Headlight Restoration-new UV sealant idea

Hello, I'm new to this and am going to surprise my family members by resurfacing all of their headlights...most of them are really oxidized. I have a few questions I'm hoping someone could answer first before I try this though.

1. What is better to use to clean and prep the plastic before applying the spar/ms, denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol? I'm sure both are fine, but is one a little better than the other as a cleaner, or better on plastic?

2. Would the spar/ms adhere better to the lens if I only sanded and skipped the polishing? I am just wondering if I make the lens so smooth, the coat might not bond as well, or last as long. I was going to use a 3000 grit, but now I think I might just only go as high as 2000 grit and completely skip the polishing. But I also don't want to jeopardize the appearance and the polished would look better I'm assuming, even though the spar would fill in the scratches of a non-polished. When the spar/ms fails in a couple years, the lens will be much more dramatically bad looking on the unpolished lens than the polished lens...but maybe the unpolished lens coat lasts longer so not sure which way to go. Just curious on people's thoughts.

3. Could I put 2 coats of the spar/ms on the lens if I wait for the first coat to dry first? And if so, would waiting 20 minutes be enough time? Or maybe touch part of the lens to see if it's dry first?

4. I see people say sand right and left horizontally and that that is better than sanding in a circular motion, but how do you explain a rotary sanding being good too then? They're opposite.

5. Does anyone have a trick they use if they don't have shade and can't reposition the car so that the lights aren't in the sun? What is a good idea to use as a temporary sun shield I could put up in front of the lights until after the spar/ms has been applied?

Sorry for all of the questions but these were things that went through my mind while reading all the posts. Thank you for any help.
 
taymon said:
Hello, I'm new to this and am going to surprise my family members by resurfacing all of their headlights...most of them are really oxidized. I have a few questions I'm hoping someone could answer first before I try this though.

1. What is better to use to clean and prep the plastic before applying the spar/ms, denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol? I'm sure both are fine, but is one a little better than the other as a cleaner, or better on plastic?

2. Would the spar/ms adhere better to the lens if I only sanded and skipped the polishing? I am just wondering if I make the lens so smooth, the coat might not bond as well, or last as long. I was going to use a 3000 grit, but now I think I might just only go as high as 2000 grit and completely skip the polishing. But I also don't want to jeopardize the appearance and the polished would look better I'm assuming, even though the spar would fill in the scratches of a non-polished. When the spar/ms fails in a couple years, the lens will be much more dramatically bad looking on the unpolished lens than the polished lens...but maybe the unpolished lens coat lasts longer so not sure which way to go. Just curious on people's thoughts.

3. Could I put 2 coats of the spar/ms on the lens if I wait for the first coat to dry first? And if so, would waiting 20 minutes be enough time? Or maybe touch part of the lens to see if it's dry first?

4. I see people say sand right and left horizontally and that that is better than sanding in a circular motion, but how do you explain a rotary sanding being good too then? They're opposite.

5. Does anyone have a trick they use if they don't have shade and can't reposition the car so that the lights aren't in the sun? What is a good idea to use as a temporary sun shield I could put up in front of the lights until after the spar/ms has been applied?

Sorry for all of the questions but these were things that went through my mind while reading all the posts. Thank you for any help.
Click to expand...
Check this out hope it helps :)http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/43615-some-headlights-i-ve-done-past-week-2.html
 
I just purchased an additional spar and minerals today at my local home depot. I redone my procedure on a new headlight , but I noticed that after I finished my wet sanding, I cleaned the headlight with some mineral spirits and as I looked at it, I noticed tiny small bubbles all over the headlights. So this gave me the idea that the bubbles might not have been from the mixture, but probably from tiny rock chips the lens instilled beforehand. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but have anyone ever dealt with a pair of headlights that had small rock chips and when you apply the sealant over it that the tiny chips seems to still be there and not filled in with the spar/mineral mixture.
 
Louie_Blu said:
Check this out hope it helps :)http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/43615-some-headlights-i-ve-done-past-week-2.html
Click to expand...

Thank you so much, Louie...that is so cool that you laid out your whole process and I learned some additional things from reading it...and more ideas...thanks! It didn't really answer any of my questions but definitely gave me more info than I had before.

I don't have the orbital and was going to use a drill. I would have to use a drill anyway because I was going to do the headlights without them knowing and won't have access to an outlet. How are you able to always have outlets or electricity to work on cars...do you do all your work at dealers lots or at your garage?
 
jyu1210 said:
I just purchased an additional spar and minerals today at my local home depot. I redone my procedure on a new headlight , but I noticed that after I finished my wet sanding, I cleaned the headlight with some mineral spirits and as I looked at it, I noticed tiny small bubbles all over the headlights. So this gave me the idea that the bubbles might not have been from the mixture, but probably from tiny rock chips the lens instilled beforehand. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but have anyone ever dealt with a pair of headlights that had small rock chips and when you apply the sealant over it that the tiny chips seems to still be there and not filled in with the spar/mineral mixture.
Click to expand...


I'm wondering if you are actually seeing cracks in the lens itself. Some lenses have small cracks that can never be removed. I've run across this before. If thats the case, there's nothing you can do.
 
taymon said:
Thank you so much, Louie...that is so cool that you laid out your whole process and I learned some additional things from reading it...and more ideas...thanks! It didn't really answer any of my questions but definitely gave me more info than I had before.

I don't have the orbital and was going to use a drill. I would have to use a drill anyway because I was going to do the headlights without them knowing and won't have access to an outlet. How are you able to always have outlets or electricity to work on cars...do you do all your work at dealers lots or at your garage?
Click to expand...
I am on the go constantly but for the headlights I use a 750 watt Chicago Electric Power Inverter never has failed me and if you are doing a lot of work make sure you start your vehicle often :xyxthumbs:

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jyu1210 said:
I just purchased an additional spar and minerals today at my local home depot. I redone my procedure on a new headlight , but I noticed that after I finished my wet sanding, I cleaned the headlight with some mineral spirits and as I looked at it, I noticed tiny small bubbles all over the headlights. So this gave me the idea that the bubbles might not have been from the mixture, but probably from tiny rock chips the lens instilled beforehand. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but have anyone ever dealt with a pair of headlights that had small rock chips and when you apply the sealant over it that the tiny chips seems to still be there and not filled in with the spar/mineral mixture.
Click to expand...
Never had this problem are you getting this with every headlight you do ?
 
jyu1210 said:
So far yes, I've done 3 seperate sets of headlights and all of them had tiny little bubbles.
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wow that doesn't sound right I am thinking you might be doing something that may cause them to happen something in your process, Maybe ?
 
Maybe jyu is sanding too much plastic off. Are you wiping the lenses with mineral spirits before you start sanding? Maybe at that point you would see the defects that are turning into "bubbles" after you sand.
 
Man, wow, every post, all 750 of them, took me all day to read. Can't believe this started in 09 and I never seen it until today. Should make it a sticky. Looking forward to trying this out this week. I went to the store, seen both the can and aerosol, and knowing that most everyone is using the spar out of the can, I still decided on going with the aerosol being that it is easier to transport. I plan on spraying the aerosol into an container then measuring out what is needed to give a 50/50 mix with the MS into a another container(plastic cup). Has anyone else tried this method? I will NOT be spraying the spar on the lights(overspray) but just into a container where then I can remove what I need to transfer into the plastic cup to achieve the 50/50 mix. Any comments on using the aerosol this way? (the aerosal was cheaper and like I said, easier for me to transport).
 
langman37 said:
Any comments on using the aerosol this way? (the aerosal was cheaper and like I said, easier for me to transport).
Click to expand...

Looks like your gonna be the first to use the aerosol method. Hope it works ok.

Keep us updated.
 
I usually wipe the lens clean with a cloth without using any cleaner or I just spray simple green. Is using mineral spirits as a cleaner in the begininning before sanding a good way to clean it, hmm.. maybe that could be the culprit, I'll give it another try again sometime this week to see.

Also, I was doing my sisters headlights yesterday and as I wiped on the sealant, there were tiny bubbles again but then after I was done sealing the whole headlight, I went through the parts again with the bubbles and it eliminated some bubbles with one pass, again some bubbles only. So this got me thinking, maybe it's the way I'm applying it, I use light pressure when applying it , is that right?
 
I finally restored my Dodge Stratus 2003 headlights. As some of you already know, i live in mexico, and i had problems finding the OMS. Luckily, i found Rustoleum OMS and tried it out.

I only did the left headlight (sanding/spar sleant). The right one i am doing it tomorrow morning 'cause i got no drill in this moment.

I gotta say i was amazed at the results! They look brand new! Here are the pics:
(I couldn't take any before photos, but you can compare with the ugly one right headlight)
That's my daily driver, i have it since it left the dealer.

The right headlight i am doing it tomorrow, but with polished version.
 
langman37 said:
Man, wow, every post, all 750 of them, took me all day to read. Can't believe this started in 09 and I never seen it until today. Should make it a sticky. Looking forward to trying this out this week. I went to the store, seen both the can and aerosol, and knowing that most everyone is using the spar out of the can, I still decided on going with the aerosol being that it is easier to transport. I plan on spraying the aerosol into an container then measuring out what is needed to give a 50/50 mix with the MS into a another container(plastic cup). Has anyone else tried this method? I will NOT be spraying the spar on the lights(overspray) but just into a container where then I can remove what I need to transfer into the plastic cup to achieve the 50/50 mix. Any comments on using the aerosol this way? (the aerosal was cheaper and like I said, easier for me to transport).
Click to expand...


The reason most of us use the can over the aerosol is because you get way more product from the can for the price.
 
guys....
As I couldn't figure myself, I'll have to ask....
I was unable to find here in Brazil a Spar Urethane.... would a Spar Polyurethane work well too ? Has anyone tried using it ?
 
DaC said:
guys....
As I couldn't figure myself, I'll have to ask....
I was unable to find here in Brazil a Spar Urethane.... would a Spar Polyurethane work well too ? Has anyone tried using it ?
Click to expand...

Never tried it, but if you try it let us know how it comes out :)
 
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