Headlight sealant: spar urethane vs. opti coat 2.0

Ps.

Louie Blu,
Can you send me an example of one of your successful fliers? :thankyousign:
 
Louie_Blu said:
Well I checked out some dealers yesterday and was able to pick up one mom and pop dealer, I offered them $25.00 per headlight only if they give me cars on a regular basis.
You have to try and get what you deserve or worth, some dealers wouldn't even give me the time of day, but the ones that do are worth it. It is so easy to show them how much better the vehicle looks, not too mention its not hard to add an extra 50 or 75 dollars to a cars sticker price and make their money back when they sell the car, I am also offering the Dr. ColorChip repair as well so they know I do other work.

Keep trying guys eventually there will be better days and just getting your name out there is important, Flyers and Business card to me are not really a waste of time because regardless if they don't want or cant afford to do the work, at least they have your contact information which can lead to them asking for you later on or even referring you to a friend, I like to actually talk to potential customers as opposed to just leaving a Flyer on a car, and if they cant afford my price, I will let them know that I can knock off a few bucks as long as they can refer me to friends and family, this should produce more work over time.
Hope this helps, More power to you guys and God Speed

Louie
:buffing::hungry::xyxthumbs:
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Louie......you are correct. I used to be a realtor and getting your name out there was very important. For me right now, since I am just doing this weekends for some extra cash, I can't afford to spend the money on flyers. If I ever decide to do it more like a job....definately...flyers....displays at local parts stores and anywhere else that would allow it. Great info
 
Well, I have decided to add in another car in this experiment, to see if I get the same results. And there will possibly be another car added in within the next week or so, that way we can compare all three results to see if they are comparable. This particular car is about 4 or 5 hours from me, so getting updates and pictures may not always be convenient or easy. So, hopefully the updates on this car will be anywhere from 2-4 months.

This car is a chevy malibu, not sure on year, probably around 2005 give or take a year. The lights were just starting to show signs of clear coat failure, and had a lot of pitting. I removed the lights to work on them indoors out of the wind and rain.

Here are some before pictures, and they really are not in that bad of shape, but they needed some attention.






Both lights were hand sanded using 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 3000. These lights were difficult to remove the old clear, and I have run into this problem before with GM cars. Next I took the passenger side light cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol several times, primed it with mineral spirits and applied the spar urethane, and that light was finished. Then I took the drivers side light and polished it with meguiars DA microfiber correction compound with the cutting disc on speed 5 with my old UDM, followed up by m205 on a black pad. To insure that I have removed all polishing oils, I cleaned the lights with Optimum Power Clean three separate times using brand new microfiber rags. The reason I used new rags was that I knew for sure that the rags did not have any previous wax or polish residue in them. Then, I cleaned the lights again with Isopropyl alcohol three separate times with the blue shop rag. NOW, there is no doubt that I removed ALL polishing oils from the lens getting treated with opti coat. Then, I applied the opti coat and let both lights cure for several days before reinstalling the lights on the malibu.

Here are a few after pictures.
Drivers side Opti-Coat



Passengers side Spar urethane treatment



Both of these lights showed signs of interior deterioration as well, so they are not perfect, but look much better.
 
Part-timer said:
Me too........would love to see that.
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HeadlightRestFlyer.jpg

you guys are welcome to use it if you'd like, just make your changes, I Made this on Microsoft Publisher it is simple but effective:xyxthumbs:
 
HotRod said:
Both lights were hand sanded using 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 3000. These lights were difficult to remove the old clear, and I have run into this problem before with GM cars. Next I took the passenger side light cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol several times, primed it with mineral spirits and applied the spar urethane, and that light was finished. Then I took the drivers side light and polished it with meguiars DA microfiber correction compound with the cutting disc on speed 5 with my old UDM, followed up by m205 on a black pad. To insure that I have removed all polishing oils, I cleaned the lights with Optimum Power Clean three separate times using brand new microfiber rags. The reason I used new rags was that I knew for sure that the rags did not have any previous wax or polish residue in them. Then, I cleaned the lights again with Isopropyl alcohol three separate times with the blue shop rag. NOW, there is no doubt that I removed ALL polishing oils from the lens getting treated with opti coat. Then, I applied the opti coat and let both lights cure for several days before reinstalling the lights on the malibu.

Here are a few after pictures.
Drivers side Opti-Coat

.
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Hello HotRod, I see you used 7 types of sandpaper from low grit to higher grit was it really neccesary to use that much Sandpaper? you did mention because it was a GM car
Also you mentioned that you Primed first with Mineral spirits then applied Spar Urethane did you not mix the Urethane with Mineral Spirits as well ? just curious but aren't supposed to polish the headlight then apply Opti-Coat, or is this just for your experiment sorry for so many questions lol just would like to know
thanks for your time
Louie
P.S.
BTW Fantastic Job on those Headlights HotRod
 
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Does the OC leave lines like the urethane tends to do or is it a smooth finish?
 
Louie_Blu said:
Hello HotRod, I see you used 7 types of sandpaper from low grit to higher grit was it really neccesary to use that much Sandpaper? you did mention because it was a GM car
Also you mentioned that you Primed first with Mineral spirits then applied Spar Urethane did you not mix the Urethane with Mineral Spirits as well ? just curious but aren't supposed to polish the headlight then apply Opti-Coat, or is this just for your experiment sorry for so many questions lol just would like to know
thanks for your time
Louie
P.S.
BTW Fantastic Job on those Headlights HotRod
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I agree Fantastic Job!!! And Louie's question about the number of different grits, I see some people starting with 800 and going through to 2000, and others start at 400 and go to 3000.

Do you start with 800 first and then if it's not removing enough of the sealant drop down to 400?
 
Louie_Blu said:
Hello HotRod, I see you used 7 types of sandpaper from low grit to higher grit was it really neccesary to use that much Sandpaper? you did mention because it was a GM car
Also you mentioned that you Primed first with Mineral spirits then applied Spar Urethane did you not mix the Urethane with Mineral Spirits as well ? just curious but aren't supposed to polish the headlight then apply Opti-Coat, or is this just for your experiment sorry for so many questions lol just would like to know
thanks for your time
Louie
P.S.
BTW Fantastic Job on those Headlights HotRod
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I usually start with 400, but thats just how I do it, in my opinion its necessary with most lights. I do them all by hand, if you used an electric or air sander you probably would not need that coarse of grit, and it would go faster and be more uniformly sanded. The GM lights that I have worked with have very hard clear coats on the lens, so it takes a little extra time, elbow grease and thats why you want coarse sandpaper. I think 400 is the coarsest paper I have tried.

The reason I prime the lights with mineral spirits before the application of the spar is to make it go on smoother. A member of this forum gave me that tip, and I have not had any application problems since then. No streaks and no do-overs, with this step. I prime the lens, let it dry, mix the spar urethane and mineral spirits 50/50 in unwaxed cup, apply the treatment and let dry.

And yes, I did polish the opti coat lens after sanding and before application of opti coat. And I removed all polishing oils before the treatment was applied to insure that we have the best bond possible, and that there are no doubts that I did it right.
 
Louie Blu,

Thanks for your Flyer. Its looks a lot more professional then mine.:dblthumb2::
Do you print them from home or have them done at a print shop?

Thanks again for your input

Gatto5
 
Gatto5 said:
Louie Blu,

Thanks for your Flyer. Its looks a lot more professional then mine.:dblthumb2::
Do you print them from home or have them done at a print shop?

Thanks again for your input

Gatto5
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I printed them at home but I have it saved on my Computer if I ever need to go to Kinko's although that can be expensive I might just start printing 2 per page would save a lot on ink lol
Glad you liked the Flyer Gatto:xyxthumbs:
 
HotRod said:
I usually start with 400, but thats just how I do it, in my opinion its necessary with most lights. I do them all by hand, if you used an electric or air sander you probably would not need that coarse of grit, and it would go faster and be more uniformly sanded. The GM lights that I have worked with have very hard clear coats on the lens, so it takes a little extra time, elbow grease and thats why you want coarse sandpaper. I think 400 is the coarsest paper I have tried.

The reason I prime the lights with mineral spirits before the application of the spar is to make it go on smoother. A member of this forum gave me that tip, and I have not had any application problems since then. No streaks and no do-overs, with this step. I prime the lens, let it dry, mix the spar urethane and mineral spirits 50/50 in unwaxed cup, apply the treatment and let dry.

And yes, I did polish the opti coat lens after sanding and before application of opti coat. And I removed all polishing oils before the treatment was applied to insure that we have the best bond possible, and that there are no doubts that I did it right.
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Thanks for more detail on what you did, it really helps me out as I further my knowledge on Headlight restoration.
Much appreciated HotRod:dblthumb2:

Louie
 
Hey guys thanks for all the wisdom about headlights. what brand of sandpaper is the best or seems to work effectively? Im new in this field and very excited to start. Thank you again
 
QS&K HEADLIGHTS said:
Hey guys thanks for all the wisdom about headlights. what brand of sandpaper is the best or seems to work effectively? Im new in this field and very excited to start. Thank you again
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I am curious about the brand and type of sandpaper everyone uses too. I found a website where I get a 50 pack box of any grit up to 3000, 9" X 11" wet/dry paper for $15.00 It is Silicone Carbide.
What does everyone else use?
 
the best wet sand papers have a waterproof coated backing on them, however norton wet sandpaper is pretty good and seems to be uni-grit, 3m wet/dry seems OK but dont seem to have uniform abrasives, and of course there is the infamous nikken papers which are top of the line and are what the meguiars sand papers are. best is to get high quality sandpaper if your doing high quality work, uniform abrasive size helps with getting the best final finish possible, however if your just doing this method cheap wet sandpaper will work as its being filled anyways, but if you're doing something like wet sanding paint or something where you will be needing to remove sanding marks go with a high quality sand paper :).
 
Part-timer said:
I am curious about the brand and type of sandpaper everyone uses too. I found a website where I get a 50 pack box of any grit up to 3000, 9" X 11" wet/dry paper for $15.00 It is Silicone Carbide.
What does everyone else use?
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Would Like to Know that website Part-timer can you PM me with it, appreciate it:dblthumb2:
Thanks

Louie
 
As someone doing headlight work who has switched from spar urethane to opti coat (under the assumption it was better) I'm definitley curious how this plays out. thanks for the detailed writeup.
 
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