Headlight restoration pics!

Reflctn Perfctn

Reflection Perfection
This is a headlight restoration treatment that i Upsold to a customer that wanted to restore his 1990 5.0 mustang to "Like New condition"

How much do you pros usually upcharge for headligtht restoration and please share your process

My Rigme consisted of a few trials

1.PwC with a red meguiares pad with the PC at speed 6

2.Then I upped to a product with a more aggresive approach with A Medium step compound called Power Prep from "Top of the line" with the red megs pad at speed 6,I did this with 2 passes.

3.Then I steped down to PwC with a Yello megs pad at speed 6 for another 2 passes

BTW I used my old beat up megs pads for this procces because the headlights had little indentations that torn the pad up pretty bad.

I also took off the weather seal from the headlight and forgot to put it back on for the pic.
 
I wet sand those with a 2000 grit paper, makes them look hazey...Then I come back with PB Pro-polish with my rotary and a polishing pad....That brings them back....I don't take them off the car and charge $25.00 for the service unless I'm doing a full detail then I cut that to $15.00
 
Wet sanding like Beemer suggested is the best way and using the rotary finishes them up nice. I like wool on the rotary . I charge more and I'm not going to say how much . To get a good idea what the job should bring you , check the replacement cost of them . 10% of the replacement cost is a good starting point.
 
It has been my experience, along with that of others, that it is possible to polish the yellowed and scratched headlights and return them to decent clarity. There are even special products that can cut the time & work needed to do this (do a search on eBay). Fantastic results can be accomplished. The downside the results only last 30-45 days at best then the yellowing returns. When you polish the lenses you remove the layer of UV protection and the UV degradation accellerates. I have seen numerous before and after photos but none that update and show the results 30-45 days later. My advice replace. There are offshore replacements on eBay that will last 2-3 years before needing replaced again. Cheaper IMHO when you factor in the constant repolishing to maintain the "clear" look. Just another way of looking at it.
 
I did that ones on my Sentra about 40 days ago and they show on visable sign of yellowing....I use a sealand on them every month so that helps for those that don't I don't think that yellow comes back quite that quick, but I could be wrong....Will have a look at a customer that I did last year and see what they looks like today.
 
A quick tip for getin the yellow off fast instead of wet sanding for an hour is use some acetone, then buff it ... just try it and tell me what you think...
 
Aliengotpsi said:
A quick tip for getin the yellow off fast instead of wet sanding for an hour is use some acetone, then buff it ... just try it and tell me what you think...

another quick prep that I use is easy off. It works great and fst. The only this is dont let it get on the paint and sit there cause it will stain it.
 
Back
Top