Headlight Restoration Nightmare 120 grit are you kidding ?

Louie_Blu

Louie_Blu

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Well I picked up this new dealership and they gave me this 2001 Chevy Impala let me tell you these Headlights were no picnic, the Oxidation and junk caked on these headlights had me at a stand still, I started off with my Griot's 3" Orbital and a 500 grit disc I noticed nothing coming off the headlights with about almost an hour and a half in, these headlights were not changing, I took a break and headed over to Home Depot and picked up 220 grit and 120 grit sand paper, when I got back I proceeded to sand with the 220 by hand and still this junk was not coming off the headlights after 30 minutes into it with the 220 grit I said screw it and grabbed the 120 grit I was determined to get these lights done.

I never had to go lower the 500 before so this was a surprise to me but as soon as I started with the 120 the Oxidation and the caked on junk on these headlights finally started to come off, I followed up with the 220, then the 500 then the 800 and finally the 3000 trizact disc, followed that up with some compound and then I cleaned the lights with IPA, then I applied the Spar Urethane, these were the end results although I did mess up with the spar I fixed it later but I didn't take a pic of that talk about Headlight Horror lol it was a learning expierience for me, so you live and you learn

BeforePS.jpg


BeforeDS.jpg


BeforeFull.jpg


AfterPS.jpg


AferDS.jpg


AfterFull.jpg


Overall I think I did ok, I wasnt completely happy I've done better before but for this being a dealership I left it at that even though I spent a lil more the 3 hours on these headlights for me it shouldnt have taken this long especially not for 20 bucks per headlight.
your thoughts and comments always appreaciated
Feed back please

Louie
 
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Nice job on the headlights. I am curious to hear what Flash has to say about the FCD Method.
 
If you don't mind, I on the verge of starting an auto detailing business as well and you mentioned that you just picked up a dealership contract detailing their cars. I was wondering if you can give me a few pointers of how to approach dealers to reach this kind of deal. Also if you don't mind, how much are you charging for a car from the dealer?

Thanks in advance!
 
arhajiismael said:
If you don't mind, I on the verge of starting an auto detailing business as well and you mentioned that you just picked up a dealership contract detailing their cars. I was wondering if you can give me a few pointers of how to approach dealers to reach this kind of deal. Also if you don't mind, how much are you charging for a car from the dealer?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Hi There, Basically I hit a few dealerships with my flyer and business cards in hand and I asked to speak to the Manager or the Owner, One place asked me to do a demo car for them and I did and they gave me the whole car lot after they saw my work, mind you I am only doing Headlights, I used to do full details back in Miami where I had Phil Smith Chrysler Jeep and Eagle and South Miami Mazda with actual contracts, but that would probably be your best bet, just go in to a Dealer and tell them what you do and first see if they have some sort of interest then ask then to let you demo a car, I say make sure they have some interest because it would suck you did all that work and then have the dealer say wow I just got a free detail, usually if you can WOW them then it shouldn't be a problem to win over the dealer, also be prepared to work on pricing as dealers never give what a normal customer would pay you, once you have him WOWed so to speak that will give you ammunition to help get a good price per vehicle, A tactic I use is this " Look Sir I know you like my work and you can always add and extra $60 to $80 dollars for the vehicles I do to the sticker price", believe me these guys have money they are just to stingy with it and if they can get away with it they will, your job is to show them what you can do and let them know you mean business, so far this works for me and I hope it will for you:hungry:
Good Luck my Friend

Louie
 
Look good & I feel your pain. While I didn't spend 3 hrs on them, I did spend just over an hour on some Volvo lights yesterday. Think I will try the FCD pad method as well.
 
Louie_Blu said:
the Oxidation and junk caked on these headlights had me at a stand still, I started off with my Griot's 3" Orbital and a 500 grit disc I noticed nothing coming off the headlights with about almost an hour and a half in, these headlights were not changing
Click to expand...

Those came out really nice, but an hour and a half to figure out your grit wasn't working? You should really only need a few minutes on each light at each grit, so if it's not working in a few minutes, change your approach, don't wait for an hour and a half.
 
FCD Method FTW! lol
Here is the link to the pad
lowes.com Shop 3M 2-Pack 6" x 3-7/8"
And the also make a FINE in where this was ultra fine that I will pick up to just in case I come across something a little gnarlier
Good turn around on those lights but agree on spending a few minutes with whatever grit and if no dice move down as your just blowing through finer paper and not cutting it down
 
Flash Gordon said:
You should try the FCD method :)
Click to expand...

I don't think you can legitimately label that the FCDM unless he takes 3 years to compile a detailed tome complete with illustrations and the physics behind the method. :D

TL <--- methodless
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Those came out really nice, but an hour and a half to figure out your grit wasn't working? You should really only need a few minutes on each light at each grit, so if it's not working in a few minutes, change your approach, don't wait for an hour and a half.
Click to expand...
yeah you guys are right I thought by following my own procedure which I have learned would work, I used up about 2 500 discs before moving on to the next phase I thought that would do the trick but I live and and I learned lol definitely a learning experience
 
fredcandetail said:
FCD Method FTW! lol
Here is the link to the pad
Shop 3M 2-Pack 6" x 3-7/8" Between Coats Finishing Pad at Lowes.com
And the also make a FINE in where this was ultra fine that I will pick up to just in case I come across something a little gnarlier
Good turn around on those lights but agree on spending a few minutes with whatever grit and if no dice move down as your just blowing through finer paper and not cutting it down
Click to expand...
that I did do was waste my good stuff, gotta save that for the customers that pay what I ask for, with this dealer or any other I am going to pick up some of that fine 3M Pads and try that next time after all these dealers don't pay as much and if I can get results like you did why not use it, thanks for the Link Fred:xyxthumbs:

Louie
 
Louie_Blu said:
Hi There, Basically I hit a few dealerships with my flyer and business cards in hand and I asked to speak to the Manager or the Owner, One place asked me to do a demo car for them and I did and they gave me the whole car lot after they saw my work, mind you I am only doing Headlights, I used to do full details back in Miami where I had Phil Smith Chrysler Jeep and Eagle and South Miami Mazda with actual contracts, but that would probably be your best bet, just go in to a Dealer and tell them what you do and first see if they have some sort of interest then ask then to let you demo a car, I say make sure they have some interest because it would suck you did all that work and then have the dealer say wow I just got a free detail, usually if you can WOW them then it shouldn't be a problem to win over the dealer, also be prepared to work on pricing as dealers never give what a normal customer would pay you, once you have him WOWed so to speak that will give you ammunition to help get a good price per vehicle, A tactic I use is this " Look Sir I know you like my work and you can always add and extra $60 to $80 dollars for the vehicles I do to the sticker price", believe me these guys have money they are just to stingy with it and if they can get away with it they will, your job is to show them what you can do and let them know you mean business, so far this works for me and I hope it will for you:hungry:
Good Luck my Friend

Louie
Click to expand...
good job louie
 
Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it. Hopefully it all goes well for me! I'm looking to start off with small used car dealerships first.

Again thanks for your tips and feedback!!
 
great job on the lights...i had an impalla with the EXACT same looking headlights and had just as hard of a time. The passenger side came out great...but the drivers side was only so-so to me...spent about 1 1/2 hrs...dropped as low as 320 grit....but i could see dirt and on the INSIDE of the lens so it looked like some of the crap i was trying to sand off was actually located inside...thus the reason i couldnt get it to sand off!

Great job again, im off to go read those other 2 threads lol
 
You should never have to go lower than 320 grit. When you see your sanding disc is not removing material anymore, you need to change it. If you keep sanding with the same disc you won't get much done since the abrasives in it are no longer working.

You did a great job on the headlights, however I still don't understand why people keep insisting on putting furniture varnish on headlights with products such as Opti-Coat on the market which is not expensive and easier to apply, not to mention it should last quite a while longer.
 
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