Headlight Restoration

kdubski

kdubski

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Hi Guys,

I am looking for advice regarding headlight restoration. I recently tried to bring back the headlights on a 2006 Honda Odyssey. They were almost fully opaque but NOT completely gone yet. I dry sanded them with 400, wetsanded with 800 and 1000. Final sanding step was with the DA sander using 2000. I compounded and polished them.

The final product is SOMEWHAT hazy, and a few scratches remain. Did I take too big of a leap with the 400 to 800? Also, There was SERIOUS swirling in the headlights when I checked with my inspection LED lighting. Any idea how to fix this?
 
400 to 800gr is too big of a leap in my opinion. I too faced difficulty removing sanding mark completely usually with lower grit from 320 onward. 1000grit onward is easy to remove and not as sensitive. From 360grit, 500grit is probably the widest leap i am comfortable doing.
 
Too late now for you but next car try the McKees headlight polish!!! I have only had to sand one pair of headlights since I got it! I do at least a car or 2 a month and they get the headlights done. McKees will change your mind on headlight restoration.
 
It's a personal car so I will be going back and forth on this pair of headlights to perfect my technique. While there are a few deep scratches from, I'm assuming here, the 400 grit, the headlights look nearly brand new in sunlight. When I fire them up at night/with the brickman LED light, they are hazy and dull looking.

Does the 400 to 800 jump really make that much of a DIFFERENCE?

If a corrected 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and compounding process doesn't make them perfect I will be trying the McKee's.
 
Think of it like a haircut. If you are getting your hairline faded, it has to be a gradual process. you may need to go from 400 to 600. I've also heard that going up to 1800, 2500 and even 3000 or 3500 makes a huge difference as well.
 
kdubski said:
It's a personal car so I will be going back and forth on this pair of headlights to perfect my technique. While there are a few deep scratches from, I'm assuming here, the 400 grit, the headlights look nearly brand new in sunlight. When I fire them up at night/with the brickman LED light, they are hazy and dull looking.

Does the 400 to 800 jump really make that much of a DIFFERENCE?

If a corrected 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and compounding process doesn't make them perfect I will be trying the McKee's.
Click to expand...

Yes, the lower the grit, the lesser the jump. You can sand till as fine as you want, but as long as you not removing the 400 sanding mark completely, it is there to stay. 400 to 600 is really tight enough in my experience. When you reach above 800g though, you can get away with 1000g then 2000g then 4000g.
 
The lenses could have tiny little cracks that go deap into the surface if they are degraded badly enough. I have seen this on some Toyotas. There also could be damage on the inside from the heat from the lights.
 
I don't do a lot of this on the headlights (went new instead). I have done on the fogs though and I went exactly opposite to your technique. I started with 3000 trizact damp sanding disc on 3 " DA. Polished with compound and checked. Least aggresive method first. If not good enough then step down to 2000 grit and then 3000 and polish with compound. You get the idea. It takes a while but after dialing in you get consistant results. Just me method.
 
Crispy said:
I don't do a lot of this on the headlights (went new instead). I have done on the fogs though and I went exactly opposite to your technique. I started with 3000 trizact damp sanding disc on 3 " DA. Polished with compound and checked. Least aggresive method first. If not good enough then step down to 2000 grit and then 3000 and polish with compound. You get the idea. It takes a while but after dialing in you get consistant results. Just me method.
Click to expand...

Least aggressive is the best approach, 400Grit is way too aggresive!!! I recently restored a headlight on a 07 Honda Civic ( head light was completely oxidized)
Damp sanded with 1500G, than 3000G and finally 5000G
Compounded with M105 on PC7424 on Lake Country yellow pad
Polished with HD Adapt on green pad
finished off with HD Speed on Black pad
The client couldn't beleave it was the same headlight.
 
Coppertop80 said:
Least aggressive is the best approach, 400Grit is way too aggresive!!! I recently restored a headlight on a 07 Honda Civic ( head light was completely oxidized)
Damp sanded with 1500G, than 3000G and finally 5000G
Compounded with M105 on PC7424 on Lake Country yellow pad
Polished with HD Adapt on green pad
finished off with HD Speed on Black pad
The client couldn't beleave it was the same headlight.
Click to expand...

It really depends on the vehicle. Honda lenses are easy peasy because their coating from the factory is relatively "soft". Try only using 1500 on some Volvo or Corvette lenses and you'll be there for days. There's a lot of trial and error if you're just doing them once in a while.
 
Coppertop80 said:
Least aggressive is the best approach, 400Grit is way too aggresive!!! I recently restored a headlight on a 07 Honda Civic ( head light was completely oxidized)
Damp sanded with 1500G, than 3000G and finally 5000G
Compounded with M105 on PC7424 on Lake Country yellow pad
Polished with HD Adapt on green pad
finished off with HD Speed on Black pad
The client couldn't beleave it was the same headlight.
Click to expand...

Very good thread; need to ask you a question. My mom's nissan altima is in need of a headlight restoration; I would describe the level of oxidation on her headlights at moderate to heavy. I could easily just take it into a body shop and have them do it, but I actually enjoy tending to my own personal car and would like to experiment with her headlights and see if I can get things right. I have at PC7424, M105, M205 and all three LC Hydo-tech foam pads.

I'm wondering how important damp sanding is? Is it a required step prior to compounding with M105? or can I just jump straight to compounding with M105 and the blue Cyan hydro-tech cutting pat, and skip the damp sanding altogether? I'm going to guess that the damp sanding will get you where you need to get much quicker maybe?

thanks again!
 
Unless you can feel deep pitting I would avoid going below 800 grit. 320 and 400 grit are last resort options reserved for severely crazed lenses. My go-to process (after cleaning ) is 800/1500/2500 or 1k/2k/3k .
If I have to go deeper it's 400 DRY/600/800/1200/2k/3k
Too big of a leap in the lower grits will leave sanding marks.

Also, different brand sanding discs can have different results, application to application. Autobody supply sources have the most options.
 
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