Headlight Refurb Kit?

[DickP]

Hi,

Does anyone have any recommendations for plastic headlight refurbishment / restoration kits?

Thanks,

[daemon]

DickP said:

Hi,

Does anyone have any recommendations for plastic headlight refurbishment / restoration kits?

Thanks,

Yes. The 3M one. Worked wonders on my MG ZT.

Will post some pics....

[Quattromaster]

This kit and a normal drill, job done.

http://www.alloypaints.com/headlight-restoration-k...

[V8RX7]

I just use my body mop and polishing compound.

Anything abrasive will work - toothpaste, T cut, brasso, wet n dry

[InitialDave]

The main issue seems to be finding something that comes with a sealant to try and prevent them degrading again. Interestingly, the Meguiar's kit I got in the USA does come with it, but the ones they sell here do not. Kit works well though, but it's really just some 2000 and 3000 grit abrasive and a bottle of their Plast-X with a polishing mop. You could replicate the effects easily enough.

[V8RX7]

InitialDave said:

The main issue seems to be finding something that comes with a sealant to try and prevent them degrading again.

Sealant ?

Surely it's UV damage

[xjay1337]

I start at 600 grit up to 2500 in stages
Compound
Polish
Coat with UV protection (decent wax or car pro DLUX).

[popeyewhite]

Any moderate polish will do the trick. Halfords stuff is fine.

[CoolHands]

I used this (sanding thing first, then after 2000 grit below use the blue sponge):

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Power+Tool+Access...

this 2000 grit after using the above rough sanders:

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repai...

then use blue sponge from above kit with this rubbing compound:

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repai...

then this clear lacquer:

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repai...

watch this vid:

https://youtu.be/UEJbKLZ7RmM

[Philv8s]

I used gtechniq C4 on my refurbished headlights, they haven't gone yellow yet.

[InitialDave]

V8RX7 said:

Sealant ?

Surely it's UV damage

Yes. I might be using the wrong terminology, but the meguiar's kit came with a product you put on to stop that. The ones I've seen sold here don't seem to.

[999gsi]

I've used Autoglym headlight restoration on both of our cars, fantastic result...

[lufbramatt]

Wet+dry the worst off, then polish out with fine cutting compound then apply something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Surface-Sealant-Coating-R...

Effectively the same as what you get in the kits.

[lyonspride]

If you want it to last you have to to wet'n'dry (start with 600 grit, go up to 2500/3000 grit) it back, get it's smooth as possible and then go over with a 2k scratch and UV resistant lacquer.

There is no magic formula, no easy way, toothpaste, wd40, all the other stupid suggestions, you have to do it properly.

[Hungrymc]

lyonspride said:

If you want it to last you have to to wet'n'dry (start with 600 grit, go up to 2500/3000 grit) it back, get it's smooth as possible and then go over with a 2k scratch and UV resistant lacquer.

There is no magic formula, no easy way, toothpaste, wd40, all the other stupid suggestions, you have to do it properly.

Totally agree on the prep (there isn't an easy way and its harder if they were already lacquered so that needs to be removed). My experience of re-lacquering though is that doesn't adhere very well and starts to peel after anything from 3 to 9 months.... Maybe lacquer brand specific? maybe needs an adhesion promoter? Have you any recommendations that have lasted longer?

[kostas_miata]

I've recently used the Autoglym kit on my MX5 and it works great. Very easy to use with the drill - http://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-cleaning/car-...

[MorganP104]

V8RX7 said:

I just use my body mop and polishing compound.

Anything abrasive will work - toothpaste, T cut, brasso, wet n dry

This.

For cars with cloudy headlights, I'll use whatever I have in kicking around in the garage. I've used toothpaste, Brasso, T-Cut, scratch remover paste... All sorts.

The results are all broadly similar - i.e. put in 20 minutes PROPER elbow grease per headlight, and they'll be looking like new.

[Ashtray83]

Is it possible to remove small stone chips using these kits? Or with wet and dry?

[Lowtimer]

Sure, but define "small" in terms of depth. If you want it to all look right when you finish you will have to take back the entire surface to that depth. Which is a LOT of wet sanding work if it's say 0.5mm on a large polycarbonate headlamp cover.

Most old cars have
a) some superficial hazing which doesn't go down very far at all, followed by
b) a whole lot of minor shallow abrasions from general road debris, and then
c) a small number of bigger gouges and chips. My approach is to fill the bigger gouges and chips with two-part clear epoxy adhesive, then flat the whole lot down to a level that removes about 80% of the remaining b-stage pits. Then steadily reduce the grit through the usual stages to final polish. Unless you're trying to achieve some kind of concours finish that is probably the best balance of labour to final result.

Edited by Lowtimer on Wednesday 6th September 10:23

[lyonspride]

Hungrymc said:

Totally agree on the prep (there isn't an easy way and its harder if they were already lacquered so that needs to be removed). My experience of re-lacquering though is that doesn't adhere very well and starts to peel after anything from 3 to 9 months.... Maybe lacquer brand specific? maybe needs an adhesion promoter? Have you any recommendations that have lasted longer?

For me I had no issue, lasted 3 years until the car wrote itself off. The key is cleanliness and the lacquer needs to go on in several coats at the correct temperature and reapplication intervals, making sure the surface is cleaned, dry and grease free. I do appreciate that's hard to achieve if you don't have a decent garage space.