You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, at no cost, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!
searched through the forum, but couldn't find one. so i thought i'd share..
What you need:
-Sanding papers (1500 and 2000 grit).
-Zymol Cleaner Wax (or any wax/polish you trust to be good).
-Microfiber towel.
-A buffer (optional)
On with the (easy) process..
1- wash the headlights with water and soap then rinse it with a towel.
2- with water running over the headlight, start sanding (with light to no pressure) the foggy area (with 1500 grit) for at least 3 minutes. *make sure the headlight is always wet while sanding*
3- once you're done, do the same thing using the 2000 grit paper.
4- rinse the headlight and apply Zymol Wax (or the one you prefer). since i don't own a buffer, i used my fingers to spread the wax all over the sanded area. (wait for it till it dries *approx. 3-5mins*)
5- wipe the headlight with the microfiber towel.
wallaa, you should be done. but if need be, you might wanna have another go with the wax/polish to achieve a better result. tho applying it 10 times won't make it new
nice job but what you need is polish, not wax.
wax does not have any abbrassive properties and will only cover up the 2000 sanding scratches temporarily. your after pictures are still hazy.
get yourself some polish and a machine if you can and it will look brand new.
__________________
2008 Magnetic Black Touring 6MT
3m makes a headlight restoration kit that works really well. My headlights were foggy and had left over glue from overlays and it cleaned them right up.
they look great imo.. tho you got some little swirls on first pic. why not try a little sanding job ?
btw, u painted those heads? or a shop did it for you?
Word, yeah there are light swirls that you can see from certain angles and sunlight. I'm sure some 2000 grit will polish them up really nice.
I painted my lights and did the demon eye mod. Its fairly easy, the hardest part is getting the lens off, then back on and sealed correctly. Heres my DIY on adding the demon eye, and there are countless threads on how to black them out. Enjoy!
Also, if you decide to blackout your headlights the lenses really need to be clean, every little speck will show up X10 once the lens is on a black background.
Last edited by AstroZombie; 03-26-2009 at 09:20 AM.
Reason: Added link
3m has a kit with 500 grit 800 grit and a 300 grit pad, come with 3m polishing compound and polishing pad, attach to a drill and your golden, i charge peeps 50 bux all the time around town, it works really well. i just did mine, i shoulda done a before and after
After painting headlight black, scratches become REALLY apparent. I tried Powerball and Mother's PowerPlastic today. Huge improvement, but I would say took care of 98% of the problem. Pics below:
Fig 1: Before Shot, Driver's Side.
Fig 2: Some prep work.
Fig 3: In progress... go easy with application of polish, as you can see once the powerball spins it will splatter. I found it best to apply a little to the ball, then rub it onto the surface of the headlight to spread it around first. Then spin up the drill slowly.
Fig 4: After buffing.
Fig 5: Close-up After shot. As you can see, some scratches are still apparent but very subdued. This was as good as I could get it, but unless you are this close you will not see it.
Fig 6: Passenger side appeared worse...
Fig 7: ...but cleaned up better. I would say 99% gone on this side.
Damn, these headlights look like they're brand new.
Are you guys saying to sand them down first, and then use Megs PlastX? My headlights are hazy and i've been looking to get rid of the haze...
that's what i've done/will be doing.. but others suggest that u go with PlastX with a buffer *first*, and if it didn't work, then go with sanding and PlastX..
just go with 2000 grit sanding paper.. i noticed that 1500grit shaves off a little from that clear coat on the headlights. and make sure water is running while u're sanding (wet sanding).
tomorrow *hopefully*, i'll take pics of how do they look like after 1 month (since i started this thread), and other pics of redoing them again, but this time with PlastX and maybe a buffer..
DIY: repairing faded/foggy headlights
?
