Headlight Restoration-new UV sealant idea

Thanks Mr. Fusion.........I think I might try buying the Griot polisher and using their method to see if I have better results.
 
Wills.WindowsAndWheels said:
Also they do sell 3" backing plates for full size polishers you know...like the PC or full size Griots....up to you.
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When I looked at the Griots website, they offered a 6" and a 3" tool. The 3" comes fitted with the hook and loop. The 6"..... I don't know if they offer a 3" attachment for it but, the 3" looked easier to handle and smaller than the 6". The 3" looked like the ticket for my use, plus it comes with a dvd, so that the way I went. Everything I read said not to exceed around 1700 rpm......this Griots 3" has a variable speed from 3500 to like 10,000 or something. I'll just have to see.
 
Wills.......Griots says they do not sell a 3" adapter for their 6" machine. Do you know where to get a 3" and if it fits the Griots machine?
 
Part-timer said:
Wills.......Griots says they do not sell a 3" adapter for their 6" machine. Do you know where to get a 3" and if it fits the Griots machine?
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Sorry i was unclear. Any 3" adapter for any DA, be it a Meguiars one or a PC or whatever...will fit Griots, the only exception is the Flex because they have their own custom backing plates due to the fact that they have a forced rotation spindle.

AG sells the meguiars one here Meguiars Unigrit 3 Inch Professional Backing Plate and Adaptor Kit, backing plate with adapters, meguiars backup pad ....
 
Should opti-coat be able to fill in sand scratches(1500) like a clear coat or urethane mix?
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
Should opti-coat be able to fill in sand scratches(1500) like a clear coat or urethane mix?
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I just got mine this week:hungry:... it does not fill in/hide scratches like the urethane. I did have one small test sample that showed some promise, but most of what I have done so far with it shows very little "coverage" of imperfections... definitely not enough to hide 1500. Maybe 3000, but for now I'm expecting it will need a compound/polish prior to OC.
 
mr.fusion said:
I just got mine this week:hungry:... it does not fill in/hide scratches like the urethane. I did have one small test sample that showed some promise, but most of what I have done so far with it shows very little "coverage" of imperfections... definitely not enough to hide 1500. Maybe 3000, but for now I'm expecting it will need a compound/polish prior to OC.
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Perfect answer. Thank you.
 
93fox said:
I agree. Its why i keep telling the people here that 800 and 600 do the job perfectly. Its not about taking the whole thing off and applying a new one. Its about bring back to life whats ALREADY THERE. And i agree with you too on doing a pair in 20 to 40 mins. I just cant understand why people spends hours doing a pair. If you start at 800 and you sand it and you see the yellow haze gone, thats it, move to the next grit. Trizacts are $90 something for a box of 15 6"... Its an arm and a leg if you ask me. Thats why for 3000g i use meguiars finishing paper. Yes i do it by hand but $26 for 25 sheets its alot cheaper and effective in my book.
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Im not sure the severity of headlights that you have done or the area that you are in, but in many cases around here(socal) i get headlights with clear that has failed at the top of the light but the bottom half is good clear. Due to the fact that failed coating comes off super easily, sure i can see 600-800 or even 1000 working just fine. but thats only going to be effective on half of the headlight. Now the headlight is exposed on the upper half and has good coating on the lower half. are you saying that after removing the failed clear, its now possible to just hit the entire light(uncoated and coated)with finishing grit and clear over?

There is a visible difference where there is no clear and clear. I would imagine that would be noticable once the spar mix is added. Am i wrong?
 
Depends on the specific vehicle and condition of the lens... sometimes the repaired top half blends great with the unstripped lower half. Other times not so much. If the factory clear has some pitting, checking, cracking... then it can definitely stand out as different than what was sanded out. Urethane coating does a lot to mask any noticeable difference most of the time. So as a general rule, you can clear over the whole lens whether you sand it all out or not.

Regarding that, I have to say (and sort of contradict myself from before) that sometimes the usual 600-800 is slow to remove good hard factory clear. Certain GM cars I have seen have rock hard clear that is much more difficult to remove. In fact, I'm going to pick up some 400 to keep with me from now on, just for those rare cases. I did one yesterday that needed all the factory clear removed because it was checked and pitted and definitely looked different than the sanded area.

It's not that my 600 doesn't do the job... but I think I can save time on the next one starting one step back. 400 should be good.
 
More thoughts on the coatings...

The 50/50 urethane coating is definitely a faster easier "headlights for dummies" method than the opti-coat.... because it hides a lot. It looks pretty good even over 1000-1500 and it's nice and glossy no matter what you did to the light. Downside is that it's tough to get a great looking streak-free and smooth finish.

Downside to the nano coating... you can't fudge the refinishing process, and you need to take it all the way to a polished finish. It won't hide your sanding marks or do half your job for you, and it won't easily gloss up a dull finish, like the urethane does. It's a lot more expensive and not as easy to use... a bit disappointing, but at the same time kinda makes me happy. It means it's not so much a DIY or jack-of-all-trades thing that every dealer, body shop, detail biz is going to be using.

I did a job yesterday (05 Volvo s70), but stopped short of OOC because a salesman/customer came to test drive the car just as I was finished polishing and ready to coat it. So I just hit it with Opti-clear and let them have it. It looked great, like brand new lights. But didn't get to see how OOC would look. And I forgot to get the "after" pic. :bash:
 
mitsuman95 said:
Im not sure the severity of headlights that you have done or the area that you are in, but in many cases around here(socal) i get headlights with clear that has failed at the top of the light but the bottom half is good clear. Due to the fact that failed coating comes off super easily, sure i can see 600-800 or even 1000 working just fine. but thats only going to be effective on half of the headlight. Now the headlight is exposed on the upper half and has good coating on the lower half. are you saying that after removing the failed clear, its now possible to just hit the entire light(uncoated and coated)with finishing grit and clear over?

There is a visible difference where there is no clear and clear. I would imagine that would be noticable once the spar mix is added. Am i wrong?
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Mitsuman95.....I agree....I posted earlier about that. I am here in Florida and get quite a few lights that just the top part is screwed up and have tried using 800, 600 and 400 to remove the "good" clear and all it did was dull my discs like it was titanium. I end up using 60 grit(because thats all I have on hand) by hand or a rough sanding block just to remove the "good" clear. I also tried blending the bad into the good and it left a visable line that was noticable to me. I definately admit that I am NOT a bodyman or pro at doing the headlights though. It's good to know that I am not the only one having a difficult time with those lights. I am going to get like a 220 disc or something...or else just have to go through 10 discs of 400 for one set of lights. Those kind are tough. Give me some 2000 Chevy Cavaliers or Chryslers that the coating is completely gone on, all day long.......ha
Im the MAN
 
Part-timer said:
Mitsuman95.....I agree....I posted earlier about that. I am here in Florida and get quite a few lights that just the top part is screwed up and have tried using 800, 600 and 400 to remove the "good" clear and all it did was dull my discs like it was titanium. I end up using 60 grit(because thats all I have on hand) by hand or a rough sanding block just to remove the "good" clear. I also tried blending the bad into the good and it left a visable line that was noticable to me. I definately admit that I am NOT a bodyman or pro at doing the headlights though. It's good to know that I am not the only one having a difficult time with those lights. I am going to get like a 220 disc or something...or else just have to go through 10 discs of 400 for one set of lights. Those kind are tough. Give me some 2000 Chevy Cavaliers or Chryslers that the coating is completely gone on, all day long.......ha
Im the MAN
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Those Cadillac lights are tough... definitely not your average bear. GM must put titanium in some of their clear. :bat:
 
Just as an update on my pre-mixed 50/50 spar/spirits. I just finished up the bottle with amazing results. After a month its still coating the headlight as it did the first coating. I had some issues with specs of crap getting on the headlight but apparently I wasn't getting enough product on the shop towel.

So as far as i can tell, if this mix is sealed tight, it can be stored. For how long? Not sure. But this mix still looked good and went on just as good as day 1, after a month. :props:

Also a question for you drill guys, are you guys following it up with a "finishing" foam pad? or going to a high grit with a regular sanding disc?

I was experimenting tonight with stopping at 2000 using a regular wet/dry sanding disc and it looked good, but i could still see swirls(up close with lights on at night) after 105 and 205 was applied. Although god dam it was a hell of a lot faster....
 
mitsuman95 said:
So as far as i can tell, if this mix is sealed tight, it can be stored. For how long? Not sure. But this mix still looked good and went on just as good as day 1, after a month. :props:

Also a question for you drill guys, are you guys following it up with a "finishing" foam pad? or going to a high grit with a regular sanding disc?

I was experimenting tonight with stopping at 2000 using a regular wet/dry sanding disc and it looked good, but i could still see swirls(up close with lights on at night) after 105 and 205 was applied. Although god dam it was a hell of a lot faster....
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The mix should store just as long as the original product. After all, the original product itself is stored in a seal tight container.

Am using the Griot's DA Polisher here and I follow up the the finishing foam pad. Seems to work for me.
 
mitsuman95 said:
Just as an update on my pre-mixed 50/50 spar/spirits. I just finished up the bottle with amazing results. After a month its still coating the headlight as it did the first coating. I had some issues with specs of crap getting on the headlight but apparently I wasn't getting enough product on the shop towel.

So as far as i can tell, if this mix is sealed tight, it can be stored. For how long? Not sure. But this mix still looked good and went on just as good as day 1, after a month. :props:

Also a question for you drill guys, are you guys following it up with a "finishing" foam pad? or going to a high grit with a regular sanding disc?

I was experimenting tonight with stopping at 2000 using a regular wet/dry sanding disc and it looked good, but i could still see swirls(up close with lights on at night) after 105 and 205 was applied. Although god dam it was a hell of a lot faster....
Click to expand...
I have been using a drill but have a small 3" Griot's machine coming in the mail. I've tried both ways. Mostly I used just wet sanding with 400, 800, 1500 and then a 3M Trizact 3000 foam pad. I have tried going to 1500 and then compounding and spar. 93Fox said though, that the compounding doesn't give the spar a good rough surface to "bite into". That makes sense to me, so I think I am gonna go back to just pads to 3000 and no compound.
 
Part-timer said:
I have been using a drill but have a small 3" Griot's machine coming in the mail. I've tried both ways. Mostly I used just wet sanding with 400, 800, 1500 and then a 3M Trizact 3000 foam pad. I have tried going to 1500 and then compounding and spar. 93Fox said though, that the compounding doesn't give the spar a good rough surface to "bite into". That makes sense to me, so I think I am gonna go back to just pads to 3000 and no compound.
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You do not need to polish the lens if you are applying the spar urethane coating, it's the same as when you paint, you want it to bite into the surface.

I am surprised nobody has tried Opti-Coat yet on headlights, since it should be a permanent coating. I have not tried it myself, however it would be much better than the urethane mix especially since it's not as messy and permanent.
 
I mix and store my spar urethane and mineral spirits in a screw-top individual-serving wine bottle that has been washed out and thoroughly dry. Put in the proper quantity of each, close the bottle and shake gently. The bubbles disperse quickly enough. The mix lasts until it's empty and does not set up in the bottle.
 
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