Acura TSX Headlight Refinish

[safetyman2010]

Just finished up a set of headlights for a customer and thought I would share the process here. The headlights were badly weathered and the UV coating had failed rendering them fairly cloudy. To repair these headlamps we first thoroughly washed and dried them with an all purpose cleaner. Followed up by sanding with 400/600/1000/1500/2000 grit and a thorough polishing to remove any sand scratches. Last step was to recoat the headlamps with paint sealant to preserve them and this is the result:



Before:

After:

 

[mattsbmw]

That makes a massive difference to the appearance



Really need to do mine.

 

[David Fermani]

Big turn around. Very clear looking.

 

[IHA Mark]

Nice result! Its nice to see a thread featuring a specialty skill also.

 

[VBPXer]

What type of sealant have you been using on headlamps? I have been contemplating using a clear coat over mine but if your having good luck with a sealant I would give that a try first, currently I am just using a few different coats of wax and it seems to work well for a few months but I wouldnt mind something that lasted a little longer in winter.

 

[safetyman2010]

What type of sealant have you been using on headlamps? I have been contemplating using a clear coat over mine but if your having good luck with a sealant I would give that a try first, currently I am just using a few different coats of wax and it seems to work well for a few months but I wouldnt mind something that lasted a little longer in winter.

For headlights that I know we're going to see on a regular basis I just use a good quality paint sealant and re-apply every time they come into the shop to maintain them. For headlights that are really bad you can coat them with a 50/50 mix of Helmspar/mineral spirits applied carefully with a foam paint brush (I would recommend practicing with it a bit before you actually do a set). I have read of guys getting good results by applying opti-coat as well.

 

[safetyman2010]

Big turn around. Very clear looking.

This car belongs to one of my best friends so I really wanted to go the extra mile and make them as perfect as possible.

Nice result! Its nice to see a thread featuring a specialty skill also.

Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.

 

[VBPXer]

For headlights that I know we're going to see on a regular basis I just use a good quality paint sealant and re-apply every time they come into the shop to maintain them. For headlights that are really bad you can coat them with a 50/50 mix of Helmspar/mineral spirits applied carefully with a foam paint brush (I would recommend practicing with it a bit before you actually do a set). I have read of guys getting good results by applying opti-coat as well.

Thanks for the info, I will play around with this mixture and see what I come up with!

 

[safetyman2010]

Thanks for the info, I will play around with this mixture and see what I come up with!

There is a huge thread regarding this in the detailing/recon section of the Forum Index - Doording.com - Powered by FusionBB forum. I recommend you check it out.