fine headlight swirls....

M

miker2012

New member
I know we already have hundreds of headlight cleaning/restoration threads but this one is different as I do not need to clear up any oxidation or scratches

I have basically brand new headlights covers that look very crisp and clear from a distance, but under close scrutiny they have what appears to be swirls, very light and very faint but swirls nonetheless

how can I get rid of them? I tried a light cutting pad with finishing glaze but seemed to make worse

can I polish light swirls with a foam pad and polish? what foam pad and polish would I use? I have wg fg 3.0, tsr 3.5 and fg400... I have a full selection of pads, red/white/orange/cyan/blue/crimson

I was able to use the 3" gg with orange pad and fg 3.0 and remove all the swirls off the trim and rear tail lights, but the headlights don't wanna clean up as well... maybe hit them with the flex 3401?

any thoughts?
 
On any of the hundreds of plastic headlight covers I have corrected, I have found that I need a compound and a Rotary to get them corrected quickly and completely as possible.

The smaller 3" foam pads are perfect for most headlights and 4" pads would be my next size to use..

If you were to sand them down, for example, I would use something like Meguiars 105 to get the sanding marks out, and then go to a finishing polish to further refine the plastic.

Not knowing what you have on what type of car, or how bad the defects are, I might try something in the middle range of compounds first, or perhaps, a finishing pad with a more aggressive compound and see what happens.

And as you may already know, be careful how much you heat up the plastic.. Plastic cannot dissipate heat very well, so take your time, perhaps use some extra moisture on the pad, and try to keep the temp in check..

The only abbreviation I recognize above is FG400 which I assume is Menzerna, right?
Dan F
 
thx... the other products were the wolfgang total swirl remover and wolfgang finishing glaze.... since I had taken light swirls out of the tail lights and exterior trim with these products and an orange/white pad I figured I would have no problem doing the same on the headlights

I was hoping not to have to go to wet sanding as the vehicle is relatively new and sanding off all the uv isent really what I was planning on doing for such a light swirl

I just am worried that I will work backwards, not forwards, with any polish/pad combo

what is the last step of any headlight restoration, white pad or orange?
 
You can only go forward in removing the defects in the plastic headlight covers if you use something along the lines of a compound to take enough of the plastic off to level the surface across the defects, eliminating these defects in the process.

Its the same as you do when you are correcting paint defects..

I only mentioned sanding them as an example of what to do with plastic that is severely pitted and cannot be corrected with just compound.
Of course, this process does not apply to your headlight covers..

Not sure of your brand of foam pads you mentioned, but if they are Lake Country, which is what I use the most, then the Orange L/C pad would be much more aggressive than the White L/C pad, so that should answer your question.. Orange for example, to compound, White to finish polishing to get the gloss back..

If you have the Hydro-Shred pads, the Cyan would of course be more aggressive than the Tangerine.. I use Hydro-Shreds for everything except for extreme corrections or Airplane Paint. For those extreme conditions, I might use a L/C Purple Foam Wool and this pad will correct quickly and efficiently, leaving a very nice gloss. You have to be careful with it especially with a Rotary...

I like to use just those 2 pads because either of them give me the appropriate correction/cut I need the majority of the time, and then they finish down very nicely enough to go straight to wipedown and apply my favorite LSP of all time, Sonax Net Shield..

Regarding removing the UV coating from the plastic - in all the hundreds of lenses I have corrected including the ones that were badly pitted on my Ex's 2003 M5 Wagon that I had to sand first, there has never been any degrading of the plastic even years later.

Optimum Technologies, out of Memphis, Tn, I believe, and perhaps other companies, now sells a plastic lens coating that will protect and keep the lenses clear for what appears to be a really long time. If this coating is anything like their Opti-Guard/Coat 2.0 coatings, then it will have to be a great product to think about if you want to do this too..

You can do this - just make sure the defects are NOT on the inside of the plastic covers before you start.. :)

Good luck !
Dan F
 
thx... here are a pic of the swirls... they are very light... to be honest, I am not sure that they were there before, I must have swirled them up when I used the gg3" with the wg fg 3.0.... maybe the headlight surface was not clean before I started and that swirled them up? maybe I didn't work the polish in enough or long enough, I only just started and then wiped and saw the results and stopped?

 
can such a fine swirl be removed from headlight plastic? can I get the headlight perfect with l/c orange/white and finishing glaze 3.0 (same as menzerma sf4000)?

or should I just leave them and wait till they need a full restoration?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top