New to forum and had my first question with pics.

Smoove7

Smoove7

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I know I will learn a lot from this site and the massive amount of information it has to share. I have looked over hundreds of forums the past few day learning information and had a question.

I am going to be restoring my headlights soon and wondered in looking at these pics, what grit should I start with? I am not experienced enough yet to know what grit to start with. Is there a topic which has pics that show if the light looks like this then start with this?

Also I have seen that some use 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 3000 and some use 2000, and 2500 as well. Does it make a difference if I go from 400 all the way up to 3000 using small increments in between because some people stop at 2000. Wondering if going all the way up to 3000 matters a good bit or not really? I will be using Optilens and have seen that 3000 might not give enough bite, but am still researching. I did use the 3m restoration kit on these about 5 years ago and here they are today. I have never touched the fog lights.

Lastly I included my fog lights as well because they are pretty bad, I want to say the fog lights are glass, but I am not 100% sure. Thank you for having me and I will be sure to search well before asking questions.

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Are you doing this all by hand or machine? You could probably do 1500 then 3000 if you have it. Finishing with 3000 grit is much easier to buff out.
 
welcome. id go up to 3000 grit. as Brad has said, it makes finishing them off easier. someone suggested only a couple of days ago that wiping them with diesel will actually remove a good deal of tarnishing. I've never tried it, so can't comment as to how well it works, but it might be worth a try first.
 
I usually don't work my way up in such small increments when wet sanding headlight lenses. For most of the jobs I do I use a 1000 or 1500 Meguiar's Unitgrit disc on a DA polisher then follow up with something finer like a 3000 disc before polishing. If I can't use the discs on the lens then I'll hand sand with a backing pad using light pressure and working in straight lines.

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Here's a 50/50 test spot I did with only a 3000 grit disc followed up by polishing with Wolfgang Uber Compound and a Meguiar's microfiber cutting disc.

Some jobs don't require very aggressive sanding. I like to try a lesser aggressive approach before using anything below 1000 grit.
 
Thank you for the information. I had planned on buying either a drill with rpm of 1200-1600, somewhere in that range like a variable speed one or a DA or orbital. I am reading that orbitals are not strong enough and people opt for the DA. I am experimenting right now, but would like to turn it into a business at some point. Then I have to wonder if I want to go the route of cordless or not. So I am contemplating right now, orbital, DA or drill like dewalt or Black and Decker. Using the 3m restoration kit.

I see that a lot of people do this by hand, but it seems easier by watching the videos if you use a machine instead.

It does seem like a lot of extra work to sand the lights 6 times using different grits of sand paper when I could just do 1500 and 3000. Of course it depends on how bad they are. I am still researching what a bad headlight looks like so I can be ready. Thoughts?

What about the fog lights? Should I look at a new pair, these look really nasty. I did more research and I believe the lenses on the foglights are plastic. If anyone can find out for sure, let me know. I know I would have to do the foglights by hand.
 
The fog lenses must be plastic or they wouldn't be faded. Like the SE-R.
 
I would also check out the 3" thin wool pads by Lake Country. They cut and finish very well on headlights.
 
I am guessing that the Griots 3" orbital would have enough power due to being a corded device. Should I want to go cordless I am guessing a 50 or 60 dollar drill would work as well as long as it goes up to 1600 rpm? I have seen on the forums that going cordless is not a bad idea if wanting to do this as a business and not wanting to have an inverter. Would be weird asking if I can plug into a clients power source. I have heard of having a battery backup is a good thing to do. Is that kind of the consensus if you are going to have a mobile headlight restoration business, it is a good idea to go cordless?
 
I say use what BobbyG recommended or the 3M Headlight Restoration kit.

You can buy a drill! Hell everyone can use a drill at least a few times in their life so why not right? You will always use it in the house some way or another in my opinion.

But, if you do not have a machine like the Griots and plan on maintaining your vehicles paint (or any other for that matter) I say you should buy it along with a nice assortment of pads.
 
Thank you for your help. This site is really cool.
 
Smoove7 said:
I actually thought of purchasing this little baby. Would this do well for headlight restoration?

Griots Garage Professional Random Orbital 3 Inch Polisher Review
Click to expand...

The Griot's 3 inch polisher is best suited for well, 3" pads only and headlight lenses and possibly a bit more is about it for this little guy. I'm not knocking this machine but it is a bit underpowered for anything more than lenses and tight corners. You might be better off opting for something like the Porter Cable 7424xp and different sizes of backing plates and corresponding pads.
 
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