2 succesful Headlight Resto's

[Helljumper09]

The first resto is from a fairly regular client that has been coming to me for a couple of months now.:xyxthumbs: He picks up cars from the local auto auction and repairs the neccesary things and then re-sells them for a profit. Most of them require a headlight restoration of some kind or another. His latest car was a Ford Taurus and they weren't the worst Iv'e ever done but the resale hopes were dim

Before:

And After Restoration:

The second car is a 2005 Cavalier. I don't remember if I already posted this car or not so here is the
Before:

And the after:

Please feel free to leave comments or questions and thanks for looking:dblthumb2:

 

[SeaJay's]

great work! Something as simple as how clear the head lights are can really make a difference in both light projection and just the overall look of the car.

 

[Rhudeboye]

I need help with this. What product did you use?

 

[Helljumper09]

Rhudeboye: as to which product I used is wetsand with 800, 1000, and then 2000 folowed up by polishing with Meguiars PlastX on a Mothers Powerball Mini on a high speed power drill. Any other questions please feel free to ask.

 

[g35_coupe]

Both turned out awesome.

 

[Diskat]

Holly .... That's perfect !!!

 

[sohail99]

I didn't know plastX had 2000grit scratch removing ability!

Great work indeed!

I'll try to restore the headlights of my dad's car. Though I have 4" rotary pads!(I guess M105 and 205 will do after wetsanding?)

and doesn't wetsanding remove a anti-uv protection layer?
(last time I was restoring a headlight I kinda removed a film like thing)

 

[MetaEnder]

but the resale hopes were dim

Haha.



Great job! I think headlight restorations are one of the best things to do to a worn out car.

 

[Meghan]

Very nice, they look new!

 

[Helljumper09]

Haha.



Great job! I think headlight restorations are one of the best things to do to a worn out car.

When I wrote "dim", I didn't think of it in that sense, now I look back and laugh.LOL

 

[tuscarora dave]

and doesn't wetsanding remove a anti-uv protection layer?

I could be wrong but I believe that when the lenses look the way the OP's did, the UV protection is already gone.

 

[slickooz]

Is there anything you can apply to give it UV protection?

 

[reggie1967]

they look nice but what happen to the uv clearcoat or u just polish it

 

[Helljumper09]

Polishing is a key step in restoring headlights and is my second to last step in my process. After polishing, i lay on a 50/50 mix of Mineral spirits and Minwax Helmsman Spar urethane with a Scotts Blue shop towel folded into a 2x2 inch square.

 

[detaildave]

Excellent work!!!:dblthumb2:

 

[Rodger Johnson]

Both look awesome! Nice work. How much time did you spend on each of them?

 

[BobbyG]

When I wrote "dim", I didn't think of it in that sense, now I look back and laugh.LOL

That actually was pretty good! :laughing:

 

[reggie1967]

Very nice, they look new!

nice job

 

[Helljumper09]

Both look awesome! Nice work. How much time did you spend on each of them?

I figured between sanding, polishing, and re-sealing, it probably took me a good half hour to 45 min for each one. To others this may seem like a long time but I like to make sure that most if not all of the sanding marks are gone before I apply the seal coat. It just makes it that much easier for the sealer to fill in the rest of the micro marks that are left after the PlastX does it's job.