Polishing Headlights

L

larry_bar56

New member
I had one headlight that was very scratched and foggy looking. The other was perfect (obviously it had been changed and the bad one was probably original).



I tried Mother's Plastic polish alone and it did make an improvement, but it still looked lousy to me.



So I decided to take a more drastic approach. I broke out the 1500 grit sandpaper and wet sanded the plastic until it all felt very smooth. It was noticeably hazy but very smooth. Then I put the 4" orange pad on my PC and used some DACP (probably could have used FCRC too) on the headlight. Worked it the same way you would on the paint. Wiped it down with a MF. Put the white 4" pad on and used some Mother's Plastic Polish on it. When I was done, it looked neary as good as the new light on the other side.



If you don't have a PC you can easily do all this by hand too. It's a small area and you shouldn't have any problem getting the same results.



So, don't be afraid to go after the plastic. It responds very well to graduated abrasives. If I can get a clear light to look this good, imagine what you can do with a red or amber light!
 
If I am not mistaken, there are two different types of plastic that are used for headlights. One of them will respond to swirl removers, the other will get worse. I will try and find the info but if I remember correctly, one plastic when scratched with a sharp object, produces a white residue. The other type does not.



I tried the 2500 grit and SFP on a headlight a few months back and hit the WRONG kind of plastic!!! Oops!!:shocked There was some kind of clear coating protecting the plastic. So when I sanded it, it became very blotchy. Luckily, I took a mushroom bob, a high speed drill and #9. It brought it back but not great!



So now, I am very careful when I do headlights with sandpaper!:o



I am very glad that yours turned out so well!!:xyxthumbs
 
there's a 3-step product called Novus. I just did my headlights with it (SVX's, along with many other cars, have a very bad tendency to turn yellow) and they look almost brand new. (they have 103k miles on them) :bounce
 
2hotford,



Thanks for the clarification on the different materials. I was unaware of that....just lucky I guess. Do you think certain auto manufacturers use one type or the other, or do think the different plastic could be used across the board by all manufacturers? Or, maybe it depends on the model year of the car?



It would be nice if there was away to tell (without having to actually sand the plastic).



[Edit] After looking at the Novus site it sounds like some plastics are coated (as 2hotford mentioned). Even Novus doesn't recommend their product for those plastics. Still don't know how to tell if it's coated or not. I guess if you have the coated plastic your out of luck if it get scratched.
 
Hi Larry,



That is the problem, I am not sure which cars/trucks have which kind of plastic headlights. As I said, if you use a sharp object and lightly scratch the plastic, one will leave a white powder, the other will not.



From now on, I will only use #9 on a mushroom bob and a high speed drill to polish the headlights!!
 
a polish for headlights which i have used that works great is plastx by meguiars. i just used it on a benz e55amg, and a lancer evo today... it removes most of the imperfections, and oxidation, while making the headlights feel smooth to the touch
 
hi i was wondering if anyone can help me out? I wet sanded my headlights and fallowed up with some 3m polish compound. After that the headlights look amazing not a single scratch! But at night when i turn the headlights on theres a light film of hazy over them. I try using 3m plastic polish,nu finish plastic polish, and plastx but none seem to work! any suggestions on how to get them clear?
 
the new guy said:
hi i was wondering if anyone can help me out? I wet sanded my headlights and fallowed up with some 3m polish compound. After that the headlights look amazing not a single scratch! But at night when i turn the headlights on theres a light film of hazy over them. I try using 3m plastic polish,nu finish plastic polish, and plastx but none seem to work! any suggestions on how to get them clear?
Click to expand...



While I have no personal experience with it, one of the earlier posters used the Novus products. If I had the problem you describe, I would probably look into that. You might need only one of the polishing steps, but even if you needed all 3 it looks like you can get 2oz bottles of the stuff for under $20 for all 3.



Good luck and let us know how it goes!
 
If you don't want scratches or other abrasive damage on your Ultra Violet layer and your lens surface

The only way to go is a Pure liquid non abrasive lens de-oxidizer.

Sandpaper is a doomsday weapon when it comes to your headlights. It does more harm than good and only offers a temperary sollution.

Novus, meguiars, 3M and other over the counter formulas are not deoxidizers, they are a scratch removers and contain abrasive plastic polish, they will cloud up a clear lens.



A pure liquid acrylic lens deoxidizer will not leave scratches and will instantly remove oxidation build up on the lens surface on contact.
 
the new guy said:
..........I wet sanded my headlights and fallowed up with some 3m polish compound..................
Click to expand...
I'm confused, you've posted this question in too many places, and in one post you said they were new from the dealership. If they were new why did you wet-sand them?
 
yea i ordered it from Honda in japan. There sir headlights. But when it arrived there is a few scratch on it because they didn't package it to well.
 
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