Quick headlight restoration ?

idriveblackcars

idriveblackcars

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So all my cars have been new and I never needed to restore some older headlights.

But my buddy bought a an older Subaru and the headlights look like this lol

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I have zero products specially designed to do this job and my buddy is cheap. What can I use from my arsenal that will do the job? Can I treat them like paint and cut and polish?? I dunno..
 
Yes you can. I would also pick up some 2000, 3000, and maybe 3500 grit sand paper. Just spray the lens with water and wet sand. I would do the compound/polish first then hit it with some sand paper if need be. Tape everything off good or pull them out and do them on a work bench. Then seal them up with Jet Seal.

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Thanks for the replies.

Jeremy I own every grit, on hand from 1500 to 3000. Should I wet sand them?
 
idriveblackcars said:
Thanks for the replies.

Jeremy I own every grit, on hand from 1500 to 3000. Should I wet sand them?
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No, if you don't have to. Not only will it take more time, but it will remove any OEM coating on the headlight. The lights in the photo doesn't look that bad and a compound and polish should bring back the clarity.
 
Rsurfer said:
No, if you don't have to. Not only will it take more time, but it will remove any OEM coating on the headlight. The lights in the photo doesn't look that bad and a compound and polish should bring back the clarity.
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Thanks will do!

Probably start with a Rupes green pad and go from there, I would use microfiber pads but they use up so much more product with the priming and tend to get messy.

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it!
 
Put some rubbing compound on the lights, then rub in real good for about 30 seconds to the entire headlight. Then before it's had a chance to completely dry do the same thing with some polishing compound. Buff the whole light with a microfiber towel. The light will be completely clear, then top it off with some protectant (wax for a few weeks or so protection, some sealants for anywhere from a couple months to a year or more depending on the type). This technique works very well. If the lights don't clear up with this technique, the next step would probably be sanding (why sand if the easier way clears them up?).
 
Thanks for the advice guys.. Finally got around to it. Piece of cake.

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after

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This car is neglected to the extreme lol...gross

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I'm a little late to this, but ya if you can avoid sanding to get the majority of the clarity back with a polish or compound, do it. I typically use pfw on a da with 3"BP + Megs 101 and almost always have more than enough clarity and shine to make people satisfied.
 
Rsurfer said:
Good job and now the paint.:buffing:
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Thanks everyone!

As far as the paint goes... It has hours ahead of it lol. I hooked him up with the headlights I don't think I would do a full paint correction for free.
 
fly07sti said:
I'm a little late to this, but ya if you can avoid sanding to get the majority of the clarity back with a polish or compound, do it. I typically use pfw on a da with 3"BP + Megs 101 and almost always have more than enough clarity and shine to make people satisfied.
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Didn't even need to wetsand although I had 2000,2500 and 3000 on me. I used some thin 4" Megs micro fiber cutting pads on my PC. Didn't even need to break out the Rupes. Then cleaned it up with some M205 on a 4" white flat finishing pad. A few passes with both pads.
 
Actually I only had one 4" micro fiber cutting pad on me and it wasn't even new. I completely forgot a blew throw a few of them cleaning my shinny door pillars. And the lights were so oxidized after 2 passes the 4" pad was full of residue. I knew I wouldn't get the same result with the other headlight so I had to make do. I wanted to keep using the 3.5" backing plate.

lol I made some little micro fiber cutting pads out of my 5.5" pads, I own plenty of these
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I was bored today
 
Rsurfer said:
What did you use to protect the lens?
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The only sealant I had plenty of with UV protection was jetseal. I don't use it anymore on my vehicles and want to get rid of it. I figure every few months I could apply two coats see if it stays clear.

I did find out this was the second time they were restored.
 
Ya they turned out great. Most Subarus that I have worked with have either soft or very soft clear, so doing a correction for him to get that paint to maybe 80-85% will probably be quite easy and not take too much time. Something like hyper polish, M205 or equivalent on a polish pad will work wonders on that dead paint. lol
 
fly07sti said:
Ya they turned out great. Most Subarus that I have worked with have either soft or very soft clear, so doing a correction for him to get that paint to maybe 80-85% will probably be quite easy and not take too much time. Something like hyper polish, M205 or equivalent on a polish pad will work wonders on that dead paint. lol
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Thanks I will keep that in mind if and when I do the whole car.
 
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