Sanding headlights

BrianMcLeod

BrianMcLeod

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When sanding headlight with the PC to restore them what speed do y'all use on

500 grit

800 grit

1200 - 1500 and final

3000 grit
 
500 grit is pretty aggressive. Most headlights won't need that. But for sanding you won't need a high speed. Maybe around 4 on the pc.
 
In this video (cheesy I know :laughing: )

I started with 1,000 and finished with 2500

It was all done by hand though. I agree 500 is pretty aggressive, but at times it might be necessary.

http://youtu.be/PgXCTMSUGU8
 
Still wondering if one can go from 800 to 1500

And skip the 1000?

Anybody know?
 
I've actually went from 800 to 3000 with great results. I've attached some photos

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using AG Online
 
How do you know you've taken down of the oxidation when sanding? I tried wetsanding for the first time on some practice lights, I started out with 500 ended with 2000 then compounded and polished. After polishing it still wasn't clear so I went down to 360(lowest grit I had) and it came out better but looks like I will have to go down even lower.

Did I do anything wrong or just didn't take out enough of the oxidation in the initial sanding? I used a rotary with 4" wool pad when compounding and polishing speed 3.
 
Fury887 said:
How do you know you've taken down of the oxidation when sanding? I tried wetsanding for the first time on some practice lights, I started out with 500 ended with 2000 then compounded and polished. After polishing it still wasn't clear so I went down to 360(lowest grit I had) and it came out better but looks like I will have to go down even lower.

Did I do anything wrong or just didn't take out enough of the oxidation in the initial sanding? I used a rotary with 4" wool pad when compounding and polishing speed 3.
Click to expand...

800 should be enough to take out any scratches and oxidation. Do cross hatch sanding so you know if you removed the previous sanding marks. Use a bucket of soapy water and rinse often..work clean.
 
I just use the eye test, usually if by the time I'm finish with 800 and its not clear I know I need to sand a little more.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using AG Online
 
Sorry for the thread hijack. I tried the same process on these headlights today, you can see the left side was pretty bad. They made a big improvement but if you look closely the drivers side is much clearer(had less oxidation originally). I didn't even have to wet-sand it just compound and polish.

Passenger side went down to 360 and in the sun you can still see a bit of yellowing and not clear like the drivers. What am I doing wrong? I'm going to go down to 220 and do cross-hatch unless im missing something.





 
Fury887 said:
Sorry for the thread hijack. I tried the same process on these headlights today, you can see the left side was pretty bad. They made a big improvement but if you look closely the drivers side is much clearer(had less oxidation originally). I didn't even have to wet-sand it just compound and polish.

Passenger side went down to 360 and in the sun you can still see a bit of yellowing and not clear like the drivers. What am I doing wrong? I'm going to go down to 220 and do cross-hatch unless im missing something.





Click to expand...

It could be on the inside? Are you using 500 grit dry sand

800 grit dry sand

1000 to 1500 grit wet sand

And 3000 grit wet sand? Also compound and polish after that
 
If there is still yellow you aren't sanding long enough. No need to go down to 220 grit that's insane.
 
Fury887 said:
Sorry for the thread hijack. I tried the same process on these headlights today, you can see the left side was pretty bad. They made a big improvement but if you look closely the drivers side is much clearer(had less oxidation originally). I didn't even have to wet-sand it just compound and polish.

Passenger side went down to 360 and in the sun you can still see a bit of yellowing and not clear like the drivers. What am I doing wrong? I'm going to go down to 220 and do cross-hatch unless im missing something.





Click to expand...

Np I am glad it helped someone else out besides me 😃
 
Some one helped me out on other another forum about headlights go check it out and others too





Step 1: Sand with 500 Grit until the lens is opaque white. This is the most important step because the more even your sanding, the better your overall results will be. Wipe lens



Step 2: Sand with 800 Grit and sand as your did the first time. This step is to begin refining larger sanding marks



Step 3: Wet-Sand with 1200 Grit. Fill a spray bottle and generously apply over the area to be sanded. Sand as you did the first two steps. You will notice that the lens is beginning to look clearer. Continue wet-sanding until all previous sanding marks have dissapeared.



Step 4: Wet-Sand with 3000 Grit. Sand as you did with all previous steps. At this point, all of your previous sanding marks have been refined and its time to bring out the polisher. <font color="red">*If you don't have a polisher, I recommend buying a white Euro CCS Hand Polishing Pad from AG.



Step 5: Compound the headlights.



<font color="red">*Wolfgang Compound, Menzerna Compound, and Meguiars Compound are most commonly used amongst people on the forum with great results.



Step 6: Polish with a fine polish.



Step 7: Seal Them Up. Opti-Lens is a great choice as its designed to be permanent. DP Headlight Coating is a fairly new product made by the good folks at Autogeek so it's also a solid option.



<font color="red">IF YOU DONT WANT TO SAND, DP MAKES A HEADLIGHT RESTORATION KIT BUT THIS REQUIRES A DRILL. THIS IS A MUCH FASTER OPTION AND HAS YIELDED VERY SIMILIAR RESULTS TO SANDING.
 
I wet-sanded through all the grits(360-200). Highest grit I got is 2000, need to pickup some 3000. So the first few steps is dry, why?
 
Dry sanding in the beginning is faster. The goal is to remove a layer of plastic (the yellow). The color change and cloudiness comes from oxidation. Wet-sanding is a less aggressive approach thats why it's used in the later steps when refining your previous sanding marks.
 
artofdetailing said:
Dry sanding in the beginning is faster. The goal is to remove a layer of plastic (the yellow). The color change and cloudiness comes from oxidation. Wet-sanding is a less aggressive approach thats why it's used in the later steps when refining your previous sanding marks.
Click to expand...

He helped me out before thanks!
 
Fury887 said:
How do you know you've taken down of the oxidation when sanding? I tried wetsanding for the first time on some practice lights, I started out with 500 ended with 2000 then compounded and polished. After polishing it still wasn't clear so I went down to 360(lowest grit I had) and it came out better but looks like I will have to go down even lower.

Did I do anything wrong or just didn't take out enough of the oxidation in the initial sanding? I used a rotary with 4" wool pad when compounding and polishing speed 3.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like the problem is the finishing grits not the initial sanding. Take more time on the higher grits like 2000-3000, those are the steps that makes it clear, not the initial 500 one.
 
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