Restored my headlights - 3M Kit

[MagicalTrevor]

The headlights on our 172 were looking hazy and the headlight performance was lacking somewhat! As the evenings are getting darker I thought I ought to sort them out.



A few people have used and recommend the 3M Headlight Restoration Kit which can be bought from many sellers on that auction site for around £18

Started off by masking around the edges to ensure I don't catch the paintwork with the abrasive discs



Then went over the light with a course disc
No going back at this stage!



Then with a fine disc



There is then a finer pad to use but I forgot to takes photo

Finally, used a polishing pad plus some polishing compound and... Voila!



Really pleased with the results and probably took around an hour to do

[dazz1871part2]

Very cool

[MagicalTrevor]

Sooo easy to do as well!

[stevebear]

thats pretty impressive - seen other forums and pics and hasn't looked anywhere near as good.
Need to do this on my C class coupe.
Apparently you're sposed to seal them afterwards - have you and what did you use?

[stevebear]

thats pretty impressive - seen other forums and pics and hasn't looked anywhere near as good.
Need to do this on my C class coupe.
Apparently you're sposed to seal them afterwards - have you and what did you use?

[Quhet]

Isn't using just a rag and a bit of toothpaste supposed to do the same thing?

[Mave]

Yep, you need to seal them as you end up taking off the UV protection. I used both 3m and turtle wax kit on mine - the 3m is better for getting rid of the haze, the turtle wax comes with the protector :-)

[MagicalTrevor]

stevebear said:

thats pretty impressive - seen other forums and pics and hasn't looked anywhere near as good.
Need to do this on my C class coupe.
Apparently you're sposed to seal them afterwards - have you and what did you use?

Thanks

I've heard the same but I'm not going to bother, the car is getting on a bit now and realistically has a few years left in it. By the time the headlights cloud over again then the car will be ready for breaking. Even if the car was still going then I'd simply do this process again.

Quhet said:

Isn't using just a rag and a bit of toothpaste supposed to do the same thing?

Maybe, I don't want minty smelling headlights though I don't know how long it would take with toothpaste though.

[Ved]

Is this for a DA or one of the drill kits? Great results.

[MagicalTrevor]

Ved said:

Is this for a DA or one of the drill kits? Great results.

Just the drill kit
http://www.3m.com/product/information/Headlight-Le...

[prand]

Miraculous! Can this be used on glass too? My wife's passenger window has had a football or some object thrown/kicked against it with some force leaving a smear of light scratches. I notice the detailing bods offer headlight and window polishing, this would be a great solution if it can be used for glass.

[green-blood]

Good job.

I would recommend some extra tape... take no chances.

for protection just use whatever wax/sealant you are using on the paintwork

[GC8]

I managed a similarly impressive result on my MX-5 using T-Cut and elbow grease. Im about to try to do the same to a large polycarbonate hatch off my track car, but plastic polish might be a wiser choice there.

[MagicalTrevor]

green-blood said:

Good job.

I would recommend some extra tape... take no chances.

for protection just use whatever wax/sealant you are using on the paintwork

That's good to know, I'll give that a shot