Gen 2: Clear Headlight Mod

K

kev415

Registered
I dont know if I was the only one with this problem or not, but I needed to do something about it. My headlight were all pitted and hazy, and really restricting the light, and making a lot of unnecessary glare. SO, after trying a lot of different things, I fanally got down to the sandpaper. (GASP!!) Here are the steps that I used:
-400 grit iron oxide paper with windex as a lubricant,
-800 grit crocus cloth with windex lube
-1500 iron oxide w/ windex lube
-rubbing compound
-rubbing compound
-Polishing compund
-Mother's Mag wheel polish
-Windex
-Water

It took me about and hour to do one light. Its not perfect but it is 100 times better than what it was before.

A couple of things, I used some good quality (the better quality the LESS sticky) masking tape and taped off all the way around the lights to protect the paint and the chrome strip (the chrome strip that I scuffed anyways....). Between every step i used the windex to clean off whatever I had put on, to keep from regressing. Dont be afraid to put a good haze on the lense with the sandpaper, the plastic is soft enough that it comes right out. Definitely be prepared to use some serious elbow grease tho!
 
RE: Gen 2: Clear Headlight Mod

When I had my Corvette many years ago, the removable hardtop had a plastic rear window and rear quarter windows. What we used to use back then to get the scrathes and cloudiness out was Colgates tooth paste.

http://members.tccoa.com/lastmrk/Images/lastmrk2.jpg
Click to expand...

I still use that on plastic watch crystals when they get scratched up :).

** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

...Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself....
 
RE: Gen 2: Clear Headlight Mod

like I said, it's not perfect, and I need to find something with less abrasiveness then polishing compound, i'll try the toothpaste and the the meguirar's stuff, thanks for the help!
 
RE: Gen 2: Clear Headlight Mod

It looks like you've done a pretty good job already, but I thought I'd throw this out there for future reference.

An alternative to regular wet/dry sandpaper is a product called Micro Mesh:

http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/products.htm

The stuff comes in grits from 1500 to 12,000. That's right, 12 thousand. Actually, they use a slightly different formula for calculating the grit, but it is still EXTREMELY fine. The 12,000 feels like soft leather. And all of them have a cloth backing, so they're very flexible.

I'd recommend the "Soft Touch" pads in the 3 X 4 size (regular type), which gives you a soft foam core if you're going to work by hand. Get the variety pack. You can start with normal 400 or 600 grit paper, then move on to the 1500 Micro Mesh, and work your way down. Use straight strokes, but alternate the direction on each successive grit. When the marks from the previous grit disappear, you know you're ready for the next. By the time you reach 12000, it should look pretty darned good, but you can still finish off with the plastic polish for a final shine.

I used to build a lot of model planes, and this was the stuff to use for clear canopies, which would sometimes come out of the box with scratches on them. One day I decided to try the stuff on the gauge cluster "window" in my old T-Bird that was scratched and fogged up, and I managed to get it looking factory new after a couple of hours of work. Great stuff.
 
RE: Gen 2: Clear Headlight Mod

One addition to my previous post.

Don't use Windex with it. Windex contains alcohol, which will ruin the Micro Mesh. Plain water should be fine.
 
RE: Gen 2: Clear Headlight Mod

When I had my Corvette many years ago, the removable hardtop had a plastic rear window and rear quarter windows. What we used to use back then to get the scrathes and cloudiness out was Colgates tooth paste.

http://members.tccoa.com/lastmrk/Images/lastmrk2.jpg
Click to expand...

I still use that on plastic watch crystals when they get scratched up :).

** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

...Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself....
Click to expand...



colgate? never heard of that trick
 
RE: Gen 2: Clear Headlight Mod

I used some of that Meguair's (<---sp?) PlastX. I bought this little packet for $0.99 at AutoZone and it worked well. I can still see the pits, etc., but it's smoother and took out the haze. I need something to fill in the pits or at least smooth it all down to that level.
 
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