Some headlight restorations!

[kaval]

Originally Posted by vtec92civic

All i can say is wow! Those lights are crystal clear! I don't think one would be able to tell those from one's brand new and out of the box.

Question for you. Can all lenses be brought back and how do you determine that? I had some trouble with some BMW X5 headlights. Things drove me crazy. Didn't come out the way i had hoped they would ya know.

Great work though!

Thanks!
What was your process for the X5 lights? Be as detailed as possible...

[RaskyR1]

Nice work! The side by side pics are very cool too!

I would think if you cleared them you would have orange peel and that would need to be wet sanded as well...

Anyone have close up pics of a cleared light?

[vtec92civic]

Originally Posted by kaval

Thanks!
What was your process for the X5 lights? Be as detailed as possible...

you got PM

[kaval]

Originally Posted by RaskyR1

Nice work! The side by side pics are very cool too!

I would think if you cleared them you would have orange peel and that would need to be wet sanded as well...

Anyone have close up pics of a cleared light?

Thanks! I was wondering about the orange peel too! My lights need some refinishing, so I might try the clearcoating method myself and see how it turns out.

[the_invisible]

Kaval, that's some 1337 work on those Honda lights!! The JDM Integra lights look awesome.

Originally Posted by vtec92civic

All i can say is wow! Those lights are crystal clear! I don't think one would be able to tell those from one's brand new and out of the box.

Question for you. Can all lenses be brought back and how do you determine that? I had some trouble with some BMW X5 headlights. Things drove me crazy. Didn't come out the way i had hoped they would ya know.

Great work though!

Most headlight lenses are VERY hard and can be safely sanded down. Also they are quite thick. Even after some vigorous sanding, you're barely removing any plastic from the lenses.

However, when polishing the lenses with a compound, heat can be quite an issue. There are many headlight restoration "kits" out there thrown together for drill applications. I find the electric drill to be too tedious to operate. While spot repair air-driven drills are workable because of their weights, I find the electric drill too heavy for proper polishing. Rotary is the best machine to use even for headlight restorations.

[automedix]

I use Hi-Tech Industries Magna Shine - I get tremendous results.Headlight Restoration

[Jakerooni]

Just what I wanted to see.. I have a headlight restore coming up on Monday. I love the step by steps.. I have everything in hand so hopefully I can get similar or very close results Thanks for the write up!!!

[Scottwax]

Originally Posted by Jakerooni

Just what I wanted to see.. I have a headlight restore coming up on Monday. I love the step by steps.. I have everything in hand so hopefully I can get similar or very close results Thanks for the write up!!!

Make sure you post your headlight restorations, I had a Supra interior detail the other day and the owner had seen the Skyline headlights I restored so he wanted the headlights of his Supra restored too. Nearly doubled what I originally expected to make!

[kaval]

Originally Posted by the_invisible

Kaval, that's some 1337 work on those Honda lights!! The JDM Integra lights look awesome.

Most headlight lenses are VERY hard and can be safely sanded down. Also they are quite thick. Even after some vigorous sanding, you're barely removing any plastic from the lenses.

However, when polishing the lenses with a compound, heat can be quite an issue. There are many headlight restoration "kits" out there thrown together for drill applications. I find the electric drill to be too tedious to operate. While spot repair air-driven drills are workable because of their weights, I find the electric drill too heavy for proper polishing. Rotary is the best machine to use even for headlight restorations.

Thanks for your comments and observations about the lenses. It's the same sort of thing I tell car owners quite a bit, as most of them are scared about removing material off the lens.

Rotary or nothing! :P

Originally Posted by automedix

I use Hi-Tech Industries Magna Shine - I get tremendous results.Headlight Restoration

Looks great!

Originally Posted by Jakerooni

Just what I wanted to see.. I have a headlight restore coming up on Monday. I love the step by steps.. I have everything in hand so hopefully I can get similar or very close results Thanks for the write up!!!

Glad this helped you man! Check my other thread with the RSX headlights, I posted a more step by step write up in that one. It's now Tuesday so I'm gonna check to see if you posted it yet :P

[GallagherAuto]

I love the before and after!!! Great work. How much do you charge for something like that???