Is there any way to wet sand and polish the pits and gravel marks out of the head light assembly's? I was also thinking maybe a sand and clear coat. New ones are to much $$ and I've had nothing but bad luck with aftermarket lights in the past.
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04-30-2010
Is there any way to wet sand and polish the pits and gravel marks out of the head light assembly's? I was also thinking maybe a sand and clear coat. New ones are to much $$ and I've had nothing but bad luck with aftermarket lights in the past.
04-30-2010
I've had great luck wet-sanding followed by automotive clear. Depending on the condition of the housing, work from anywhere from 400 grit to 800-1000 grit. Makes them look new if done right and depends on the starting condition.
I've done all sorts of vehicles this way and years later they still look good.
05-01-2010
yeah, do like some 600 grit , then 800, then 1000, then 2000. all wetsanding.
then take some good polish to em and clear them right up. I wouldnt bother clearing. rocks will chip right through spray can clear coat
05-01-2010
yeah, a friend tried rattle can once, major fail.
Automotive clear, even cheap nason or omni, you'll never have to touch them again.
If you don't have a gun or compressor, a body shop will do it for dirt cheap.
05-01-2010
some one post up some pics of said wet sanded and clear coated headlights i wet sanded mine 1000 1500 2000 and then tried clear coating. No way clear coat cracked right up cant tell me their was anything on the lenses they were just wet sanded. Im gonna see if I can find some new lenses cheap. I know my sisters 98 GP had lenses put on it when she hit a deer by my grandpa just dont remember where they came from.
05-02-2010
You're going to have to give some more details. But I'll go ahead and go over general prep, and I think I should mention for now on that there is more prep involved than just wetsanding, I apologize to kolman for not mentioning that. Bad assumption on my part.
Wet sanding will not get rid of contaminants on the surface, it will embed them even further. Always use a form of wax and grease remover before sanding and be careful with what chemicals you use, some will damage plastic and some should not be used before painting because they will leave a residue. After wetsanding, I usually just wipe headlights down with a weak mixture of dish soap and water, then water and wipe them dry.
You can Try to use a quick scuff product with scotch brite in the process as well, quick scuff or similar is pretty much liquid sand paper and a cleaner mixed. Mixing dish soap in your water will help as well.
(I do not know your experience with prep and body work, so please don't be insulted if you already know these things.)
My factory headlights. Looks like condensation in the passenger one. Not the best photo or angle but you get the idea. The haze on them was very minor. But you can see that they are as clear as my aftermarket turn signal housings. They aren't as "bright" as diamond clears so they don't exactly match the turn signals. But you can also see in my sig pic that in sunlight it doesn't really matter. I heard the horror stories about aftermarket headlights and I figured I'd save some money.
Last edited by Golgo13; 05-02-2010 at 04:00 AM.
05-02-2010
I just found out that 3M makes a headlight restore kit. Different grits on a piece that goes in a drill finished with a polish. It goes for about $30 CDN at NAPA.
PS- Golgo13, sweet ass hood!!
05-02-2010
those really aren't worth it in my opinoin. i wasn't happy with my results and i've used it twice. listen to what he's saying and it might turn out better for you.
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