So I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos for headlight restoration doing the wet sanding and spraying it with a clear coat. Does anyone have experience doing this ? How hard is it for someone who's never done anything like that. Does the clear coat affect the way the light comes through by distorting the light in anyway? Any tips /advice would
be awesome ! Thanks

 

Depends on how bad yours are. I'd recommend trying the kit from Mothers:

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/0...FdgPgQodYEMO2A

You need a power drill, which saves a lot of time, but be sure to mask off the paint or pull out the headlights. You don't want to hit the paint with one of those sanding disks. I've never clearcoated mine, and they look like glass, even here in high-UV Sounth Florida. mine never got really cloudy, but they do get a bit dull, so I use the polish maybe once a year. You can buy the kit at most auto parts store, Walmart, etc for ~$20.

 

literally just did this last week. wet sand with 400 then move up to 1000 and then 2000. what i do is sand horizontally with one grit and then perpendicular with the next one so you can see all of the sanding lines have been removed with the next grit. clean it then clear coat it. after a day of the clear coat you will need to wet sand a ton with 2k to get rid of the orange peel because of the rattle can clear. then buff it with a plastic polish like scratch x and then finish with a wax. the hardest step for me was wet sanding the clear coat. i did it for a bit and thought it was enough and polished and waxed only to resand again because when it was all polished, the orange peel was super obvious

 

Thank you cakestar for the tips, I wet sanded with only the 2000 grit today for about 5 minutes each side and then used a meguiars restoration product just to see how much it helped . It helped quite a bit but still can see quite a bit of haze in direct light especially . I'm assuming I need to maybe use a lower grit and maybe take more time? Also I known the headlight products aren't anywhere near a permanent fix I am just nervous to clear coat lol.

 

yeah id recommend you start with 800 if you think 400 will be too deep. work from 800 and really make sure you get all the imperfections out. dont be afraid of clear coat because worse comes to worse you can just remove it all with 2k sanding

 

CAkey what clear coat brand did you use and did you use an adhesion promoter or anything ?

 

no adhesion promoter as i am pretty sure it will cause it to be more hazy and unclear. just used rustoleum clear. regular ol rattle can glossy clear

 

Like this stuff ??

 

yep. you could prob find higher quality clear meant for automotive but thats what i used

 

Try to check out the Sylvania Restoration Kit. It comes with a UV blocker clearcoat.

 

I've used the 3M kit. You get a backer for your drill, 3 grades of sandpaper and then they include
*Polishing Compound*
That is how you get the optical clarity.

You don't have to seal them after, but if the car's in direct sun a lot they may fog over in time.