Reconditioning pitted, yellowed, and scrathed headlights
by xavier » Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:10 am
Well, my headlights weren't yellowed so I dont know if it would fix that but anyways.
Materials:
Meguiars cleaner wax (just about any rubbing compound should work)
a drill (or buffer)
a buffing drill head (or buffing padd for buffer
some very fine grit wet/dry sand paper (i used 1500 grit but 2000 would be better)
some dish soap and a small bucket of water
and a shitload of elbow grease
1.) Mix the dish detergent with the water to make a slippery mixture.
2.) Clean the headlights and fog lights
3.) Take sand paper and dip it into the slippery mixture and start sanding. You dont want to press hard, just take your time. There will be a white buildup that you want to rinse off and then sand some more. You want a uniform cloud over the light. It'll be cloudy but smooth.
This is to show you how cloudy it will get. I didnt really spent too much time sanding since I have never done anything like this before
4.) Once the headlight is smooth and cloudy, rinse the headlight off real good. Get all the white residue off.
5.) Take the cleaner wax and coat the headlight with a small coat. I used my fingers to spread it around.
This is what it looked like
6.) Next, take your drill and buff head or buffer and start buffing. I used a terry cloth head with good results. Be careful too not heat up one part too much. It is plastic and will become brittle and crack if it gets too hot. Anyhow, keep the buffer moving and you should be fine.
Here are some before and afters:
Before:
After:
It always helps to have a helper. Here was my helper
Materials:
Meguiars cleaner wax (just about any rubbing compound should work)
a drill (or buffer)
a buffing drill head (or buffing padd for buffer
some very fine grit wet/dry sand paper (i used 1500 grit but 2000 would be better)
some dish soap and a small bucket of water
and a shitload of elbow grease
1.) Mix the dish detergent with the water to make a slippery mixture.
2.) Clean the headlights and fog lights
3.) Take sand paper and dip it into the slippery mixture and start sanding. You dont want to press hard, just take your time. There will be a white buildup that you want to rinse off and then sand some more. You want a uniform cloud over the light. It'll be cloudy but smooth.
This is to show you how cloudy it will get. I didnt really spent too much time sanding since I have never done anything like this before
4.) Once the headlight is smooth and cloudy, rinse the headlight off real good. Get all the white residue off.
5.) Take the cleaner wax and coat the headlight with a small coat. I used my fingers to spread it around.
This is what it looked like
6.) Next, take your drill and buff head or buffer and start buffing. I used a terry cloth head with good results. Be careful too not heat up one part too much. It is plastic and will become brittle and crack if it gets too hot. Anyhow, keep the buffer moving and you should be fine.
Here are some before and afters:
Before:
After:
It always helps to have a helper. Here was my helper
-
xavier - SolaraGuy Street Racer
- Posts: 1161
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:03 pm
- Location: Lancaster, PA
