Used Acetone, Lights Look Terrible

[spazzz]

quicker. Cut with it dry, then smooth it with wet (damp, actually) If I need to cut with 400, I will damp sand with it. However, 800 and 1000 cut great dry.

Do you machine sand or hand sand?

Bill

I only have 1500 and 3000 Trizact 3" discs so I would use the lower grits by hand.

Before I do any sanding on a yellowed light I hit them with a black wool & Meguiars M100 on my Flex.
I haven't done any sanding lately.

 

[MassWineGuy]

Would I get better results using a da buffer?

 

[SWETM]

You would get faster results with a DA polisher or even a drill with a drill attachement. The drill only for compound and polish with not sanding.

A question I did not get a clear understanding from. What was the last step you have done to the headlights?

 

[MassWineGuy]

Last thing I did was use 2000 wet paper yesterday. I’d already used 800. Is it supposed to be cloudy until you polish it?

Would he PlastX work better with the da, too?

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Yes, it's supposed to be cloudy until you polish it. Any polishing is going to work better by machine.

 

[MassWineGuy]

Wow, thanks! I’m such a beginner at this stuff.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

People have different techniques for this, do you have anything finer than 2000? Rangerbay said he stops at 2000 and goes to compound, what I have been doing lately is going to 3000 and then 5000 by machine, at that point the lens is almost clear and polish on a foam pad clears it right up.

You can do it by hand it's just going to be a lot more work, the thing to keep in mind is whatever method you use you need to keep getting progressively less aggressive as you go, finer grits or if you are compounding/polishing, perhaps starting with wool/MF and compound, progressing to foam and polish. And no more acetone! Use isopropyl alcohol if you need to do a wipedown.

 

[Finick]

I was not very happy with the Meguiar's Headlight Coating. It sprayed on nicely, but became textured as it dried and it left the headlights looking strange. It also only lasted 3~4 months before the yellowing and hazing returned. The headlight sealant in the Wolfgang kit I mentioned earlier has proven to last me about 6-ish months and can make the lense look brand new if you use the two-step polishing process first.

Kind of off topic - but I’m glad my kit came with the goopy version you put on with the black foam applicator.

I did my gfs headlights back in October, and they’re still holding up reasonably well.

This is what they looked like after completion. They’re still clear, although the coating has gotten some wear on it, I think a simple polish and another coat would take care of it. If we’re being honest I think I’d rather pull them off and sand them again and put some clear on them, because the cure time on this coating in particular is kind of annoying, mostly because it’s very wet for awhile. Maybe the McKee’s 37 headlight coating would be more enjoyable to use.

I also did another pair back in May:

As far as I know that coating is also holding up fine.

I wonder if your can may have been bad?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sudsmobile]

My process.

1. Sand dry with 1000 if really bad.
2. Wipe clean with a clean towel.
3. Wet sand with 1500.
4. Wipe clean.
5. Wet sand with 3000.
6. Wipe clean.

At this point, they're typically no longer yellow, but hazy.

7. Compound with CG V32 and LC 3" orange pad. Torq 10fx speed 4.5-5.
8. Wipe clean.
9. Polish with CG V36 and LC 3" green pad.
10. Buff clean.
11. Seal with silica based wax product (switching to ceramic coating in the future).

Honda Pilot I did a couple weeks ago.

 

[rangerbay]

People have different techniques for this, do you have anything finer than 2000? Rangerbay said he stops at 2000 and goes to compound, what I have been doing lately is going to 3000 and then 5000 by machine, at that point the lens is almost clear and polish on a foam pad clears it right up.

You can do it by hand it's just going to be a lot more work, the thing to keep in mind is whatever method you use you need to keep getting progressively less aggressive as you go, finer grits or if you are compounding/polishing, perhaps starting with wool/MF and compound, progressing to foam and polish. And no more acetone! Use isopropyl alcohol if you need to do a wipedown.

I have also used 2500 and 3000. I have not gone as fine as 5000. I think that could save quite a bit of compound and polish work, but it would add a lot to the cost. 3000 gets it very smooth.
I use a 3" Flex rotary, but I'm sure a drill attachment would work fine.

 

[MassWineGuy]

Thanks so much for the step by step. I used a white pad on my Harbor Freight da and PlastX. Then some light 3M compound. Not crystal clear by any means, but a lot better. I may go at it again. Maybe use an orange pad?

 

[sudsmobile]

If they're not real clear, it's typically the sanding that wasn't done properly, not the compound and polishing.

 

[MassWineGuy]

No shock there. Can I repeat the process the correct way? I may get a Chemical Guys sampler and try what suds suggested.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Thanks so much for the step by step. I used a white pad on my Harbor Freight da and PlastX. Then some light 3M compound. Not crystal clear by any means, but a lot better. I may go at it again. Maybe use an orange pad?

Is that the order you used? PlastX is very mild (if I'm remembering correctly), it should go last (after compound). I'd try the 3M compound on the orange and follow with the PlastX on the white.

 

[sudsmobile]

No shock there. Can I repeat the process the correct way? I may get a Chemical Guys sampler and try what suds suggested.

Sure, you can redo it. I've finished a few lights in my time and decided to start over again. No problem.

 

[mc2hill]

Thanks so much for the step by step. I used a white pad on my Harbor Freight da and PlastX. Then some light 3M compound. Not crystal clear by any means, but a lot better. I may go at it again. Maybe use an orange pad?

No shock there. Can I repeat the process the correct way? I may get a Chemical Guys sampler and try what suds suggested.

Just to clarify (and in the spirit of using the least aggressive method first), I would suggest you polish with the more aggressive pad/product combination first, before going back to the sand paper.

 

[MassWineGuy]

Polish with the da first, THEN sand?

 

[Setec Astronomy]

No, he meant re-try the polish step to see if that gets the results you want, instead of taking the larger step of resorting to sandpaper again.

Just to reiterate, you are trying to go from the most agressive to the least agressive, and the lens should get clearer as you go along (not going to get much clearer between the early steps, though). In other words, you want your steps to get progressively finer as you go.

 

[sudsmobile]

I think he's saying that you messed up the steps by polishing before you compounded. I'm not sure if that's true because I'm not familiar with the products you used, but if it is you can try polishing again.

I will say this. I've tried a bunch of different compounds and polishes and nothing works as good as the CG V series. Surprising I know but I think my results speak for themselves.

 

[MassWineGuy]

Well, it looks a decent amount better after buffing with both pads and both substances. I also buffed the opposite headlight, which was in much better shape anyway. Came out crystal clear. The other is just not going to get any better. I must have damaged the plastic using the acetone.