Headlight restoration 50/50.

timaishu said:
Heres some before and afters for you guys to check out. I may or may not redo this down the line. But as it is. I am very happy!

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Don't ya just love the clarity of the finished product! Good work.
 
Robert_Conklin said:
What is this urethane mixture that you guys are talking about?
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Check out the first post in this thread. It's explained there. Minwax Helmsman Indoor/outdoor Spar Urethane... Clear Gloss......mixed 50/50 with Mineral Spirits and wiped on the lens with a blue Scotts shop towel.
 
Here are a few pics of a Mitsubishi Eclipse I did this afternoon. I don't know why but this model/bodystyle/year seems to always make me work harder. They came out good but I had to really work for that $$$$$.....lol
 
Part-timer said:
It takes practice to lay down the spar. I still miss spots every now and then. You just have to wipe it off quickly before it dries with mineral spirits. If it dries, it's easy to remove with 1500. Then do 3000 and redo. (just my take on it)
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Hi all,
Just tried the spar/min on a donor light it looked great,but seemed to take a long time to dry in 84 degree weather. I thought it was an even mix, but could there have been too much mineral spirits? The next day it was dry, but seemed to scratch easily also. Have you had this problem?

Lou
 
Lou M said:
Hi all,
Just tried the spar/min on a donor light it looked great,but seemed to take a long time to dry in 84 degree weather. I thought it was an even mix, but could there have been too much mineral spirits? The next day it was dry, but seemed to scratch easily also. Have you had this problem?

Lou
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Lou.....it is a 50% spar 50% Mineral spirits mix. I use 1 tablespoon of each for one set of lights. Mine dry to the touch(here in Florida, in the sun) after about 1 hour or so BUT, I always tell my customer's not to touch them or get them wet at least till the next day just to be sure. I figure to overcompensate on the drying time is best. You can also use a heat gun or hair dryer to help it dry faster. (although I don't like forcing the drying myself). I only had a problem one time...... when a customer got them wet within an hour of application.
 
Part-timer said:
I charge $40 for two headlamp lenses. If they want seperate turn signal lenses....it's more. This does also works great on stop lamp lenses. I did a buddy of mine's old chevy truck stop lamp lenses and they came out awesome. He was overjoyed! I've been hand sanding every step now and found a great website with wet/dry sandpaper for $15.00 a box of 50 sheets (9' X 11")
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Can you let me know what this website is? I have been having a hard time finding anything over 2000 and even then it is fairly expensive. Even the auto paint suppliers here only have 2000.

Also, I have noticed other people in different posts saying that they only go as high as 2000 and then do the coating but when I do it it seems to be a little foggy still. Could that be because I am starting at 500 hook and loop with a mouse? That's all I have to work with to get the real rough areas out and then I wetsand by hand with 1000 and then 2000. Any ideas?

Thanks
 
normster said:
Can you let me know what this website is? I have been having a hard time finding anything over 2000 and even then it is fairly expensive. Even the auto paint suppliers here only have 2000.

Also, I have noticed other people in different posts saying that they only go as high as 2000 and then do the coating but when I do it it seems to be a little foggy still. Could that be because I am starting at 500 hook and loop with a mouse? That's all I have to work with to get the real rough areas out and then I wetsand by hand with 1000 and then 2000. Any ideas?

Thanks
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I don't think you need to start out as low as 500.....but if you must, I think you'd need more steps in between to really clear them up. Try 500, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000...?
Lately, I've been hand wet sanding all mine...starting with 800, then 1000, next 1200, then 1500 and finally using a 3M 3000 Trizact disc with machine. Those Trizacts cost $$$ but I like the clarity I get using it.
I guess everyone has their own system that works best for them. I sent you a private message for the paper.
 
Just out of curiosity, there was another tread some months ago (March) started by Barry Theal that talked about respraying headlights with clear coat. There were a couple of comments about 1K vs 2K clear which I understand from Google has to do with the hardener mix or something related to curing. My question is can you use the clear coat spray from Wally World like the Duplicolor or Rustoleum, etc and if so how would it compare to the urethane/ms mix or Opticoat in longevity? Is the spray can clear about the same as the "real stuff" and is it compatible with plastic?
 
Rattle-can products are not close to body repair products. The stuff from Walmart might look ok at first but may start chipping or cracking since the plastic does expand/contract slightly with temp changes. Both the spar mix and the professional body shop stuff are made for UV exposure.
 
Glimmer Twin said:
Just out of curiosity, there was another tread some months ago (March) started by Barry Theal that talked about respraying headlights with clear coat. There were a couple of comments about 1K vs 2K clear which I understand from Google has to do with the hardener mix or something related to curing. My question is can you use the clear coat spray from Wally World like the Duplicolor or Rustoleum, etc and if so how would it compare to the urethane/ms mix or Opticoat in longevity? Is the spray can clear about the same as the "real stuff" and is it compatible with plastic?
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I've never used the spray cans before.....the spar/spirits is far less expensive and easier in my book.
 
reggie1967 said:
if you have not said it alredy what did u use ur equipment/ product
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Just click this thread to the first page. I do basically the same process as 93fox. All by hand wet sanding. Only thing I do different is I use a 3m 3000 grit Trizact pad and drill before the spar/mineral spirits mix.
 
Does anyone feel like maybe the different car makes/models may have different variations of hardness/softness to their headlamp lens composite materials? It sure seems like some are harder or easier than others to remove sanding marks/swirls. Anyone?
 
Hi to all!
Wonder if using a hair dryer speeds up the drying time of the urethane application.

Jb silver
 
jbsilver said:
Hi to all!
Wonder if using a hair dryer speeds up the drying time of the urethane application.

Jb silver
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not recommended. having an added heat sources can cause the urethane to blister.
chris<pixelmonkey>:D
 
Part-timer said:
Does anyone feel like maybe the different car makes/models may have different variations of hardness/softness to their headlamp lens composite materials? It sure seems like some are harder or easier than others to remove sanding marks/swirls. Anyone?
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I do believe it does vary from makes and models I also believe on how long Oxidation is built up an the headlight through out the years with nothing being done about it can make a world of difference check out my new thread here in Show and Shine
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/42196-headlight-restoration-nightmare-120-grit-you-kidding.html
 
93fox said:
So i decided to restore this headlight i found in the trash can. someone decided to buy a new headlight and decided to throw this one out thinking it had no hope. since ive had a few new ideas on how to restore headlights i thought this would be the perfect candidate for the job. now here is the thing that is going to surprise most of you all. I did absolutely NO POLISHING on this headlight at all. Yes you read that right, NO POLISHING. i didnt whip out no compound, no pads, no buffer. All i used was Sandpaper and helmans spar urethane and mineral spirits. that is all i used.

process:
wet sand with 800 grit.
wet sand with 1000 grit.
wet sand with 1500 grit.
wet sand with 2000 grit.
wet sand with 3000 grit.
wipe the lense with mineral spirts to clean the sanding residue.
wipe the urethane at 1:1 with mineral spirits.

i wasent expecting it to look all that great since i was just testing to see how this looked but the results left me far more than amazed. ill let the pictures do the speaking now:

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My thoughts:
Personally i think this is a very good alternative of doing this. In the thread where hotrod introduced this idea he updated everyone with the headlights he did. BUT he did compound and polish out the headlights first....THEN applied the urethane mixture. If i correctly remember he updated up to two years and it still looked awesome. Now here is my take on why i think this is a whole lot better idea than polishing and then wiping the urethane mixture. Take this for an example, when a painter is going to paint your car he doesn't buff out the car first to a perfect shine AND then sprays over it right? no. he first sands the paint and then paints and clears on top of it. That same method applies here. Having sanded the headlight up to 3000 grit there were still sanding scratches. super fine microscopic left from 3000 grit. SO when i wiped the urethane mixture, its laying on top of these scratches and "biting" or "holding on". see how this is similar to the example of painting a car? Its the same when i just need to clear a hood for instance. i dont spray clear over a nice shiny buffed hood. I first sand it with 1000 grit and then spray the clear, this way the clear has something to "hold on" to. This is why i think this method is better. its just like prepping a car for paint or clear, you sand it in order for the paint or clear to grab on well. same here, i applied the urethane mixture on top of the sanded headlight so i believe it will hold on alot better. now most of you are probably thinking that if there are any scratches visible. the answer is no. i spent quite a good time on 1000grit removing all the 800 grit scratches. i spent a good amount of time on each finishing grit to achieve a perfect finish.

any thoughts and comments are more than welcome! :dblthumb2:
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What about doing some Longevity test just like HotRod did?? That would be GREAT! Don't you think guys?
 
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