Not satisfied with my first attempt at wet-sanding headlight, seeking advice to improve myself.

[spinz]

Not quite happy with my first attempt at headlight restoration...

Can anyone please point out any mistakes below?

1. Soaked sand papers in a water bucket for 15 minutes, few drops of ONR added to the water. Picture below shows the condition of the headlight.

2. Wrapped the sand paper around a sanding backing pad, began sanding with 1500 grit, continually sprayed water to the section i was sanding. Time spent = 25 minutes.
Headlight was taped up to see the before and after difference.

3. Continued sanding with 2000 grit. Time spent = 20 minutes.

4. Finished off with 3000 grit. Time spent = 15 minutes.

5. Used G220V2 to buff out the sanding marks, Optimum Hyper Compound Spray + orange CCS pad, then Optimum Hyper Polish Spray + white CCS pad. Tape removed and inspected the result.

6. But I can still see these tiny cracks... I supposed a successful headlight restoration should not look like this?

Was it because 1500 grit not low enough to get the job done?

Or i should work longer on each sanding steps?


Any and all advice is welcome...

Thank you.

 

[tuscarora dave]

Photo upload failed.

 

[spinz]

Photo upload failed.

Weird, i can see the photos in my thread...

I've now attached them as thumbnails, photos are named corresponding to the numbers.

 

[FPEvo]

I would say try 800 or maybe even 1200. You want all the spots level I the headlight

 

[Rsurfer]

Wet sanding for 1 hour on one headlight is overkill to say the least. Start with a lower grit (800-1000) and work up. Spend no more then a few minutes with each grit.

 

[cardaddy]

Wet/dry paper? No need to soak the paper. Just mist the light, start with 800 grit or so, then 1500, 2000 and so on.

Overall they didn't seem that bad. Picture 5 for instance over towards the grill looks pretty good.

The little cracks though are on the inside. That is the lens breaking down from the inside out. My wife's 05 Denali has those in it from all the heat with the DRL on all the time.

 

[spinz]

I would say try 800 or maybe even 1200. You want all the spots level I the headlight

Yes, i will try 800.

Wet sanding for 1 hour on one headlight is overkill to say the least. Start with a lower grit (800-1000) and work up. Spend no more then a few minutes with each grit.

I spent long time on each grit because i wanted to remove/level the tiny cracks.

Wet/dry paper? No need to soak the paper. Just mist the light, start with 800 grit or so, then 1500, 2000 and so on.

Overall they didn't seem that bad. Picture 5 for instance over towards the grill looks pretty good.

The little cracks though are on the inside. That is the lens breaking down from the inside out. My wife's 05 Denali has those in it from all the heat with the DRL on all the time.

Yes, come to think of it, the cracks are breaking from inside out when looking at it closely. So it means the little cracks can't be removed by sanding...

But i seen other professional detailers fixed these tiny cracks.

By any chance 800 grit will do the magic on removing these cracks?



:thankyousign: