Critical Details: Honda Civic - Headlight Restoration

[CriticalDetails]

Headlight and Tail Light Restoration

Over time a vehicle's headlights become oxidized from UV damage and pitted from road debris. This damage is often referred to as "hazing" and significantly reduces the amount of light output causing night time and inclement weather driving to be more dangerous. Headlight restoration restores optical clarity increasing light output and can save hundreds of dollars over the cost of buying new headlights.

Lights are wet sanded removing oxidation and pitting.
Lights are machine polished removing sanding marks.
Lights will be sealed using Opti-Lens, a permanent UV coating.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACu1yRyjzOU]Car Detailing: Headlight Restoration - Honda Civic, GoPro Hero3 - YouTube[/video]

 

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

Well done. The headlights look like they just came out of a box. Great video, also as I enjoyed watching. Thanks for posting and sharing.

 

[rmagnus]

Very nice. Did you do an IPA wipe of the polishing oils prior to the Opti Lens treatment? I'd like to try that product.

Remarkable improvement.

 

[CriticalDetails]

Well done. The headlights look like they just came out of a box. Great video, also as I enjoyed watching. Thanks for posting and sharing.

You're welcome. Thank you for watching my latest detailing video.

Very nice. Did you do an IPA wipe of the polishing oils prior to the Opti Lens treatment? I'd like to try that product.

Remarkable improvement.

Yes. I use IPA diluted at 20% to wipe down the headlights before coating them. Opti-Lens is a great product and one tube will coat quite a few headlights. I coated 6 sets of headlights with my first tube of Opti-Lens but I was applying it too thick. I hope to coat 8-10 sets of headlights with my current tube of Opti-Lens.

Thanks for the support.

 

[The Guz]

Very nice outcome. Great video of the process.

 

[LatinFG2]

Awesome results! What machine is that?

 

[Ray@Autogeek]

Great video! Shared and tagged on Facebook :dblthumb2:

 

[kevincwelch]

Real nice job, man. Crystal clear.

 

[Reflections]

Awesome results! What machine is that?

Looks like the PC 7424


Great results, btw! Nice to see the work being done as well. How do you like the PC compared to hand sanding?

 

[cleanmycorolla]

Excellent job!

 

[Reflections]

Awesome results! What machine is that?

Looks like the PC 7424


Great results, btw! Nice to see the work being done as well. How do you like the PC compared to hand sanding?

 

[dorkiedoode]

nice work! i have the si as a dd. my projector headlight is starting to do this after being out in the sun for so long. gotta find time to do this.

 

[CriticalDetails]

Very nice outcome. Great video of the process.

[FONT=&quot]Thank you. I hope it helps others in their headlight restoration ventures.[/FONT]

Awesome results! What machine is that?

[FONT=&quot]Thank you. It is a Porter Cable DA polisher. I typically wet sand on speed 2 and 3 while the compounding/polishing is performed on speed 4. I would love to have a Rupes 75 for headlight restorations however my current air compressor is not powerful enough.[/FONT]

Great video! Shared and tagged on Facebook :dblthumb2:

[FONT=&quot]Wow! Thank you Ray that is quite the honor to posted on the AutoGeek Facebook page. I have learned so much from AutoGeek over the last few years. I hope that my headlight restoration video helps some people restore their vehicle's looks and nighttime driving safety.[/FONT]

Real nice job, man. Crystal clear.

Thanks. The vehicle owner was pleasantly surprised with the results. This was definitely one of my more dramatic headlight restorations.

Looks like the PC 7424

Great results, btw! Nice to see the work being done as well. How do you like the PC compared to hand sanding?

you’re correct. I filmed this video mainly to use on my webpage because I felt pictures just don’t do the process justice. To be honest I have never tried hand sanding the headlights, so I wouldn’t be able to comment.

The first time I restored a set of headlights I used the 3M headlight kit that you attach to a drill. I find using the Porter Cable easier than using a drill to wet sand the headlights. The PC is a little bulky and I have heard that the GG 3 inch doesn’t have enough power. The Rupes 75 seems like the ideal machine for restoring headlights. It offers all the speed of a machine without all of the bulk of a big polisher.

Excellent job!

Thank you for the compliment.

nice work! i have the si as a dd. my projector headlight is starting to do this after being out in the sun for so long. gotta find time to do this.

Thank you for watching. Make sure you use a product to seal the headlights after the restoration like Opti-Lens. I use to use paint sealant on the headlights before Opti-Lens came out and the results never seemed to last more than a year.

 

[Father87]

excellent work and videography, thank you

 

[JSou]

:dblthumb2:

Thorough process. Great results.

Cheers.

 

[theblob640]

I have a question, so I restored a couple headlights before and just this past weekend, I went to restore a set of headlights of an RX330. The driver side came out great, the passenger side I can't say the same. I did the same process on both headlights. Started out with 1000 grit and worked my way up to 3000 grit jumping up 500 grit every time. After the 3000 grit, I used an orange cutting pad with M105 followed up with a white polishing pad with M205. For some reason, it still came out kind of hazy, not nearly as clear as the driver side lens. Anyone know why that is?

 

[Zackb911]

Great job and video! Questionable taste in "music"

 

[noslef]

What a difference! I need to restore the headlights on my wife's TSX and I'm going to try machine sanding. Did you use one sanding disc for each grit?

 

[CriticalDetails]

excellent work and videography, thank you

You’re welcome. Thank you for watching.

:dblthumb2:

Thorough process. Great results.

Cheers.

Thanks for the compliment. I hope to make more how to videos in the following weeks.

I have a question, so I restored a couple headlights before and just this past weekend, I went to restore a set of headlights of an RX330. The driver side came out great, the passenger side I can't say the same. I did the same process on both headlights. Started out with 1000 grit and worked my way up to 3000 grit jumping up 500 grit every time. After the 3000 grit, I used an orange cutting pad with M105 followed up with a white polishing pad with M205. For some reason, it still came out kind of hazy, not nearly as clear as the driver side lens. Anyone know why that is?

Is the inside of the lens cloudy? I have seen some headlights that have had condensation in them at one point in time and left mineral deposits. I have had one headlight look slightly hazier than the other one but not to the point that anyone could notice it. You really have to know what you are looking for in order to spot the difference in clarity from one headlight to the other.

Great job and video! Questionable taste in "music"

Thank you. Overwerk is a bit more electronic than some of my music.

What a difference! I need to restore the headlights on my wife's TSX and I'm going to try machine sanding. Did you use one sanding disc for each grit?

I typically use one 500 grit and 800 grit sanding disc per set of headlights. The 1500 Grit discs usually lasts for 2-3 sets of headlights and the 3000 grit discs lasts for quite a while. The hook and loop on the 3000 grit sanding discs usually fails before the pad stops working effectively.

 

[theblob640]

Is the inside of the lens cloudy? I have seen some headlights that have had condensation in them at one point in time and left mineral deposits. I have had one headlight look slightly hazier than the other one but not to the point that anyone could notice it. You really have to know what you are looking for in order to spot the difference in clarity from one headlight to the other.

I don't think so, I have corrected them before with good results, but when I sanded it this time, and hit it with M105, it was still hazy. I will post some pictures when I get home to show you the results and the achievement I had before. If you don't mind, can I PM you when I post it? I'm sure your answer will help a lot other too as this video did.