Understanding headlamp repair

I have a aerosol can of automotive 'Acrylic laquer'. I never tried it on plastics though!

btw after spraying clear, is there a need to sand, refinish to flatten out the clear?
 
sohail99 said:
I have a aerosol can of automotive 'Acrylic laquer'. I never tried it on plastics though!
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I'd be careful with that...I did a wheel repair and finished it with some clear "high performance wheel coating" which proceeded to yellow over time. If I had known at the time I could get the 2K in a can I would have done it. Just use a proper respirator if you're going to spray the 2K.
 
Nice info Barry, thanks for the write up. Also, thanks for all the follow up posts. Answered all my questions that I had.
 
great info

for the guys already using the 1k & 2k clear coats, whats the cure time? as in when can the car be driven. some of the descriptions on these products say 12 hour cure time

also, any 'wipe on' alternative to the aerosol? (opti coat i guess is an option) I work outside pretty often and with the wind on some days I wouldn't dare spray any paint
 
Lasthope05 said:
Excellent thread Barry. Now people can finally see a true headlight restoration and not just sanding, buffing, and applying furniture clear on it. I've been preaching and doing it this way for a while now only with sanding up to 800gt and using a 1k clear vs a 2k.

People dont understand that you need a rough sanded surface, not a smooth polished one, for the clearcoat to adhere properly.
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You are right about saying this is the correct way of doing it. Clearing them will last a really long time, i know this since i smoke out headlights and tailights this way too. But you have to understand that not everyone out there is willing to pay for a job
Done correctly this way. And thats when the "furniture clear" comes in. If they are willing to pay for something cheaper then you can use the uv sealent trick. Remeber, you get what you pay for.
 
93fox said:
You are right about saying this is the correct way of doing it. Clearing them will last a really long time, i know this since i smoke out headlights and tailights this way too. But you have to understand that not everyone out there is willing to pay for a job
Done correctly this way. And thats when the "furniture clear" comes in. If they are willing to pay for something cheaper then you can use the uv sealent trick. Remeber, you get what you pay for.
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Are you offering a warranty with your furniture clear? Do you know how long the furniture clear lasts? I'm curious.


On a side note, looks like we have a new test to run - furniture clear, UV coating, Opti-Coat. Who wants to be the one? Im the MAN
 
Gurge said:
great info

for the guys already using the 1k & 2k clear coats, whats the cure time? as in when can the car be driven. some of the descriptions on these products say 12 hour cure time

also, any 'wipe on' alternative to the aerosol? (opti coat i guess is an option) I work outside pretty often and with the wind on some days I wouldn't dare spray any paint
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The one I use (SEM 1k HS Clear) is dry to the touch and can be handled in 1 hour. I also place the halogens next to the headlights to make it dry slightly faster but dont try to force dry it as you will get fish eyes and bubbles in the paint. Full cure time would be about 12-24 hours just like sealants. It needs time to fully out gas.

93fox said:
You are right about saying this is the correct way of doing it. Clearing them will last a really long time, i know this since i smoke out headlights and tailights this way too. But you have to understand that not everyone out there is willing to pay for a job
Done correctly this way. And thats when the "furniture clear" comes in. If they are willing to pay for something cheaper then you can use the uv sealent trick. Remeber, you get what you pay for.
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I have never used the furniture clear technique so I wouldnt be comfortable with doing it for customers. Im sure it might work fine for a while but coming from an auto body repair background, applying a clear to a smooth polished surface doesnt sit well with me.
 
Lasthope05 said:
Im sure it might work fine for a while but coming from an auto body repair background, applying a clear to a smooth polished surface doesnt sit well with me.
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I see where you are coming from but I have to ask - what is your stance on Opti-Coat?

Barry, I have no intentions of hijacking this thread. Like I said before, this is excellent information that I'm certain someone will put to use.
 
rwright said:
I see where you are coming from but I have to ask - what is your stance on Opti-Coat?

Barry, I have no intentions of hijacking this thread. Like I said before, this is excellent information that I'm certain someone will put to use.
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Opti-coat(guard/2.0, gtechniq C1, etc) seems like a viable option. Though I have no experience with the coatings and their reaction ability to fully bond to polycarbonate plastics as their main design was to adhere to automotive polyurethane paint, the reviews of them make them look very promising. I have been following optimum opti-coat before it was even released when it was dubbed "Product X". I have no doubts in its durability nor the other coatings, as I too have been following them when they were first released in the UK, but I cant guarantee or warranty the new coatings unless I've done my own testing.
 
This is really good info.

Now the question EVERYBODY wants to know is:

Where can you buy the clearcoat?

And something I'd like to know...after sanding with 1500 grit, and clearing the lenses, are the 1500 scratches eliminated completely or are they still visible? Do you wetsand the clearcoat afterwards if there are slight paint runs when using a regular aerosol can?
 
i would love to see someone who knows what they are doing, create a walkthrough video on how to do this correctly. i am def a visual/hands on guy, and would like to see each step being done by a pro at this "correct" method. this would def build me confidence when switching over to this method(from the compound/polish method). the theory of this method sound great, i just wish to see it in video form.

of course, this video would take valuable time to create, so i understand if it cant be done, just saying it would be really awesome.
 
with that being said, Barry did a great job with the picture tutorial. hats off for taking the time to do that! thanks for your time to share your knowledge and skill.
 
There is nothing really to it. Just sand as you normally would and instead of buffing you just apply a clear coat over top. There are videos on youtube about this. You just have to wade through all the cut and buff ones.

Heres a video of a company that sells a wipe on clear.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzfGE-jWqZE]YouTube - Headlight Restoration by Delta Kits[/video]

Spray on-
 
thanks Alan. i just didnt want to jump on youtube and look since alot of people up there show their slash jobs. you know.
 
Lasthope05 said:
The one I use (SEM 1k HS Clear) is dry to the touch and can be handled in 1 hour. I also place the halogens next to the headlights to make it dry slightly faster but dont try to force dry it as you will get fish eyes and bubbles in the paint. Full cure time would be about 12-24 hours just like sealants. It needs time to fully out gas.



I have never used the furniture clear technique so I wouldnt be comfortable with doing it for customers. Im sure it might work fine for a while but coming from an auto body repair background, applying a clear to a smooth polished surface doesnt sit well with me.
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Yea i completely agree with you. I paint cars and have done a bunch of headlights and we both know that clearing them is the only cortect way of protecting them. But some peoples jaws drop when i tell em $120 for the headlights, they think i use spray cans. Witch i dont, i use ppg 2021 and 2002. So them i tell them that for $40 i can do it too but it wont be a permanent finish. This is when the furniture clear comes in, and some just love the fact about $40 knowing it wont last a long time. Like i said, people get what they pay for!
 
93fox said:
Yea i completely agree with you. I paint cars and have done a bunch of headlights and we both know that clearing them is the only cortect way of protecting them. But some peoples jaws drop when i tell em $120 for the headlights, they think i use spray cans. Witch i dont, i use ppg 2021 and 2002. So them i tell them that for $40 i can do it too but it wont be a permanent finish. This is when the furniture clear comes in, and some just love the fact about $40 knowing it wont last a long time. Like i said, people get what they pay for!
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IMO one of the biggest things about being a professional detailer is properly educating a customer/client on how to maintain a proper finish. Whether its paint or plastic as in this case. I think if you educate them on the saftey issues of this process they won't think twice about the money.
 
Barry Theal said:
IMO one of the biggest things about being a professional detailer is properly educating a customer/client on how to maintain a proper finish. Whether its paint or plastic as in this case. I think if you educate them on the saftey issues of this process they won't think twice about the money.
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Barry, i do that all the time. Some people actually listen and understand and they actually pay for the proper job. Others are just so hard headed. Most of the hard headed ones always tell me comments like "well i think its too expensive for headlights" or "im not even going to keep this car" so a quicker much cheaper method seems to be what they like.
 
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