Headlight restoration - best products
Discussion
Right, I’m losing to much of my life to choosing a restoration product for my 996 headlights, they are pretty bad - dull and yellow pretty sure an mot failure!
I like the convenience of a kit and have watched many reviews, the autoglym kit looks the best but has no sealant / protector and the holts one looks pretty good.
Any input appreciated!
I like the convenience of a kit and have watched many reviews, the autoglym kit looks the best but has no sealant / protector and the holts one looks pretty good.
Any input appreciated!
sam.rog said:
I used t cut and a cloth. Then a coat of wax. Seems to last ok as long as the wax is topped up. Plus it was free as I had the stuff.
To be a permanent solution you need to spray the with uv resistant lacker.
Yeah I've heard cutting compound works just as well as the kits, if you already have it, also seen Ceramic Coating recommended as a good way to make it last but it's expensive stuff so haven't tried myself yet.To be a permanent solution you need to spray the with uv resistant lacker.
I used a turtle wax kit years ago and got decent results on a similarly bad headlight, I wasn't massively impressed, but it did get it more than good enough for MOT.
dontlookdown said:
I used a 3M kit to do headlights on one of my old cars (not Porsche). They were worse than that. Process was 300 grade wetndry, 600 grade wetndry, cutting compound, water based acrylic sealer to finish.
The kit was quite pricey for a small amount of product but the results were v good. Masking off paint carefully is essential. The sealer lasts much longer than wax which you need to keep reapplying to avoid the plastic quickly going yellow again.
You can get excellent results by hand, no need for a DA sander it just takes a little longer. Took me about 30mins per side as I recall.
If I was doing it again I would not bother with a kit just wetndry, t-cut and sealer.
The kit was quite pricey for a small amount of product but the results were v good. Masking off paint carefully is essential. The sealer lasts much longer than wax which you need to keep reapplying to avoid the plastic quickly going yellow again.
You can get excellent results by hand, no need for a DA sander it just takes a little longer. Took me about 30mins per side as I recall.
If I was doing it again I would not bother with a kit just wetndry, t-cut and sealer.
Used the autoglym pack as was on offer and restored some headlights on a 20 year old vehicle (starting from similar level to your picture). Works great, just be aware that it's important to set the drill speed at low.
Just commit to any of the kits and it'll be fine I'm sure! Alternatively, groupon sometimes have it on offer from a bodyshop, think it's sometimes just £15 for someone else to do them!
Just commit to any of the kits and it'll be fine I'm sure! Alternatively, groupon sometimes have it on offer from a bodyshop, think it's sometimes just £15 for someone else to do them!
I do the headlights on my Sprinter before the MOT each year.
Not a lot different in appearance to the OP's
Machine polisher and Farecla G3.
Takes about a minute a side to go from yellowy to clear and the residue on the mop is quite yellow.
I might try the 2k clear suggestion.
Not a lot different in appearance to the OP's
Machine polisher and Farecla G3.
Takes about a minute a side to go from yellowy to clear and the residue on the mop is quite yellow.
I might try the 2k clear suggestion.
Edited by paintman on Wednesday 20th October 17:46
Hi folks, thanks for all the replies. I ended up getting a kit I liked the look of from eBay under the name flexipads about £23.
It was very easy to use and came with 800 / 1000 / 1500 grit disks. I also bought 600 and 2000 as I felt I wanted to refine and it was very faded.
Excellent piece of kit and would highly recommend - results speak for themselves. I felt I didn’t sand enough on one stage and could have maybe had slightly less swirls but overall very happy. Also comes with a uv protectant which was an attraction.
It was very easy to use and came with 800 / 1000 / 1500 grit disks. I also bought 600 and 2000 as I felt I wanted to refine and it was very faded.
Excellent piece of kit and would highly recommend - results speak for themselves. I felt I didn’t sand enough on one stage and could have maybe had slightly less swirls but overall very happy. Also comes with a uv protectant which was an attraction.
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