Taillight Help

[af90]

First time correcting the lights on this car since I had it and since the dealership washed it. I ran into an issue when correcting the taillights, some super stubborn scratches. The headlights went perfectly using a 3" Tangerine pad with HD Polish with some tougher areas with a 3" Cyan and some FG400. But the taillights are another story.



I tried the same combos and a microfiber pad plus FG400 and nothing even budges them. Pretty much wet sanding and using a rotary are the two skills I haven't needed so far so I don't have the tools for them. I'm not opposed to wet sanding them but they just didn't seem like something that polishing would have an issue with.

Any ideas?

 

[Ebg18t]

I am surprised that FG400 & HD Polish didn't fix the tail lights. I'll be curious to hear the solution.

 

[North26]

I am assuming you used a DA (correct me if I am wrong). If you used a DA, there is no need for a rotary. A rotary would most likely burn the plastic quickly. By the styling of the tail light the car looks new, I am surprised you felt a need to break out the FG400. I only use compound if I wet sand. And those do not need wet sanding, by the picture.

I would go back with the HD with the cutting pad and see if that helps at all. Also draw a line on your backing plate with a sharpie and watch the line. This will ensure your pad is rotating and not just jiggling. Also go extra slow.

If that fails then try another polish like Meg's Plastic X works well on lights as it was designed for plastic, and it is available OTC. It could be that the HD too abrasive for the plastic.

 

[Don M]

I've never NOT had a taillight come out perfect when using my PC - even if I'm only using a light polish or AIO.

To me, the pictures look like you were too aggressive and created some decent swirling

 

[Dunrite]

Don't want to hijack, but I use a rotary set on the slowest speed with a wool or foam pad to correct lights, is this practice risky? My flex won't run a small enough pad for me to do certain lights.

 

[North26]

Don't want to hijack, but I use a rotary set on the slowest speed with a wool or foam pad to correct lights, is this practice risky? My flex won't run a small enough pad for me to do certain lights.

As long as you are careful it is safe. Probably not the ideal tool for the job, but we all have different budgets and a 3" Griot's is kind of a luxury item. Foam is probably safer than wool but if you trust yourself and are confident there should be no issues.

I just brought it up because I have watched it happen once at a Mercedes dealership. I have a contract with them and I was doing a car near where there in house detailer was detailing a delivery he was polishing a taillight with rotary and wool and just fried the light. Felt bad for him really, but not so much after I heard this wasn't the first time he did this lol

 

[Don M]

Don't want to hijack, but I use a rotary set on the slowest speed with a wool or foam pad to correct lights, is this practice risky? My flex won't run a small enough pad for me to do certain lights.

If you have some skill with the rotary and use the proper products, the rotary is a valid tool for headlight correction, although I wouldn't go too aggressive with polishes OR pads ... I'd stick to foam, not wool.

It's tough to scratch a headlight (relatively) but you don't want to take this as gospel and go hog wild and hit it with a rotary, a wool pad and a 'rocks in a bottle' compound

 

[g35_coupe]

I'm having trouble seeing any defects in your pic so I can't really judge what caused them or what you're dealing with. I'm also surprised they didn't come out with a wool pad/compound combo. I would just live with the scratches with it being a newer lens. If you can't live with the defects AND you have a dedicated coating/sealant to protect the finished product, then by all means, wet-sand to your hearts content. If you don't have anything to top off your lens, wet-sanding a perfectly good factory coating to chase some scratches should be the last thing on your list.

I will ask this: If you don't have experience wet-sanding, are you confident you can get a finish that is compound-ready (and not worse than it already is)?