Sand back, then clearcoat them.

I don't think I've seen anyone on here clearcoat them after sanding, everyone polishes them, then has to maintain them monthly to prevent them tarnishing again.

What's the reason behind most here not clearcoating them?

 

[T2FFN]

 

[ben g]

Could clearcoat them i suppose. Easy enough to put some polish on them though. Takes a minute.

 

[T2FFN]

From the videos I've watched, its far less work using clearcoat, as you apply it after 1000grit wet/dry stage, rather than trying to polish them back to clear. They apparently last much longer too, not needed frequent repolishing or additional UV protection.

I wondered if someone had tried it and had bad results. Guess not. I'll be trying that method on mine over winter I think.

 

[zedwheels]

Done mine with a cloth and some Brasso!! Yes Brasso will remove it with a bit of time and effort. Cheap as chips :!:

 

[mk1rob]

i done mine with the Meguiar's kit that comes with the drill mop. cost me £15 but got a free sealer with it worth £10. my lights look like new now really has done a fantastic job,