98 Prelude Headlight Restoration

A

Antihero47

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Went out and purchased the 3M headlight restore kit with drill attachment. (got it not only for headlight but to have the 3 inch foam cutting pad for the drill to get to tight areas in my arsenal.

1. Sand with 500 grit pads
2. Sand with 800 grit pads
3. Wetsand with 3000 grit pad
4. Polish with M105
5. Polish with M205

Looking for a good sealant... Any suggestions?

Before and Afters
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When I used to seal headlights with Powerlock, it lasted for almost 3 months in the hot Hawaiian weather, I figured if you seal your headlights every month, it will last long.:xyxthumbs:
 
Good job on those lights. I can't help much on the sealant part. I do headlights often and I first used a paint sealant but recently bought some headlight sealant OTC by Meguiars. I would like to know if there is any thing that's better.

I know u could use opti coat.

Sent from my SCH-L710 using AG Online
 
I would love to try the new Opti-Lens. That might be your best bet to protect all that work. Nice turn around!
 
Yeah, I'll have to look into the opti products, I am looking into opticoating my truck. I went ahead and threw some megs ultimate paste wax for now. I appreciate all the help guys!
 
Definitely look into getting the new Opti-lens, especially if there is any chance you will be doing lights for someone else. On your own car, you could give it a polish every so often. But if you do lights for $, you don't want people seeing their lights looking like crap again in a few months.

For lights, you need the Optilens, which (unlike opticoat) has UV inhibitors to prevent the plastic from yellowing.

I've been using it since late last summer... have done a ton of cars with it and it's my go-to coating now, almost exclusively.
 
mr.fusion said:
Definitely look into getting the new Opti-lens, especially if there is any chance you will be doing lights for someone else. On your own car, you could give it a polish every so often. But if you do lights for $, you don't want people seeing their lights looking like crap again in a few months.

For lights, you need the Optilens, which (unlike opticoat) has UV inhibitors to prevent the plastic from yellowing.

I've been using it since late last summer... have done a ton of cars with it and it's my go-to coating now, almost exclusively.
Click to expand...

Yeah right now its just weekend warrior stuff. I haven't done anyones car just this one (the gf's) to see how it worked. I'll look into opti-lense since I need to buy a few things off auto geek.

How long does it take you guys to do the headlight restore? Mine took me some time but maybe that's because it was my first time. Also how much do you charge?
 
I sealed my gf's car with one thin coat of Menzerna Power Lock and her headlights still haven't gone back to fading and this was back in January in Florida.
 
Pricing and time varies a lot. Some are cake and some will test your patience. Could be 10 minutes, or an hour+ on bad ones. For example, GM vehicles tend to be difficult, and require MUCH more work sanding/fixing the damage than the average set. Your Honda is a breeze compared to a Chevy Impala or a CTS.

Used to be able to sell it for $50-100, even on dealer lots. But now the market has changed dramatically due to the flood of DIY products, "wipe it away" commercials, and competition from seemingly everyone who has anything to do with working on cars. Might still get those prices for some retail work. But for dealer work, cut those figures in half... and that's about where it is now, most places it seems.
 
I have tried the OTC Meguiars Headlight protectant and it lasted me maybe 2 weeks. Powerlock works alright as long as you apply a coat maybe every month which shouldn't be hard to do.
 
I think the Megs headlight protectant is only a preventative product for new lights, not to actually seal an unprotected lens
 
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