I just picked up a pair of mercedes headlights for a pretty low price and I'm planning on restoring it to new condition. The reason it was a low price was because someone used an exact o-knife and ran it down the headlights. If you run your finger over the scratches, the scratches are sort of lumpy, not the type of scratches where your able to put your fingernail in. I tried 400grit sanding and the result of it was the scratches are now leveled and your not able to feel the scratches, but you can still see it. Any suggestions how to remove them? Coarser grade sandpaper?
Removing scratches from headlights
- Thread starter jyu1210
- Start date
Matt
New member
- Aug 25, 2008
- 1,275
- 0
How is he original clearcoat on them? (I'm assuming these are polycarbonate lenses).
Personally I would sand back the clearcoat completely (entire headlight), then focus on the scratch until its fully removed. Once you've removed the scratch (may as well stick with 400grit sandpaper), paint them using clearcoat. The clearcoat will cover the sanding marks perfectly (and the clearcoat requires sanding marks for proper adhesion.
You can use regular aerosol clear (1k) or if you really want to do it properly you can use Spraymax 2k clearcoat. This is an aerosol can that you activate by pushing the red cap in the base to mix the hardener with the clear before using (note: paint must be used within 48hours of activating). Unless you have a spray gun, the you could mix your own clearcoat and spray it.
http://www.spraymax.de/index.php?id=361&L=1
This is the manufacturers website- you can purchase it online from many retailers.
When recoating headlights, I've found no difference in finish quality whether I do a final sand with 400 or 2000 grit. Finishing with 400 grit just means you have less steps to take before you can paint.
I hope this makes sense, it's kinda hard to write well on my phone
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so please excuse any grammatical errors
Personally I would sand back the clearcoat completely (entire headlight), then focus on the scratch until its fully removed. Once you've removed the scratch (may as well stick with 400grit sandpaper), paint them using clearcoat. The clearcoat will cover the sanding marks perfectly (and the clearcoat requires sanding marks for proper adhesion.
You can use regular aerosol clear (1k) or if you really want to do it properly you can use Spraymax 2k clearcoat. This is an aerosol can that you activate by pushing the red cap in the base to mix the hardener with the clear before using (note: paint must be used within 48hours of activating). Unless you have a spray gun, the you could mix your own clearcoat and spray it.
http://www.spraymax.de/index.php?id=361&L=1
This is the manufacturers website- you can purchase it online from many retailers.
When recoating headlights, I've found no difference in finish quality whether I do a final sand with 400 or 2000 grit. Finishing with 400 grit just means you have less steps to take before you can paint.
I hope this makes sense, it's kinda hard to write well on my phone
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so please excuse any grammatical errors