Plastic Polishing and claying?

T

trueblueblood

New member
I looked at my headlights in the dark while they were on and they look like crap. Little dots of crud everywhere :shocked



Is it ok to clay plastic it seems like I read that you shouldn't, don't ask my memory is not what it used to be:confused:?



I was thinking of claying and then some Meguiars Plast-X or a mild polish like SFP. Does this sound right?



And any tips or tricks in this situation, would a PC work better here or little elbow grease and a MF tackle this.
 
Funny you should mention this. I just pulled my headlights out and opened them for polishing. I did this a few years ago before I had my PC and used the Novus #1, 2, 3 line which was a major improvement but still not perfect.



Here's the process I followed for my particular vehicle:

http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/headlights/



Depending on how bad your lights are, the combo you mentioned might work fine. I haven't used those specific products, so not exactly sure. Some of the issues may or may not actually be on the inside of the lenses. I've clayed lights before with no issues that I know of.



So, now it's a few years later and I'm trying again on my lights with the PC to (hopefully) do a really thorough job. I've got IP/FP2, Novus 1/2/3 and Zaino Z-14 to work with. Plus, a small wool pad, a small white polishing pad and then the usual assortment of larger pads.



Can't seem to get the scratches/swirls out, so I guess I'm also looking for suggestions.



The wool pad and the Novus 3 swirls/hazes them up pretty badly. The Novus 2/polishing pad cleans them up noticeably, but doesn't get rid of all the swirls.



I've tried speed 1 on the PC through speed 6 on the PC, so tips on PC speed or product combo/pad type would be appreciated from anyone who's tried this before. Which of the polishes that I listed above should help me get these things crystal clear again? It looks like the scratches are on both the inside and outside, but since I've got the lenses off, I have access to both sides.



Any thoughts? I just spend a bunch of time on the rest of my car, so I want my headlights to look good, too :)
 
Thanks for the link, but I read through this, tried the metal polish and am in no better shape than before.



I'm trying to not press too hard or use the PC on too fast a speed, but I still have noticeable swirls. They're not subtle when held up to a bright light.



I'm hesitant to wet sand...if various levels of abrasives are just making it worse, why would wet sanding (I might have some 2000 grit around still) make it better? I feel like I'm trying random stuff here and don't really have a good direction to go in.



Have I actually not gone abrasive enough yet? I've used Novus 3 + wool pad and it hazed things pretty badly. Less abrasive polishes improved that, but the swirls are still there.



Any additional help or advice here...this is mighty frustrating.



And just when I was getting the hang of making the *paint* look good...
 
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