Tail light improvement thoughts.

Fishing

Fishing

Member
I have GG perfecting cream and GG One Step. I was thinking of using the GG Perfecting Cream on my GG DA to polish the tail lights. Does this sound like a wise decision ? LOL LOL Thnx for ANY suggestions. I just dont want to make things worse. They aren`t real bad just wanted to clean them up.
 
Fishing said:
I have GG perfecting cream and GG One Step. I was thinking of using the GG Perfecting Cream on my GG DA to polish the tail lights. Does this sound like a wise decision ? LOL LOL Thnx for ANY suggestions. I just dont want to make things worse. They aren`t real bad just wanted to clean them up.
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The plastic of tail lights is hard.. I clean those really bad ones up with Meguiars 105 with a Rotary all the time.. They always come out beautifully clear, and glossy..
You will be fine with those great Griot`s products.. Yes, always take the less aggressive route first, then if not good enough, throw in a little of the harder stuff...
Dan F
 
Stokdgs & Sizzle Chest- Thank you both for helping me,,,thats just the information/help I was looking for. :)
 
Stokdgs said:
The plastic of tail lights is hard..
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Huh, interesting. I`d never noticed that with mine, maybe it`s another thing that`s different about more modern cars.

I clean those really bad ones up with Meguiars 105 with a Rotary all the time.. They always come out beautifully clear, and glossy..
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So the M105 finishes out OK? Even on Tail Lights, M105 has always left issues for me even if they`re not visible without some effort.
 
Accumulator said:
Huh, interesting. I`d never noticed that with mine, maybe it`s another thing that`s different about more modern cars.



So the M105 finishes out OK? Even on Tail Lights, M105 has always left issues for me even if they`re not visible without some effort.
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Happy New Year, Hermano !

Yes, Meguiars 105 makes all plastic tail lights and headlights in my experiences in the Shop, beautifully clear and glossy..

Of course, if the plastic is not the scratched, perhaps other lighter cut, or polish products might work also..

But I don`t have time to be experimenting - I have to get it done perfectly, and within the time set with the Client...

I look at the defects, determine how much downward pressure to apply, always less to start, than too much, and do the work..

I even use Meguiars 105 with a soft cotton finger mitten under all door cups and it cleans them up quickly and leaves a great gloss..

And of course, I always add a little moisture to the product before I use it and have never had problems using it that way..
Dan F
 
Stokdgs- I might be looking for problems I wouldn`t otherwise know I have, but *every* time I`ve ever hit an M105`ed surface with the SunGun I`ve found micromarring. Every time, well...except for metals, but on paint/plastics I always see it even though it`s seldom visible under normal conditions.
 
Accumulator said:
Stokdgs- I might be looking for problems I wouldn`t otherwise know I have, but *every* time I`ve ever hit an M105`ed surface with the SunGun I`ve found micromarring. Every time, well...except for metals, but on paint/plastics I always see it even though it`s seldom visible under normal conditions.
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El Accumulator`-- I look at my work with the Scangrip 1st Generation LED lights , = 2 on the awesome Scangrip stand, and the really nice CAT yellow hand size LED lights, and I see no micro marring using Meguiars 105, etc...
As with all products I use with my Makita, I keep it just moist enough to allow me to work it until it is all about gone and the pad picks what is left all up.. There is always hardly nothing left to wipe off..
Dan F
 
Stokdgs- You folks who don`t get micromarring from M105 leave me scratching my head, but I`m glad it works out that way for you. If M105 touches something other than a hard metal, I get it.
 
Accumulator said:
Stokdgs- You folks who don`t get micromarring from M105 leave me scratching my head, but I`m glad it works out that way for you. If M105 touches something other than a hard metal, I get it.
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Me too. I don`t know about plastic, but in my experience, M105 has always left a finish that "needs more work". Just like a lot of classic compounds do.

Speaking of lenses, do those of you that regularly do this chore worry that you are cutting away at the OEM protection on the lens? Sure, if it`s hazed or yellowed, then polish and seal it. But if a lens is shiny with a few rids, should it be left alone?
 
WaxAddict said:
Me too. I don`t know about plastic, but in my experience, M105 has always left a finish that "needs more work". Just like a lot of classic compounds do.

Speaking of lenses, do those of you that regularly do this chore worry that you are cutting away at the OEM protection on the lens? Sure, if it`s hazed or yellowed, then polish and seal it. But if a lens is shiny with a few rids, should it be left alone?
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I have a great friend in Seattle, who is the best boat Detailer up there..
He has been cutting gelcoat with only Rotary Power for decades..
He only uses compounds and polishes after, to clean up gelcoat.
He routinely wears out the best DeWalt Rotaries and has been an advisor to DeWalt to help improve their Rotary products..
He never gets micromarring, etc., in his work either..
His work on any black boat rivals the best work on Jet Black paint.. I have seen many boats he did and they are all amazingly clear and glossy.

Since there are so many variables to account for when doing any correction, which one may need more work ? Which one needs a different pad/s ? A different compound, polish, speed, pressure, technique?

I ask myself these questions, everytime I go to work out there..

Regarding taillights ---
I have never in all the decades of polishing them or looking at them, seen any taillight with sun damage like I see all the time with plastic headlights...
Perhaps in sun-only states, there may be such a thing as sun-damaged plastic taillights, I don`t know about that..
Dan F
 
The tail/side/marker/etc. lights (i.e., the colored-lens ones) on both my Tahoe and `93 Audi were so oxidized that they were crusty-textured and frosty-white looking. Worse than the headlights on both vehicles. Corrected OK and stay that way, probably because I don`t park in the sun much and use OCW on such stuff at every wash. They Tahoe was previously in WY, the Audi spent all its time in OH and...here`s the culprit IMO...FLA.

WaxAddict- I`d leave `em alone for the exact reason you were wondering about. Whatever UV protection something has, it seems like it`s invariably concentrated in the top-most layer of the material (clearcoat/headlight coating/etc.) and I`d hesitate to thin that over purely cosmetic concerns. But then I take an awfully long-term view of such stuff. As with clearcoat, just because it`s now *so* easy to correct stuff that doesn`t mean it`s a good idea, and (WARNING, Autopian Heresy follows :o ) marring doesn`t really matter, at least not in the functional sense, even though some of us (myself included) make a big deal out of it.
 
WaxAddict ---
Here is an idea..
How about finding some ppf pre-cut pieces for your tail lights? Perhaps someone makes them..
Then, correct the lights, apply the ppf, and enjoy...

I had ppf applied to the lights on the front of my Grand Cherokee 10 years ago, and they are perfectly clear, and bonus, no chips, dings, scratches, etc...
Dan F
 
I usually use a compound and a megs cutting pad on taillights. I have found that using megs cutting pads and CarPro Essence will do a good one step job on plastic lenses too. I usually coat the lenses with whatever coating I using on the paint with no problems.
 
I always apply the LSP the vehicle is getting on all the tail lights.. Of course if its a Coating, then they get that.. Never had any problems or issues, comebacks, etc..

There are some old videos of Mike Phillips using Meguiars 105 on all kinds of paint, glass, etc., and he gets excellent results too..

I am not sure because I have never seen anyone else use this product, but if its not kept just moist enough to allow it to do all of its work, then perhaps, that is 1 reason why some get different results?

When it first came out, I realized immediately, that it liked to dry up fast and just gum up your spot..

So, I just kept the pad moist, used way less product, but enough to do the spot, (had to figure out how much each time), and kept the product moist until it broke down and went away, leaving the pad to polish and clean it all up..

I think that using M105 with a Rotary also helps because its direct drive and will be faster; heck, when it first came out, to me, it was just another new Rotary compound to try out..

Dan F
 
I`ve used the M105/M205 twins on various exterior plastics, including tail lights.

The M105 *ALWAYS* left micromarring on plastics for me, same as on paint. Sometimes I could even see it without specialized inspection conditions. Worked fine on glass, but YMMV since different autoglasses can be very different.

The M205 would initially look OK, but once the TSO (yeah...my ol` bete noir :o ) dissipated things looked *TERRIBLE*. I`ll never try it on anything plastic again (not that I plan to use it again period).
 
Stokdgs said:
I always apply the LSP the vehicle is getting on all the tail lights..
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Same here, although I generally knee-jerk to using OCW for maintenance on `em as it`s a known quantity with regard to UV protection. Yeah, I`m sure my other LSPs would be fine without that, but eh..I have it on the shelf and it`s easy.
 
Most times the cars I do are one steps so I hit the tail lights while doing the back of the car. They always come out much improved. Id start with the least aggressive method first.
 
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