Dewalt 20V drill with 2-4 5Ah batteries
Drill backing plate (
Lake Country 3 Inch Drill Backing Plate)
5 each 3" pads, Microfiber, Yellow, Orange, White (
3 1/4 Inch Microfiber Cutting Pad (2-Pack),
Lake Country 3 Inch Flat Foam Pads)
McKee's Headlight Restoring polish (
McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish, headlight restoration)
Spray cans of 2k clear or maybe a regular can to brush it on.
Since using the McKees I havent had to use sandpaper anymore but if you want you can carry some wet/dry sandpaper or discs and some water in a spray bottle too.
:iagree: This is a good basic setup which will take care of most headlights.
I just did a quick HLR for my neighbor last weekend. Someone told him to use brake cleaner to clean his lights. He tried it and it didn't work out so good. The brake cleaner started melting the plastic.
Here's the light before I started and the damage caused by the brake cleaner. Both headlights looked like this.
I pretty much used the same setup mentioned by
dcjredline - Dewalt 20V drill with 2Ah battery (you'll get more life from a 5Ah battery), LC 3" Drill BP, LC 3.5" Foamed Wool Pad and McKee's 37 AIO HLR Polish.
Results were not perfect but much better. Good enough for just a quick restoration job that was a freebie.
Sealed with Meguiars Headlight Protectant. I realize it won't last that long but again, I didn't have much time and it was just a quickie. I'll do them again when needed since he lives across the street.
You will need to sand if the headlights are in bad shape or the factory coating has begun to fail.
I keep all my headlight restoration products in a plastic storage box where I keep different grits of sandpaper, foam, wool and MF pads.
I would also invest in a coating such as Opti-Lens in case it's windy and using the spray cans of 2K clear is not conducive.
I also like using the Griots Garage Mini 3" DA when I have access to electrical power. The GG Mini is great for sanding and when using thin pads.