Headlight restoration kits?

stevec

stevec

Member
Wales
Hi All
Can anyone recommend any kits? There are so many different types of kits out there some that require 'sanding' the plastic lens down either by hand or with a drill attachment. My headlights are not too bad but i think they have had the sanding treatment before.
Thanks
Steve
 
Hi Steve,

I used this to good effect - http://www.meguiars.co.uk/shop/meguiar-s-headlight-restoration-kit

Not an easy job and you have to be careful not to flatten or burn the lens. I recommend leaving the headlights in situ, BUT, use much more tape than you think to avoid burning the paintwork around the bumper and wing.

I've also used a whitening toothpaste, yes you did read that correctly, followed by Autoglym Super Resin polish. If your lights are pretty good to start with, this might be the best course of action to begin with.

Cheers,

Darren
 
I recently bought plastx meguiars as I had some faint buildup on my headlights, but it proved quite ineffective. I think the 3M or Autoglym kits are an effective, high quality options to remove UV and oxidation defects.
 
If I'm honest I tried polishing last year and using sealant and it didn't last but started to fog again due to the factory UV protection being removed.

instead i just recently went down nuclear option - took out my Porter cable polisher and used sanding discs progressing grits from 800/1200/2000 then 3000.

This left a nice haze - then I hit it with 2k Lacquer and it looks lovely - and should last for years. Cost around £10 in materials and maybe around 2 hours. For comparison I took another set to a local paintshop and whilst they took a little longer over the polishing (they took out the stone chips!) they charged me a with a discount, £75.

You would probably get pretty decent results even with a standard halfords lacquer if you take your time.

You can see the a revived headlight in my recent pepper pots thread here Pepperpot
 
wet and dry, 1000, then 2000, then 3000, all wet with a little washing up liquid in warm water, personally I would always remove the head light from the car, but to each there own.
Then dry and polish with tooth paste or cutting compound, this should result in a crystal clear 'glass', if not continue with the cutting compound until crystal clear.
Now you need to seal the 'glass' to prevent UV deterioration, a good car polish applied every couple of weeks should do the trick, however I will be trying 2K clear lacquer as this is 100% UV stable and stops paint from oxidising so I see no reason why it should not do the same trick for the lights, plus a little black paint in the lacquer will result in a nice tint to the glass (I run 55W HID's in projectors so a little light attenuation is acceptable)
 
cheechy said:
If I'm honest I tried polishing last year and using sealant and it didn't last but started to fog again due to the factory UV protection being removed.

instead i just recently went down nuclear option - took out my Porter cable polisher and used sanding discs progressing grits from 800/1200/2000 then 3000.

This left a nice haze - then I hit it with 2k Lacquer and it looks lovely - and should last for years. Cost around £10 in materials and maybe around 2 hours. For comparison I took another set to a local paintshop and whilst they took a little longer over the polishing (they took out the stone chips!) they charged me a with a discount, £75.

You would probably get pretty decent results even with a standard halfords lacquer if you take your time.

You can see the a revived headlight in my recent pepper pots thread here Pepperpot
Click to expand...
Wow They look like New!
 
If you use lacquer it's enough 800 sanding paper because more will cause lacquer will not hold so good on the headlight.

If you will use polishing compound after sanding than you should go up to 2000 or 3000.

Laquer is better option than polishing because when you polishing your headlights there is no UV protection left and after some time you should polish again.
 
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Vaseline, seriously try it.
I bet it last as long as the other kits as they dry out.
Re-apply about once a month.
You can hear the static of the plastic as you nourish it.
But if it's on the inside, which brighter than standard headlight bulbs can do then your stuffed.
 
Unfortunately I don’t have 2K spraying capability but I can spray 1k lacquer.

Anybody sprayed 1k with success? For the size of the job hardly worth setting up the spray gun and cleaning it; anybody had success with Halfords aerosol lacquer?

Thanks

Phil
 
You can buy 2k lacquer in can, e.g. spraymax 2k. But after using it one time you can not just leave it and use after some time like 1k lacquer. After a day of activating the can you have to use it all or throw it out.

Using 1k lacquer the result will be also good but will not be so resistant as 2k.
 
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Hoping to do the headlights on my A2 shortly when we get a dry and still day.

Thinking of removing the headlights first rather than risk damaging the paintwork.

Is it an easy job to remove the headlights and more importantly do they need to be realigned after refitting?

Thanks
 
Two bolts and unplug. Pretty easy really but can sometimes be reluctant to go back into place I've found!
 
So today sanded and polished headlight. Started with 400 sandpaper, then 800, 1500 and 2000. Then polished with Farecla g3 paste and finished with Menzerna 3500. Will see how long it will last. Next time will try add laquer after 800 sandpaper.

Before:

IMG_0747.JPGIMG_0753.JPG

After 800 sandpaper:

IMG_0756.JPG

After 2000 sandpaper:

IMG_0757.JPG

Final result:

IMG_0758.JPGIMG_0759.JPG
 
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Very nice....would be great to know how long it will last without any protective UV lacquering....keeps us updated!
 
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