First Engine Detail +HL Dehazing

Allen Anderson

Allen Anderson

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It's a 8th gen 2000 Corolla

Heres engine before's

EngineB4.jpg


And the After

EngineAfter.jpg


Another set

EngineB42.jpg


And the After

EngineAfter2.jpg



And the Headlight RQ

B4

HLB4.jpg


After

HLAfter.jpg



I used Simple Green for the engine compartment. Don't have any dressing yet to make it shiny.
 
Great turnaround on the engine!

I must be honest though the HL just doesn't seem to look much different, maybe it was the way the picture was taken?

What was the process for your HL's?
 
Colgate is what I used for headlight. Only spent like 2 mins on it and one pass. You can see the difference mainly in the top section of the headlight. Its not a huge difference but not bad for toothpaste and 2mins of work.


Thanks for comment.
 
I noticed the same thing with the HL ....... never would have thought toothpaste would have had ANY real effect ....... but it did!

Nice job!

If you're ever buffing with a mild cleaner/polish then a quick pass over the headlight will greatly enhance the clarity as well. Wasn't sure if you had worked on the paint as well so I threw that info in fyi. :props:
 
Thanks everyone!

I like detailing you get to see your results immediately after your finished. Pretty fulfilling IMO.
 
Really looks great. I never thought about toothpaste. Makes sense though. Night and day on the engine!:props:
 
Allen Anderson said:
Colgate is what I used for headlight. Only spent like 2 mins on it and one pass. You can see the difference mainly in the top section of the headlight. Its not a huge difference but not bad for toothpaste and 2mins of work.


Thanks for comment.
Click to expand...

Nice job on the engine bay!! I remember a day when I ran around with a tube of toothpaste rubbing out headlight lenses. Back then that is all I knew about then one day I stumbled upon this site. Now the toothpaste stays in the bathroom. Nice work!! May I suggest CD-2 Engine Detailer as a dressing? It will take the brown out of that intake tube.
 
tuscarora dave said:
Nice job on the engine bay!! I remember a day when I ran around with a tube of toothpaste rubbing out headlight lenses. Back then that is all I knew about then one day I stumbled upon this site. Now the toothpaste stays in the bathroom. Nice work!! May I suggest CD-2 Engine Detailer as a dressing? It will take the brown out of that intake tube.
Click to expand...


Thanks I'll try that dressing out. Yeah I saw the recommended 50-80 dollar Diamondite kit. I just don't have that kind of spare money yet nor the polisher. Nor do I think I'd spend that kind of money if theres no need...

After another 2 mins on the HL heres the before again and the new after

HLB4.jpg



HLAfter2.jpg
 
Starting to take nice shape. That air intake hose to the filter box could use some scrubbing and some treatment. :)
 
Shade Tree said:
I noticed the same thing with the HL ....... never would have thought toothpaste would have had ANY real effect ....... but it did!
Click to expand...

Toothpaste is abrasive. No reason it wouldn't work.. though their are better choices.
 
Yeah I'm gonna try CD-2 on it when I get some see if that helps it out some more.
 
Mindflux said:
Toothpaste is abrasive. No reason it wouldn't work.. though their are better choices.
Click to expand...


Such as? Cost effective is what I'm looking for as I'm looking to start a business. I don't see a point spending 80 dollars to do 25 sets of lights when I could spend 14 to do 25 sets of lights with same results. I heard someone say soft scrub works good as well.

Also some of the more expensive kits take more time(more steps in process) +pads and multiple sets of chems. This is one thing and a lil elbow greese within less time.

The 80 dollar kit might get a little bit of a better result not much imo, but whats that matter to someone that doesn't know a swirl from a squirrel as Mike puts it.

Also if I have to spend less to do it I can charge less = more satisfaction.

How do you do it?
 
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Allen Anderson said:
Such as? Cost effective is what I'm looking for as I'm looking to start a business. I don't see a point spending 80 dollars to do 25 sets of lights when I could spend 14 to do 25 sets of lights with same results. I heard someone say soft scrub works good as well.

Also some of the more expensive kits take more time(more steps in process) +pads and multiple sets of chems. This is one thing and a lil elbow greese within less time.

The 80 dollar kit might get a little bit of a better result not much imo, but whats that matter to someone that doesn't know a swirl from a squirrel as Mike puts it.

Also if I have to spend less to do it I can charge less = more satisfaction.

How do you do it?
Click to expand...

I said there are better choices, not cheaper.

I do some wetsanding starting at 800 grit and moving 1500 grit and 2000 grit using a sanding block (a 'pink' pencil eraser works good as a substitute too). Then I use a polishing compound like Meguiars 205 or D151 in some cases.

I don't have any special kit. Just some good quality sandpaper, a bucket of water with a touch of car wash soap, polishing compound, a small polishing pad for my rotary buffer and of course my rotary buffer itself.

You could probably get decent results by hand with the polishing after sanding, but to make your life easier you'd probably want to consider moving up to 3000 grit sandpaper as a last step before polishing.
 
More expensive doesn't always = better. Sometimes its just more expensive.

It would probably be a little harder for me to get rid of all the tiny pits(brand spankin new look) with the TP that you get rid of with the 3 stage sanding +polishing, but I do get a noticeable dramatic improvement brand new look to the untrained eye.

Could get them out with more effort/time with the TP I think.

I'll probably do it different when I get a polisher. Right now think this is best choice by hand by far.
 
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Allen Anderson said:
More expensive doesn't always = better. Sometimes its just more expensive.

It would probably be a little harder for me to get rid of all the tiny pits with the TP that you get rid of with the 3 stage sanding +polishing, but I do get a noticeable dramatic improvement.

But I could still do it with the TP I think.
Click to expand...

No, you're right the most expensive way isn't always better but I'm not always trying to remove just hazing. I'm sometimes trying to remove minor rock chip gouging etc as you mentioned above "tiny pits".
 
I hear ya. Don't think it'd be easy to get brand new look(no defects whatsoever) with the toothpaste.

But its quick cheap and does have dramatic improvements. For those of us still getting our tools together.
 
I've had great results with this process... Only need a few sheets of sandpaper and a couple polishes (something you probably have if you're thinking about starting a business).

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sZg9cj2hxI]YouTube - Headlight Restoration - Wetsanding and Polishing HD[/video]
 
Also something to think about is a sealant after you clean them, that way your not charging someone who comes back 2 weeks later with them hazed up again, I used the wolfgang kit on our g35 and it started raining and I didn't use the sealant well I was just curious as to how long it would last without any protection and it wasn't very long before they started to haze up again
 
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