polishes for plastic headlight restoration

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Chito

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can i use optimum polish II for headlight restoration? if not what polishes can i use to do the job? Carpro Fixer? don't want to buy specific products for the headlights. i prefer to use polishes that can do the job and polish paint at the same time. suggestions please. thanks.

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No advice? Is this a stupid question?
 
Are you planning on sanding? I have used Megs 105 with great success. Cannot comment on the Opt Polish or Fixer

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Just like any polishing project, you need to have the appropriate compounds/polishes to remove the defects you have, you don't need anything different for headlights than you do for paint. However, since you are mentioning restoration , you will likely need to sand the headlight to remove damaged coating, or crazing or severe yellowing. That means you will need a compound that can remove sand scratches, and finally, a polish to ensure you have restored the clarity of the lens after compounding.

like david11g35, I have used M105 after sanding, followed by M205. You could easily use OPT Polish II as the final step, but if you are sanding things will be a whole lot easier if you have a compound to use in between.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Just like any polishing project, you need to have the appropriate compounds/polishes to remove the defects you have, you don't need anything different for headlights than you do for paint. However, since you are mentioning restoration , you will likely need to sand the headlight to remove damaged coating, or crazing or severe yellowing. That means you will need a compound that can remove sand scratches, and finally, a polish to ensure you have restored the clarity of the lens after compounding.

like david11g35, I have used M105 after sanding, followed by M205. You could easily use OPT Polish II as the final step, but if you are sanding things will be a whole lot easier if you have a compound to use in between.
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When sanding, what grit are you using? Also, what machine are you using with the Megs? I have a PC. Will that work ok? Thanks.
 
I wet sand with 1500 to 2000 grit sandpaper. Then I use 105 and a wool pad and then 205 with a foam pad. I have a small 2 or 3 inch backing plate and pads that I use on my drill. I seal with klasse.

If I don't think I'll be able to remove the oxidation and damage with 1500 grit or finer sandpaper, I usually won't try to restore the lenses. They are usually very damaged and will usually have micro cracks if this is the case. It's very difficult getting them to look new again if they are that severely damaged.
 
elk42 said:
When sanding, what grit are you using? Also, what machine are you using with the Megs? I have a PC. Will that work ok? Thanks.
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The porter cable doesn't work very well for headlight restoration unless you have big flat headlights. They just don't have enough power and the pads are too big. A rotary polisher will work, but you are very likely to damage the surrounding paint unless you have some very small pads.

Electric or air drills work the best in my experience. Small pads will allow you to get into the corner and polish around curved headlights much easier.


Expensive headlight restoration kits are almost all a scam. I've restored 50+ headlights with very minimal equipment.
 
When I first started out I would use the 3m headlight kit and would have really great results with the kit, a cheap electric drill and a sealant.

Nowadays I have a small Rubbermaid box with pre cut packs of 200,320, 400,500,800,1000,2000,3000(triac) sandpaper all with hook & loop backing. I generally go with 500,800,2000 then 3000 wet. Then polish with menzerna power finish.. then top it of with opticoat after a IPA wipe down.

The kits are a good deal if you are just starting out or are doing your car. But if you are like me doing 15-20 sets per month, the kits would get way expensive.

I just ordered menzerna's FG 400 & can't wait to try it out.. everything I have read sounds great!
 
Any compound is good for this.

M105 and M101 are doing a great job .. with wool of course.

/
 
Use Optimum compound following the sanding process, going at least 2000 grit. After the compound, you could follow with the polish.

I use Optimum Hyper Compound followed by Opti Lens coating.
 
thanks for your feedback, seems like its best to take it to a pro. being just an enthusiast, i would most likely screw it up.

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Chito said:
thanks for your feedback, seems like its best to take it to a pro. being just an enthusiast, i would most likely screw it up.
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Huh? Headlights aren't too hard--and they're small! Just need to go through a couple-three grades of sandpaper, couple polishing steps and you're done. It'll be an afternoon of work, but you can do one at a time if that makes it easier. We're supposed to be trying to help you, not discourage you.

Do you have any pictures of your lights?
 
You are correct... it's not out yet, but I've been fortunate enough to get some already, thanks to the guys at Optimum. So I have some good experience with it over the last couple of months. It's supposed to be available next month.

OptiLens is working awesome, assuming you can get the lens properly refinished and looking good prior to applying the coating. Use an approved compound/polish and make sure it's 100% clean (I've been wiping with denatured alcohol, etc even though Optimum polishes don't need it according to Opt.), then apply the coating. It won't cover/hide flaws you didn't fix, but it coats without any "side effects" of other common coatings, like heavy streaks or spray texture. Not every lens has been perfect for me, but most come out looking great. I'll post some more results soon. I'm buried right now with the short work week... should be either sleeping or working instead of looking at the interwebs ha ha
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Huh? Headlights aren't too hard--and they're small! Just need to go through a couple-three grades of sandpaper, couple polishing steps and you're done. It'll be an afternoon of work, but you can do one at a time if that makes it easier. We're supposed to be trying to help you, not discourage you.

Do you have any pictures of your lights?
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:iagree: You can do this!
 
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