Restoring headlights

rickssimpala

rickssimpala

New member
I know that all of the headlight restoration kits and all of the write ups on here require sanding but, we don`t sand the paint when correcting. Is it necessary to sand? wouldn`t we get the same outcome if we machine compounded and then polished and protected? I did this on a set of headlights the other day and it came out great without sanding. Is the reason longevity,protection? I ceramic coated them afterwards. just curious please don`t kill me:blink:
 
It depends. I guess if the factory coating is just hazy you can probably polish it. IME eventually it fails, and either peels or wears off in spots. At that point you have to sand to get a uniform surface--the factory coating is quite thick. After the factory coating is gone, I find the headlights yellow quickly no matter what you put on to protect them (of the retail/enthusiast products, including Opti-Lens). If they aren`t bad you can just polish them, if they have gone for a long time a 3000 or 5000 grit sanding makes things faster. The sanding will also help with crazing, to a certain extent.
 
I was under the assumption UV exposure is usually what does them in. I think there are certain clearcoat sprays you can get that`ll help with that problem.
 
i think the plastic may be a bit tougher to polish than paint.

As mentioned, you don`t always need to sand.

Curious as to how long the coating will help those lights. I got about 3-4 months out of a Meguiar`s kit, and the 6 months claimed by the Sonax kit.
 
If you [abrade] away the UV protection, better find something durable to replace it. Concerns over said replacements being sufficiently long-lasting has prompted me to just replace `em when needed (which does indeed get pricey on some cars..some Audi headlight capsules cost more than the cars they go on would be worth, not that I care).

SOMETIMES you can get lucky and correct `em gently enough that they still hold up OK, as per the lenses on my beater-Tahoe and the taillights of the `93 Audi. But I figure it`s an awfully fine line, and hey I don`t park my stuff outside enough to really know how fragile they now are anyhow.

For ongoing protection I like the quick/easy/simple approach of just spritzing them with OCW after each wash.
 
My understanding is once they start getting hazy, the factory UV coating is already compromised and the only way to CORRECT is via sanding. I start at 800 then go to 1500, 3000, and 5000. Then polish from there. Works great and is much quicker than when I previously tried compounding and polishing with results that didn’t last as long. I don’t have a regular coating I use, 2K clear coat is supposed to work well but I don’t want to spray while on my car. So I’m going to try the DLUX ceramic coating in the next couple weeks.
 
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