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We use 4 different coatings, depending on the customer: Proprietary-1K polyurethane (probably similar to Minwax) lowest cost. No warranty, expect 6 months, for low end used car dealers. Wipe on. Single pass. Also used for acrylic. Usually requires 3000 grit prep. Proprietary-1K resin based...

Most polyurethane based coatings protect against UV by absorbing it and converting it to heat. The material can only absorb a finite amount of UV. Once it reaches it's capacity, the molecules break their links (cloudy, yellow). The only way to increase lifetime of these type coatings is to...

Delta Kits, Glass Weld, Speedokote, Medallion, Momentive, etc.

The pros I'm talking about use professional grade products and warrant their work. Some do headlights only, or as an added service. My definition of a pro is someone that strips off the old coating through chemical strip or sanding, prepares the surface for a new coating, then applies a new...

Most pros will not restore headlights with interior damage. They are repairable, but must be removed, delamited in an oven, repaired then resealed in an oven. Usually not cost effective. ray6

It is possible to remove a headlight and remove moisture with hot air, but you have to find where the water is coming in and patch it. The front polycarbonate can aalso be removed by softening the adhesive that holds it to the body, but it is difficult to reseal it. Unless the headlights are...

What you're seeing is the breakdown of the original factory protective coating. This coating is needed to protect the polycarbonate headlight from UV and moisture. The only practical cure is to remove this damaged coating and replace it with a new one. Probably easiest fix is to find a...

I don't know. We have competition in the area and I know of 1 who uses the spar varnish method. He used to warrant for 1 year but stopped because he was getting some callbacks. We haven't got a callback for quite a while, but we don't use spar varnish. I have a hard time believing spar would...

From what I've seen, you're lucky to get 12 months on average but it really depends on location, headlight orientation and quality of coatings. You'll probably find that the F-150 will easily last a year. One of our service providers used to use this mix but gave the customer a small tube of...

We use 4 different coatings, depending on the customer's needs. Although we don't use Minwax/MS, we do use a low price polyurethane probably similar to Minwax spar. Here's a list of what we use, what it costs and warranties we issue: UVHC (Polyurethane 1K) no warranty/.86/headlight PREMIUM...

Assuming all the original coating was removed when you restored, when you see heavier deterioration at the top, it's probably be due to that surface receiving more UV than the rest of the headlight. If you wait long enough, the entire headlight will cloud starting from the top and working down...

Great work! Using polyurethane, you could probably stop at 1500 because the poly will fill in 1500 grit scratches. Using diluted poly is a tradeoff. As you thin it, the final coating becomes thinner, less material means less UV adsorption capaicty, meaning shorter life. As you thicken the...

We never used spar/MS, but we do use a polyurethane which I believe is similar to Minwax/spar. Since these coatings cure by oxidation, storing them diluted with ms or undiluted will depend on the amount of oxygen it's in contact with. Also, it will depend on the type of container it's stored in...

If you've ever wondered what's happening to headlights when being restored, you might find this interesting. Photos are in an album titles: Headlight surface The way most UV protection works is that certain wavelengths of light (specifically UV) will cause certain molecules to adsorb the...

Iagree it was confusing. I talked to my plastics friend and he informed me that there are some coatings and compounds used in molding polycarbonate that enhance scratch resistance and are similar to the stuff they use on eyeglasses. He said they don't play part in UV protection and could be...

Surface before stripping showing loss of cross-linking.

1k coating after 1500 grit.

2k coating after 3000 grit finish.

Microphotos of polycarbonate headlight being restored.

500 grit scratches.