Are these headlights not buffable or am I crazy??

S

smokedlights

New member
Joined
Dec 12, 2013
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Will try to make this as simple and to the point as possible. I have done a lot of sanding buffing etc on headlights as well. But have a particular issue with a set in doing now. I did 1000-1500-2000 first dry then I did them wet because I thought I was losing my mind. I get to 2000 the lights are hazed and look normally as 2000 grit would be. I then put compound and buff it clears up some but no where near what it should. It seems as if the 1000 grit marks are never being removed or something??

I sanded a lot. You could see the paper doing its job etc. I am dumb founded. I plan to just hit them again with 1000 and shoot them with clear tomorrow. Are there some headlights made out of some kind of special plastic or something?? I'm aware of the coating that is on a lot. And I went past it and the light is even etc... Any help is appreciated
 
sometimes condensation builds up on the other side of the plastic if there is a leak in the headlight. Ive seen it happen a few times.
 
It's def on the outside she'll that is giving me a problem. They weren't that bad to begin with and now they are worse. They have a haze from somewhere along the sanding process that does not seem to want to come back
 
Does the "haze" clear up if you put water on the headlight lens? If so, it's probably just sanding marks that were not refined from a lower grit paper that is giving you problems to fully polish out. If the haze does not disappear with the lens wet then the failed UV coating might not be fully removed and more sanding is required. The UV coating can be quite thick on some headlights. 20-30+ microns to fully remove (in some cases).
 
It substantially clears up with water but still not crystal clear. I seen the unevenness of breaking through the coating etc and it all looks even and I sanded a lot. I hope shooting it with clear will eat the haze I've already spent way too much time on this project and working for free now >:/
 
1. What kind of car
2. If "They weren't that bad to begin with" why did you feel they should have been wet sanded? It sounds like you didn't use the least aggressive method first rule.

I have found that the DP All In One Headlight Restoring Polish will restore many headlights that I thought were going to need a wet sand. Here is the link, maybe it will help with these or in the future and save you the wet sanding hassle.

Detailer’s All In One Headlight Restoring Polish, headlight restoration
 
chevy equniox, because I sell headlights and tail lights an am incredibly anal. which often leads me to places like this working for next to nothing when most wouldnt even mind the initial quality to begin with :-/ I like everything that leaves my doors to look mint condition. Wet sanding isnt much an ordeal for me, I have a 3'' DA and the lights are off the car etc so I like to level it completely by sanding in most cases and then buff it back.. Usually not this kind of ordeal. I want to just hit them with 1000 today or something and shoot clear on them, but now im questioning if It will eat up the scratches or possibly have some other kind of reaction even
 
Its coming around finally, apparently my DA Discs absolutely suck, I did 1000-2000 by hand pretty quickly and seeing big gains.. I guess my next quest is what discs anyone uses? Trizact is nice but its super expensive..
 
Glad you got em going in the right direction

Sent from my XT1030 using AG Online
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top