HankookS2K

A local had asked me to restore his headlights, so I wanted to post what kind of restoration this was. His headlights were not oxidized at all, in fact the uv film was still on the headlights from the factory. The problem was that there was very heavy pitting from rock chips and light marring and scratches. The marring and swirling just made the lens look really dull and all the pitting made the lens very rough. The combination of the two made the headlight very unattractive.

So I had to first sand off the factory uv coating on the lens. After that I did a deep sanding to remove all the light pitting and soften up the heavy pitting to give it a uniform finish again. Then sanded up to the fine grit and buffed the lens to a smooth finish. This restoration was finished with a new clear coat, after that it was masked with 3M Ventureshield. This will prevent any further pitting and oxidation.

Before (notice the pitting and swirling)








Sanded down






Buffed (notice no swirling and smooth glossy finish)








Clear Mask being applied




Ready to be delivered!



enjoy

RedCelica

looks great! What were your sanding grits that you used?

Kenshyn

What kind of clear coat are you using?

HankookS2K

on this job i started at 600 and ended at 3000.

HankookS2K

the clear coat is from rightlook. the clear mask is 3m Ventureshield

Grip Hrd

So after wetsanding them you had them clear coated before putting on the ventureshield 3m mask?

And also, when wet sanding did you do them in circular motion or back and forth?

any info would happily appreciated

HankookS2K

No after the wet sanding you need to buff. A couple different stages with different pads and compounds to bring back the smooth finish and clarity. The clear coat is not a clear coat like your paint. It's a fast curing liquid that is applied to the plastic that gives it a like new uv protected film.

I wetsand with a DA, so it's circular.

Feel free to ask any more questions.

jonner

Afterfire

The headlights look absolutely gorgeous. I guess my question would be how would I be able to replicate that? Do you do this for a business or is this a hobby? I would be hoping for a lot for a video to teach me the steps to replicate your process with what products you use but I wouldnt imagine you had time or interest in that or you wouldve done it. So far I see you use a DA to sand starting from 600 to 3000, then buff, then apply your clearcoat liquid. I suppose there's not much guess work to your method other than asking what process and products do you use for buffing.

Grip Hrd

I've done wet sanding on many car parts, I've did BBS RS lips, stripped clear coat and wet sanding it from low grit to high, and ive done my exhaust. I have had no formal training. So I've just learned as I go, as long as it turns out better than it was then I am satisfied with it. I know that it could always be done better. I have not done the headlights yet, I have an AP1 that was hazed like crazy, I used the meguiers plastic x to take off the haze and then use the 3M plastic sealant. I would like to actually wet sand that sucker and make it look new and do what you had done with the clear coat and then with the clear mask.

What kind of clear coat did you use? could it be bought from the hardware store that comes in a aerosol spray can?