Headlight Restoration-new UV sealant idea

OK, so here are the water based spar urethane results....it SUCKS! Streaks really badly no matter what you do. Yes i used a 1:1 water dilution, and several other experiments with the mixtures... and nada.

I went back to home depot and found a can of this...

Varathane brand, spar urethane oil based clear gloss.(picture says semi gloss, get CLEAR GLOSS)

Rust-Oleum-242186-rw-204658-313575.jpg


Mixed 1:1 with spirits and it worked sooo much better. a few minor streaks but i need to refine my technique. after a few goes, i was able to apply evenly without streaks! :dblthumb2:

So for those wondering about water based as i was, don't do it. There are other options.

As i was desperately trying to figure out a way to apply streak free via water base solution, i thought to myself, why not use the foam pad applicator things chick use? you know the triangle looking stuff? seems as though it would go on pretty smoothly. anybody try that out? i might give it a whirl this weekend....
 
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I also found a good resource for sanding discs, they have a wide variety of sizes for a decent price, and your entire order ships for $5, or if over $150 ships free.

3" (Solid)

Are most of these discs wet/dry or do they have to specify?
 
Thanks for the heads up mitsuman!!!

This past weekend I got to do a set of lights and like HotRod I did not buff with any compound, but did sand up to 3000. The lights turned out great and my cusomer was WELL pleased. I hate I forgot to take pics. Also I did it all by hand (no drill). I've sanded it both ways now and I believe I like sanding by hand better...........gives me more control of the sandpaper.

I started out dry sanding with 500, 800, 1000 then switched to wet sanding with 1500, 2000, 3000.

One question.........what's the best thing to clean the headlights with before you start?
 
mitsuman95 said:
OK, so here are the water based spar urethane results....it SUCKS! Streaks really badly no matter what you do. Yes i used a 1:1 water dilution, and several other experiments with the mixtures... and nada.

I went back to home depot and found a can of this...

Varathane brand, spar urethane oil based clear gloss.(picture says semi gloss, get CLEAR GLOSS)

Rust-Oleum-242186-rw-204658-313575.jpg


Mixed 1:1 with spirits and it worked sooo much better. a few minor streaks but i need to refine my technique. after a few goes, i was able to apply evenly without streaks! :dblthumb2:

So for those wondering about water based as i was, don't do it. There are other options.

As i was desperately trying to figure out a way to apply streak free via water base solution, i thought to myself, why not use the foam pad applicator things chick use? you know the triangle looking stuff? seems as though it would go on pretty smoothly. anybody try that out? i might give it a whirl this weekend....
Click to expand...
i been experiement with the miniwax spar clear gloss it work better than my clear coat from dvelup. i mix it 1/1 with minerals spirits and turn out fine just dont go over board when mixing it all it takes a little
 
Rewind97 said:
One question.........what's the best thing to clean the headlights with before you start?
Click to expand...


Before you start sanding? or before you start sealing?

Sanding,

I just used water and a towel on mine to get a clearer idea of what spots need the most attention. i don't think it makes a real difference since you are going to sand it all off anyway.

Clearing,

From what i have read throughout this thread is to wipe down the headlight with straight mineral spirits before applying the 50/50 mix.
 
Thanks for the heads up mitsuman!!!

This past weekend I got to do a set of lights and like HotRod I did not buff with any compound, but did sand up to 3000. The lights turned out great and my cusomer was WELL pleased. I hate I forgot to take pics. Also I did it all by hand (no drill). I've sanded it both ways now and I believe I like sanding by hand better...........gives me more control of the sandpaper.

I started out dry sanding with 500, 800, 1000 then switched to wet sanding with 1500, 2000, 3000.

One question.........what's the best thing to clean the headlights with before you start?
Click to expand...

This might help you out....

HotRod said:
Here is another tip that I have found. Its a precleaner that helps cut the crud and pull most of the yellowing out of the headlights. Its used before wet sanding and buffing, and yes it does work. Here, is a few posts from the guy who shared this system on another forum, describing the pre cleaner, the sealer and application. In his own words:

"Here is the mix.I have used it for over 2 years. Its the same basic chemicals.Works great and you can mix for 5.00 a quart.
about 3 parts Westleys bleach white , white wall cleaner and 1 part Mean Green household cleaner.Its all in Walmart and cheap.Its the same chemicals that Dvelup uses and as is all of their stuff just common off the shelf items .For the sealer just mix Helmspar indoor/outdoor or marine spar urethane and just mix it 1-1 with mineral spirits.It is what they sell you for 75.00 8oz. lol By doing it the smart way its about 8.00 a quart lol....It works the same because it IS the same.
Get a blue Scott paper shop towel and cut in half.Fold 1 part into approximately 1" x1" and use the edge as a wipe.Dip into your Dixie cup that has the sealer mix and just wipe on from top to bottom(always wipe horizontally) and then just do the edges.The sealer will flow out and lay on the lens just as good as spraying and twice as fast.I never have any wipe lines show when cured.I use a heat gun to quick flash them or just turn on the Hi-Beams for a few minutes to set up.
Alcohol is what I use for a final cleaner just before I apply the sealer.Its not caustic enough to clean the crud from some of the real bad damaged lights.The pre-clean mix will draw the yellow and crud right out of the lens.Works real good.
Tim, a foam brush works good too but the Scott towel is much cheaper.JMO"

I use the pre cleaner by spraying the solution on a rag and wiping it on and off to remove the crud. This mixture is probably harmful to paint, so be careful. It basically helps remove the old UV coat sprayed on when it was new. The pic shows how much crud comes off with one wipe with this solution.
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What are you all doing for lights that look good in one part but bad in another area? Are you still removing ALL of the factory coating?

reggie1967 said:
i been experiement with the miniwax spar clear gloss it work better than my clear coat from dvelup. i mix it 1/1 with minerals spirits and turn out fine just dont go over board when mixing it all it takes a little
Click to expand...

Have you tried pre mixing and storing it in an air tight bottle? I'm going to try this out see how it works. I hate mixing for every job.

Sorry guys for all the questions... where do you all find your sheets of sand paper cheap? I had the chance to use the 3" hook n loop and i didnt like it. was a ##### on this 2004 dodge ram i did today. i ended up hand sanding most of it anyway.
 
I bought a 3" BP from ADS the other day...not the meguiars one but a different brand (name isn't coming to mind right now). Anyway AG sells the 3" Meguiars pad....I also bought the 3" foam interface pad, which is like $6 but worth the price.

I used them both with the sandpaper discs i got from AG and it worked quite well. The job was a RAV4 we polished out a couple months back and he decided to have the lights done too. I used 2 500 discs and 1 800 and 1 1500. Then compounded. I still compound..i understand those who dont, but it just looks clearer to me when i do. Maybe I'll try hand sanding it down to 2500 or 3000 next time but...this time i compounded. Anyway...the sanding discs worked really well for me BUT i saw some cheap wet/dry sandpaper at wally world...3M also...and it was like $4 or $5 for a pack of 6 sheets or so...pretty good price actually. I don't think they carried all the way up to 3000 grit though...only 2000 if i remember correctly.

For me though, i was happy with the 3" BP and discs....the only crap part is you have to clean the disc pretty often cause the old clear clogs it pretty fast. This may not be the case though if you have wet discs or wetsand. I suppose i could just change out discs more often but...i really don't want to waste a good disc if it still has cut in it.

Just my .02
 
Did a G35 today. Wasn't horrible but you can definitely see the yellow. This pair took me about an hour and 15 minutes from taping to clean up.

I used the original method of 400-800-1000-1500-2000-compound-prime-seal.

This was my very first complete attempt and it turned out great! Hopefully I can get um done a little quicker the more I do. How long are you guys who are hand sanding taking on average?

Got a couple cars scheduled for tomorrow. :hungry:
 
mitsuman95 said:
Did a G35 today. Wasn't horrible but you can definitely see the yellow. This pair took me about an hour and 15 minutes from taping to clean up.

I used the original method of 400-800-1000-1500-2000-compound-prime-seal.

This was my very first complete attempt and it turned out great! Hopefully I can get um done a little quicker the more I do. How long are you guys who are hand sanding taking on average?

Got a couple cars scheduled for tomorrow. :hungry:
Click to expand...

Hour to an hour and a half on average...The longest one i had was the lincoln headlights cause there was a lot of old clear on it and it took a while to sand off...i messed up cause i started off with 500 grit...it wasnt tough enough...once i upped to 320 it sped up some...but still took a while..plus it had the stupid little nubs on it that were a pain to sand around...that took bout 2 hrs i think...and i wasn't moving super fast either...so if you took an hour and 15 min you're pretty good...you'll find little things to speed it up and be down to an hour pretty soon im sure :)
 
Wills.WindowsAndWheels said:
Hour to an hour and a half on average...The longest one i had was the lincoln headlights cause there was a lot of old clear on it and it took a while to sand off...i messed up cause i started off with 500 grit...it wasnt tough enough...once i upped to 320 it sped up some...but still took a while..plus it had the stupid little nubs on it that were a pain to sand around...that took bout 2 hrs i think...and i wasn't moving super fast either...so if you took an hour and 15 min you're pretty good...you'll find little things to speed it up and be down to an hour pretty soon im sure :)
Click to expand...

Ok cool. Glad to know im not taking too much longer then i need to be!

How many passes are you taking with finer grits? When i feel i need to wipe off the headlight and clean my paper, ill do that process probably 3 times and ive had good success thus far. Its kind of hard to tell just by looking at the scratches for me. but i also dont want to take longer then i have to. Think ill go to the salvage yard and give it a few practice goes.
 
mitsuman95 said:
Ok cool. Glad to know im not taking too much longer then i need to be!

How many passes are you taking with finer grits? When i feel i need to wipe off the headlight and clean my paper, ill do that process probably 3 times and ive had good success thus far. Its kind of hard to tell just by looking at the scratches for me. but i also dont want to take longer then i have to. Think ill go to the salvage yard and give it a few practice goes.
Click to expand...

It's hard to say for sure...when i hit with my strongest grit, what i'm aiming for is a uniform 'frosted' look...as long as the whole headlight feels smooth and LOOKS the same, i feel its time to move on to the next step. If there is leftover sealant/clear from the factor, you will be able to tell cause it will look...i guess scale like is how you could describe it..or 'patchy' and you will notice if you run over that spot the clear will really start to fly again like when you first started. Once its all the same frosted color though, then i go to the next step. If you're able to have good light the whole time, that will help you keep it uniform on later grits. If not, just check your progress with a flashlight of some sort after each pass with a different grit.

The only problem i had on the last pair i did is because they were a rather LARGE pair of lights...so after wiping 2 or 3 times with the sealant...it started to streak. Not sure why, but i think on the next pair if it does that i'll do a wipe with 1 cloth for 2 or 3 rows, then change to a fresh cloth and finish the 2nd half of it.
 
I was looking into offering this to my customers. It works well, I tried it on a scrap headlight, the results were great. Only problem is that my customers don't want to let the car sit for several hours, they usually need the car right away, so this is not possible for me.

As someone else already mentioned, Opti-Coat 2.0 might be a good alternative, since it cures almost immediately, within a few minutes.
 
I saw some posts about that cleaner mixture before sanding. I would HIGHLY recommend you NOT use it because it is a chemical, and as with many household cleaners, they can bleach or stain paint or the black or "chrome" plastics. A few people have previously asked about using it as well. Here's my take: If you were about to re-tile a floor, would you use a really good floor stripper to get all the dirt and stains off? Similarly, sanding the top layer of the plastic is going to be taking all of the failed plastic, bugs, overspray, etc. If you use a grit that is coarse enough, it's going to come off in a couple of passes anyway and leave a smooth, clean layer to work with. There's no need to involve extra labor/materials/risk of damage.

Just my 2 pesos.
 
96Lude said:
I was looking into offering this to my customers. It works well, I tried it on a scrap headlight, the results were great. Only problem is that my customers don't want to let the car sit for several hours, they usually need the car right away, so this is not possible for me.

As someone else already mentioned, Opti-Coat 2.0 might be a good alternative, since it cures almost immediately, within a few minutes.
Click to expand...

Hours? mine dried in a matter of 20 minutes or less. and that was at room temperature with no heating on it to make them dry faster. turning on the lights for a few minutes while using a heat gun will make them cure alot quicker. i dont see where the several hours come from.
 
mitsuman95 said:
Did a G35 today. Wasn't horrible but you can definitely see the yellow. This pair took me about an hour and 15 minutes from taping to clean up.

I used the original method of 400-800-1000-1500-2000-compound-prime-seal.

This was my very first complete attempt and it turned out great! Hopefully I can get um done a little quicker the more I do. How long are you guys who are hand sanding taking on average?

Got a couple cars scheduled for tomorrow. :hungry:
Click to expand...
sweet very nice
 
mitsuman95 said:
Did a G35 today. Wasn't horrible but you can definitely see the yellow. This pair took me about an hour and 15 minutes from taping to clean up.

I used the original method of 400-800-1000-1500-2000-compound-prime-seal.

This was my very first complete attempt and it turned out great! Hopefully I can get um done a little quicker the more I do. How long are you guys who are hand sanding taking on average?

Got a couple cars scheduled for tomorrow. :hungry:
Click to expand...
what the price on that job if u care to share
 
mitsuman95 said:
This might help you out....



What are you all doing for lights that look good in one part but bad in another area? Are you still removing ALL of the factory coating?



Have you tried pre mixing and storing it in an air tight bottle? I'm going to try this out see how it works. I hate mixing for every job.

Sorry guys for all the questions... where do you all find your sheets of sand paper cheap? I had the chance to use the 3" hook n loop and i didnt like it. was a ##### on this 2004 dodge ram i did today. i ended up hand sanding most of it anyway.
Click to expand...
if u mix it and put it up it will get hard of a period of time so dont store it
 
93fox said:
Hours? mine dried in a matter of 20 minutes or less. and that was at room temperature with no heating on it to make them dry faster. turning on the lights for a few minutes while using a heat gun will make them cure alot quicker. i dont see where the several hours come from.
Click to expand...

It depends on the temp and humidity. A bloody-hot afternoon in the summer and it will cook it in about 15 mins but during the winter months (50-ish degrees) it can take close to an hour. The heat gun helps a little.
 
g35_coupe said:
It depends on the temp and humidity. A bloody-hot afternoon in the summer and it will cook it in about 15 mins but during the winter months (50-ish degrees) it can take close to an hour. The heat gun helps a little.
Click to expand...

Exactly, up here in Canada it's not always super hot.

Most of the clients I do work for are not patient at all, even 1 hour seems to long for me to work on their headlights sometimes.
 
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