Headlight Restoration-new UV sealant idea

Hi guys, I'm a rookie at this. I tries the Megs PlastX with not great results. Then I read here ( I know, I should have read this forum before trying anything) about the wet sand. I used the 1500 & 2000 with better results but now I have cloudiness that I think is coming from the inside. Is this possible? I cant feel anything from the outside. I paid attention to this through the whole process. In the after pic you can see the cloudiness running horizontally about 10" long toward the bottom.Thanks for your advice.
 
There could be damage done to the inside as well. It will be hard for me to tell unless I would see it in person. If there is damage on the inside of the lens, then as far as I know there is nothing to fix that. Maybe try to wet sand a little longer, or user coarser grit and gradually finish with fine grit, it may take several steps with different grit wet sand paper. Then machine polish with drill or buffer with wool pad and Megs 105 and foam pad last with megs 205. If that does not get the cloudiness out, then it might be on the inside. But, if you want more information on this method, reread this thread and definitely check out other headlight restoration threads on this forum to get a good idea of how its done.
 
HotRod said:
There could be damage done to the inside as well. It will be hard for me to tell unless I would see it in person. If there is damage on the inside of the lens, then as far as I know there is nothing to fix that. Maybe try to wet sand a little longer, or user coarser grit and gradually finish with fine grit, it may take several steps with different grit wet sand paper. Then machine polish with drill or buffer with wool pad and Megs 105 and foam pad last with megs 205. If that does not get the cloudiness out, then it might be on the inside. But, if you want more information on this method, reread this thread and definitely check out other headlight restoration threads on this forum to get a good idea of how its done.
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Thank you, maybe I'll try a coarser grit before I settle for this.
 
The coarsest wet sand paper I have started with is 400, then followed with 800, 1000, 2000 then buffed, and that normally has worked to reduce all cloudiness for me.
 
Looks like I may need to start more aggressively than 1500.
Thanks
 
mtnbiker said:
Looks like I may need to start more aggressively than 1500.
Thanks
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You may actually be trying to polish the coating when it needs to be removed. More aggressive my be better for you. Just remember once you remove the coating and polish the plastic you will need to re-apply a uv resistant coating as previously discussed in this thread. :buffing:
 
I'm starting over using, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000. So far, so good.
Thanks for all your advice. Will post a pic once finished.
 
The results are in! I used 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000 grit . Took me about 1/2hr per side once I had the technique. From up close still could use a little more sanding, but for my first time, the results are great. You guys are the best.:dblthumb2:
 
Longevity Test-ongoing-9 months after restoration

Here are some more recent pictures of the headlights 9 months after restoration. They are still holding up, but the high gloss might have dimmed down a little since last update. Its not that noticeable, however they still look good. These lights see no maintenance whatsoever, besides the occasional wash job. I think they should last for at least 12 months total (from beginning to end) before another restoration is needed, but unsure how rough the summer will be on this sealant. There are a few bug splatters, that I did not get completely cleaned off before taking pictures.
I will probably continue to update this thread if there is interest, the next update will be the full year test of this sealant. I will then evaluate and decide if its worth re-updating every 3 months or 6 months, unless the sealant fails before next update.
But, to sum things up so far, for a sealant not intended for clear plastic, this stuff is still holding up. I am sure there is a better headlight sealant out there, I am just curious how long this stuff will last before needing another restoration. However, I don't believe there is any headlight sealant (including this one) that will last forever, the front of the car gets blasted with bugs, heat from light bulbs and engine, rain, snow, ice, road salt, rocks, car washes etc....... NOTHING will hold up to that abuse.. IMO

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killrwheels@autogeek said:
I had mine clearcoated ... seems to be working as had a couple small chips in top initially. I use Plexus weekly which also offers some additional UV protection too.
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Did you have the clearcoat sprayed on at a bodyshop or did you do it yourself? I was thinking about spraying a clearcoat (from a can) on my headlights.
 
Boy that looks damned good for after 9 months. Not to mention how terrible they were to start. Thanks for the effort in doing this thread and continuing its exploration.
 
Thanks for the update hotrod....they still look good after all this time. My headlights have been holding up as well. Please keep us updated!
 
New to the site. Great work and feedback from everyone.

I recently found a couple of sites that are of interest.

One states a two year guarantee. (can this be accomplished with these materials?)

The other states that they can clear the fog from the interior of the lens. I did read that they remove the assembly in order to do their method.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
 
elCid said:
New to the site. Great work and feedback from everyone.

I recently found a couple of sites that are of interest.

One states a two year guarantee. (can this be accomplished with these materials?)

The other states that they can clear the fog from the interior of the lens. I did read that they remove the assembly in order to do their method.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
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I don't know for sure if this spar urethane that I am using will last two years, as I am still testing its longevity for myself. However, I have been told by the originator of this method, that it has lasted up to two years and still looks good. But results will probably differ with whatever climate you live in.

Also this method I am using is for the outside of the lens only, I don't even know if its possible to take a light apart to restore the interior, never tried it.

If the sealer you found does what it says, it would be interesting to try it out. Let everyone know if you try it and its a success. I would definitely be interested if it does last two years guaranteed and restores the interior of the lens as well.
 
Okay, that's it. Thanks HotRod. I'm going to start using this material with all of my headlight resto's from now on. Now to find a practice mule. heh Thanks for you months of research on this. Glad to see it's holding up. The pictures speak for themselves. ;)
 
O.C.Detailing said:
Okay, that's it. Thanks HotRod. I'm going to start using this material with all of my headlight resto's from now on. Now to find a practice mule. heh Thanks for you months of research on this. Glad to see it's holding up. The pictures speak for themselves. ;)
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Hey Adam, Thanks for taking notice with my "experiment". Go back through the thread, get the basics steps and experiment! Now, when you are applying the mixture of sealer, if you are not happy with the first application, wipe it off with a rag soaked in mineral spirits before the urethane has time to dry, then reapply until you are happy with the coverage. It does have a slight learning curve, so give it some time, and if you have some spare lenses, practice with this method. And if you have any problems, let me know.


On another note. And anyone can chime in on this, how long is a headlight restoration suppose to last? If the headlight restoration only lasts 6 months, will the customer be happy, and return for another restoration? Would the customer be happier with 1 year of lasting results and protection, or would they demand more? I was thinking of guaranteeing a year for this headlight restoration, or its redone for no charge if it fails in less than a year.

If a customer pays $40-$80(just an estimate) for a headlight restoration, they will assume it will last forever, unless they are educated about how headlights eventually fade back out. How can you keep the customers confidence in your service, if its unknown how long it will last? I'am just trying to put myself in the customers shoes, and come up with a respectable service that I would be happy with.
 
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Do you think the newly treated lenses would last longer if they were regularly maintained with a regular sealant?
 
Yes if you reapply a sealer on a regular basis it should last forever....however if you are offering this service to a customer it is very rare that they will do any sort of reapplying anything to their headlights. If I payed someone 50 bucks for headlight restoration I would think that it should last longer than 6 months, considering that originally the headlights lasted 2 or more years before they yellowed. We are selling this as headlight RESTORATION......that sounds like restoring them to like new condition therefore they should not yellow for a considerable amount of time.....I am going to market a 1 year guarantee on this service and i might bump that guarantee up after I find out how long this process really last.
 
HotRod said:
Hey Adam, Thanks for taking notice with my "experiment". Go back through the thread, get the basics steps and experiment! Now, when you are applying the mixture of sealer, if you are not happy with the first application, wipe it off with a rag soaked in mineral spirits before the urethane has time to dry, then reapply until you are happy with the coverage. It does have a slight learning curve, so give it some time, and if you have some spare lenses, practice with this method. And if you have any problems, let me know.


On another note. And anyone can chime in on this, how long is a headlight restoration suppose to last? If the headlight restoration only lasts 6 months, will the customer be happy, and return for another restoration? Would the customer be happier with 1 year of lasting results and protection, or would they demand more? I was thinking of guaranteeing a year for this headlight restoration, or its redone for no charge if it fails in less than a year.

If a customer pays $40-$80(just an estimate) for a headlight restoration, they will assume it will last forever, unless they are educated about how headlights eventually fade back out. How can you keep the customers confidence in your service, if its unknown how long it will last? I'am just trying to put myself in the customers shoes, and come up with a respectable service that I would be happy with.
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Anytime! You did a lot of hard work and you were dedicated to showing the longevity of the products and processes you used. I read the entire thread from the beginning as I've been searching for a more permanent sealer for headlights for a while now as a couple of the "freebie" jobs I did last year are starting to haze a bit now. I'd like to get those folks back and re-do their lights and put a more permanent fix over the work I did to prevent more damage.

If you're up-front with the customer and tell them that with a decent waxing or application of Plexus on a semi-regular basis, the work you did should last them a year or longer. If they neglect it, then it will come back faster, but there's nothing you can do to prevent the damage from coming back. What you're doing is providing them essentially the same service as an oil change. If you change your oil periodically, you might pay $20-50 each time, but you save yourself anywhere from $1000-6000 in having to switch out engines. The difference is that headlights are less resilient than engines and will need more maintenance to keep them clear. Beats spending $400 or more to replace them only to have them yellow again down the road.
 
WindyCity said:
Yes if you reapply a sealer on a regular basis it should last forever....however if you are offering this service to a customer it is very rare that they will do any sort of reapplying anything to their headlights. If I payed someone 50 bucks for headlight restoration I would think that it should last longer than 6 months, considering that originally the headlights lasted 2 or more years before they yellowed. We are selling this as headlight RESTORATION......that sounds like restoring them to like new condition therefore they should not yellow for a considerable amount of time.....I am going to market a 1 year guarantee on this service and i might bump that guarantee up after I find out how long this process really last.
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Just doing it for my own cars. Thanks.
 
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