Headlight restoration

OK - just finished using a 3M kit from a local store (sorry Jack), as it was on sale. Being an average joe (far from a pro), I was surprised at how well this did the job. I have read other guys (David F, Dave, Todd, etc) do this with outstanding results. What really got me was the starting grit is 500.. yes, 500. Step thru 800, Trizac 3000 and then polish off with the supplied orange 3" waffle pad and plastic polish (I used M205 since it was on hand) :D

Sorry, no pics as I just tried to keep it short and sweet due to our 100-degree heat.:scared:

Oh, and for those wondering how bad it was, 10yo lens that was abused in northeastern winters with ice and rock salt.

Grungy
 
I do many headlights restorations but I don't use kits for anything of that. I use Rubbing Compound with a cutting buffer pad. First, I wet the headlights then I sand them with 1500 while I keep weting them. After I finish sanding them, I dry them and they will look all white. The I apply rubbing compound (Meguiars Diamond Cut Compound, I love it) to the buffer pad. I spread the rubbing compound with the bufer to all headlights then I buffer 1000 rpm - 1800 rpm until clear headlight. After I finish buffing with polisher, I clean excess with microfiber towel and Voila', headlights are good as new. Here's pics of my work:


BEFORE:



AFTER:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
There are different ways to do it, but the key is just getting out there and having a go at it. Good for you. (You know we are picture whores though, eh?? Next time it would be awesome to see the fruits of your labour).
 
Lucian said:
Whoa... what u mean 100 an hour? Explain that to me please
Click to expand...

I charge $65 for two lenses. It takes me less the 45 minutes. That comes out around 100 an hour

I also charge additional if the fog lenses are jacked up. Only problem with all this is theres not enough intrest to keep someone busy full time, but catching a job here and there is gravy IMO
 
oh, ok, now I understand. Well... I know you're gonna say I'm crazy but, I charge $25 for headlights... both! Of course, it takes me around 10 minutes to do them. Those ones in the pics I uploaded, I made them for free as a gift for a friend cop who has helped out before and they took me no more than 10 minutes to do.
 
Lucian said:
oh, ok, now I understand. Well... I know you're gonna say I'm crazy but, I charge $25 for headlights... both! Of course, it takes me around 10 minutes to do them. Those ones in the pics I uploaded, I made them for free as a gift for a friend cop who has helped out before and they took me no more than 10 minutes to do.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think your crazy :out: (J/K)

Are you independantly wealthy or something :toetap05:
 
I'm not wealthy at all... in fact, I'm poor. The reason I only charge that is because that's what they're charging where I used to work and If I charge too much, I won't have customers.
 
Lucian said:
I'm not wealthy at all... in fact, I'm poor. The reason I only charge that is because that's what they're charging where I used to work and If I charge too much, I won't have customers.
Click to expand...

Yea, me too (Poor) Actually, if someones already getting a detail, unless there in just terrible shape, I don't charge anything extra :wizard:

To be honest, I have only sold 1 headlight repair job all by itself. It was a freinds car, and if I'm not mistaking he shorted me a 10 spot. Said he would catch me later :rolleyes:


detailchick said:
Lucian.....if you had 6 headlight jobs lined up in an hour you are making 150.00 an hour. Not bad eh?:money:Look at it that way!:biggrin:
Click to expand...

Yes, I like the way you think. If I could just line up 42 cars a day back to back I would achieve this wealth thing I hear so much about @-)
 
I normally start with 800, 1500, 2000 grit wetsanding. Then M105 with an orange pad, M205 with white pad, similar to what I would do to polish paint.

The difference is pressure. In my experience, most automotive clearcoats require quite a bit of pressure to correct, where plastic headlight lenses require only light pressure.

Another observation... They're all different! Some I can correct in 15 minutes. Some still look bad after an hour!
 
Another observation... They're all different! Some I can correct in 15 minutes. Some still look bad after an hour!
Click to expand...

Definetly true. Most of the time I take around 10 minutes and they turn out good, but there's different kinds of headlights.

Lucian.....if you had 6 headlight jobs lined up in an hour you are making 150.00 an hour. Not bad eh?Look at it that way!
Click to expand...

I also love the way you think. Usually when I get a job like wash and wax job and I see the car needs headlight restoration, I tell the client that I will restore his/her headlights for $20 more, with the purchase of the offer first of course.
 
Ok, ok you picture mongers :toetap05::toetap05:.. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow, but I noticed today in the sun I may have to redo at least one side since I did them in overcast skies.

As a side note, I finally got up the courage to try 6 on the ol PC with orange pad and M105.. man does that do a decent job (could be I press too hard at 5).
 
Luster said:
I normally start with 800, 1500, 2000 grit wetsanding. Then M105 with an orange pad, M205 with white pad, similar to what I would do to polish paint.

Another observation... They're all different! Some I can correct in 15 minutes. Some still look bad after an hour!
Click to expand...

I agree with you. Most of the time I can get most headlights looking decent with a little effort, but not this weekend. These headlights from a 1999 BMW 328i ate my lunch!! I wonder if it was the products that I used? Most of the time I use 105/205, but for these I opted to polish them with Menzerna polishes.
IMG_1346.jpg


Edit: These are the way they looked before I sanded and polished them. I'll try and get a after picture up later this morning.
 
RustyBumper said:
I agree with you. Most of the time I can get most headlights looking decent with a little effort, but not this weekend. These headlights from a 1999 BMW 328i ate my lunch!! I wonder if it was the products that I used? Most of the time I use 105/205, but for these I opted to polish them with Menzerna polishes.
IMG_1346.jpg


Edit: These are the way they looked before I sanded and polished them. I'll try and get a after picture up later this morning.
Click to expand...
What sand paper are you using?

I use 1500 with Meguiar's Diamond Cut Compound
 
yikes. talk about looking nasty.. now this got me curious. i wanted to see a picture of the "after".. kudos to the product you used to remove all that.


________________________________
Headlights
 
Damn they look better than new! My sister has a Jetta with faded headlights that could really use that. I'm gonna have to see if I can recreate that for sure. If I get a chance maybe I will post some pics. Nice job tho!:clap:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top