Just ordered the Meguiars Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration kit, question...

Mister B said:
In the Meguiar's instructions that come with their professional headlight restoration kit it advises to dry sand with 500 & 800 and then to damp sand with 1000 and 3000 finishing discs.
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Thank you, sir. :dblthumb2: I'm gonna dry sand with 500 and 800, then finish with 1500grit(damd sand), then apply an aerosol 1K clear coat. We'll see how that works.
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
Thank you, sir. :dblthumb2: I'm gonna dry sand with 500 and 800, then finish with 1500grit(damd sand), then apply an aerosol 1K clear coat. We'll see how that works.
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when your done do a write up especially with the 1k clear coat, i really would like to know how that works.
 
Headlights are by far my favorite thing to do.. What I have is 3" disks of 500, 800, 1000, 2000 & 3000. Menzerna power gloss, power finish, BuffPro with wool pad and Klasse sealant. I rarely take more than 30 minutes to do a set. If I dry sand, I use compressed air to blow off the paper as I'm going so it doesn't get all clogged. I once had a lady se her headlights and actually start crying because they looked so good. True story!
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
Thank you, sir. :dblthumb2: I'm gonna dry sand with 500 and 800, then finish with 1500grit(damd sand), then apply an aerosol 1K clear coat. We'll see how that works.
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Cool. I look forward to seeing your results.

I repaired a set of headlights last year on a 2002 Nissan Sentra shown in the thread below. I used a kit (not sold by AG) that came with everything needed to restore 1 set of headlights including sandpaper and clear coat. I followed the directions and sanded the headlights with 400, 1000 and 2000 and then finished with a foam brush applied clear coat. They turned out well.

2002 Nissan Sentra Extreme Makeover

Oxidized_Headlight.JPG


Wet_Sanded_Headlight.JPG


Restored_Headlight.JPG
 
I almost forgot.. I used to use the 3m kit for headlights but at $18 a kit and doing 10 sets per week, I had to come up with a more cost effective solution.. But the 3m kit did a great job! only thing it was missing is a sealer.
 
Mister B said:
Cool. I look forward to seeing your results.

I repaired a set of headlights last year on a 2002 Nissan Sentra shown in the thread below. I used a kit (not sold by AG) that came with everything needed to restore 1 set of headlights including sandpaper and clear coat. I followed the directions and sanded the headlights with 400, 1000 and 2000 and then finished with a foam brush applied clear coat. They turned out well.

2002 Nissan Sentra Extreme Makeover

Oxidized_Headlight.JPG


Wet_Sanded_Headlight.JPG


Restored_Headlight.JPG
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Looks great, Brian!! :props:
 
any of you guys tried the tooth paste and a buffer trick i tried it and the 3m kit and and compared them side by side and looked the same
 
Well, other than the two discs that came with the kit, I no longer have use for the other stuff. I've found using a DA gives better results when sanding, rather than by hand. I just picked up a bottle of 1K clear coat, 500, 800 Meg's unigrit discs along with the 1000 grit I already have.

I waste way too much money on detailing products!
 
BorisC said:
You mean you've invested alot of money in your detailing education, right? :coolgleam:
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Well, I just applied U-POL clear coat to headlights that were sanded with 1000grit(per data sheet), and the lens looks cloudy. :( I appled it outdoors and there was a very slight breeze. Don't know if that could be the culprit?

Edit: the more I let it dry, the clearer it got. :righton:
 
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07 z-oh-6 said:
Well, I just applied U-POL clear coat to headlights that were sanded with 1000grit(per data sheet), and the lens looks cloudy. :( I appled it outdoors and there was a very slight breeze. Don't know if that could be the culprit?

Edit: the more I let it dry, the clearer it got. :righton:
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:props:
 
so any before/after pics, did it come out looking as good as you wanted or do you think it could be better ?
 
dwengier77 said:
so any before/after pics, did it come out looking as good as you wanted or do you think it could be better ?
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It works on headlights that aren't severely oxidized, but it does pretty good. It comes with finishing discs which don't have the leveling ability of some of the more aggressive discs. I bought some 320, 500, and 800 sanding discs to go along with the foam 1000 & 3000 finishing discs. I also like polishing the lenses with a DA rather than a drill/wool pad. I do like the hand pad that comes with the kit. Sorry, no before and after.
 
Mark,
How did the clear coat spray work for you, was it easy to apply? and how long did it take to cure ? Sorry for all the ?'s but I am going to be working on my brothers' severely oxidized lights, so any insights will help.
 
dwengier77 said:
Mark,
How did the clear coat spray work for you, was it easy to apply? and how long did it take to cure ? Sorry for all the ?'s but I am going to be working on my brothers' severely oxidized lights, so any insights will help.
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I couldn't get the results with the clear coat as others have. It could be the brand? It could be my spraying technique? I'm not sure. It made the lenses cloudy. I got the results I wanted by hand sanding up to 3000 grit, then polishing with a 3" MF cutting disc and M105. I then sealed the headlights with the headlight sealant that can with the Meg's HD kit. :dblthumb2:
 
I feel your pain on the spray cc. I just did the somewhat same (800-1000-1500 wet and spraymax 1k) and it looks good but my OCD says no. Not fuzzy or anything just not completely shiny. I'm going to go at it with 2000 and maybe 105/205 and see that goes. I know its a lot of steps but oh well. I'll have pics later
 
I wonder if lightly polishing the clear coat would remove any of the haziness?
 
My procedure

Wetsand 800-1000-1500
Tape off exposed paint
1 coat Spraymax 1k Clear-dried for 30 min
2nd coat dried for 10
3rd coat cured overnight

before

lights002.jpg


Repaired and cured overnight (you can kind of see the "orange peel" in the lower left hand corner)

lights005.jpg


After the cure it still had lets say "Orange peel"

So i sanded again with 1500
105/orange
205/white
and sealed

I am 93% happy with the results

lights006.jpg
 
scoobydann said:
My procedure

Wetsand 800-1000-1500
Tape off exposed paint
1 coat Spraymax 1k Clear-dried for 30 min
2nd coat dried for 10
3rd coat cured overnight

before

lights002.jpg


Repaired and cured overnight (you can kind of see the "orange peel" in the lower left hand corner)

lights005.jpg


After the cure it still had lets say "Orange peel"

So i sanded again with 1500
105/orange
205/white
and sealed

I am 93% happy with the results

lights006.jpg
Click to expand...
They look good from this vantage point....good job, i hope to be able to get same results, thanks for sharing
 
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