I've looked at a few of these and $100 is a very conservative number. Can you even purchase just the coating by itself? I thought you had to buy their whole system to be able to obtain the coating.....?
I'm not a big fan of restoration systems. It's better to think of restoration as task based.
And when I say restoration I'm also talking about acrylic (tail lights, turn signals, fog lights, emergency lights like the light bar on a police car) and polycarbonate headlights.
You need to do two things to restore a headlight; Remove the old, deteriorated protective coating applied when the headlight was made, and,replace it with a new one.
Fro removing the old coating, you can either strip it chemically, sand it off, or in a few situations use both.
Chemical stripping is simply applying the stripper and scrubbing off the old coating. Nothing special, and no tools needed.
For sanding, you can hand sand or machine sand. Machine sanding can be done with a drill (not recommended) or sander. The sander can be electric or pneumatic.
Will air or electricity be avai8lable where you're restoring headlights? If electric and no power available, you'll need an inverter or generator. For pneumatic, big honkin compressor.
Once the old coating is removed, you need to prep the surface for the new coating. This can be anything from wiping down with alcohol, to roughening the surface with 1500 or 3000 grit abrasive to provide good tooth for the new coating.
The final coat is the most critical. Use a real, professional coating. There are many to choose from. They're not cheap, but the actual cost per headlight is less than a dollar.
How to pick a good coating?
See what the pros use. How long to dry? How do you apply? Water based or solvent based? What's in it? Are there MSDS available? How long will it last? Do I need to tape/mask/spray/UV cure?
My approach is to not settle for any single system or product. If you're going to do restores for money, you need to be versatile. You need to be able to provide quick, inexpensive restores at one end, and more expensive looks like new at the other. I don't think any single system will do both.
To be a step above your competition, give your customers a written guarantee. This only makes sense if you're using a pro coating.
If you're just starting out, you need to fine tune your procedures and take lots of before and after photos. There's no shortage of defective headlights available,. You can start with friends and neighbors.
If you're going to work the lots or fleets, be prepared to do one vehicle for free. Prove your worth.
Another way to practice is to do free restores for charity groups. On the west coast, we have many; Salvation Army, Goodwill, Poly Klass Foundation, etc. They are more than willing to get free restores to help them move these older vehicles, and at the same time you can deduct your normal restore fees as a charitable donation on your taxes.
If you made it all the way to this point, congradulations.
Bottom line, research and proctice. Keep in mind that each satisfied customer becomes your unpaid salesman and many of your new customers will be referrals.You can mix and match. Buy your coating here, your stripper there, sandpaper somewhere else. And when buying coatings, you will have to buy a minimum amount. Many coatings have a limited shelf life, so starting out you might want to start with a 2K water based product that has at least a one year shelflife.
ray6
