wet sanded headlight

[psl car wash]

1996 ORIGINAL headlight
process was:.............
3M 1500 paper........OCC......OCP.....OCW.
dewalt highspeed on 1000rpm with wool than foam.
(first try on plastic with optimum products)
there is still a haze INSIDE the light as you can see only up close.

before.....(looks like dirt on top of surface but was wiped first)


wetsanded .....


after.....


another....(notice the halogen light beam reflection)


another (again)....(notice the halogen light beam reflection)


after with light on....


other BEFORE on.....

[White95Max]

Did you try any other less time-consuming products/processes before doing that? It looks great, but I would have tried plastic polish first.

[psl car wash]

Did you try any other less time-consuming products/processes before doing that? It looks great, but I would have tried plastic polish first.

plastic polish did absolutely nothing (remember this is 9 years old!)....and this process only took 15 mins
plastic polish is how i maintain it but after time even with maintience this is how they look.

[Picus]

Sweet, nice work. I've been flirting with the idea of sanding my headlights too. I've tried two plastic polishes with only moderate success. Thanks for the post.

[flatstick]

I had the same issue on my pickup that I am selling, it is a 92, only 77,700 miles on it. just for the heck out it I tried ssr2.5 by hand and was shocked and amazed. did both headlights and running lights in 15 minutes. brought my wife out to see one side compared to the other and she was like wow what a change. I did not even remove the lights to complete this. little 303 Aero on top and they were back to new. would like to give a mention to GSRstilez and thank him for his article on restoring headlights. it gave me this idea and I would not have tried it if I did not read his article. hope somebody finds this helpful, just test a small spot like I did and maybe you will get the same amazing results

[psl car wash]

update....all those prior pics were all at 10:00pm heres the next day....like i said i regularly use a polish once a month so they wernt that bad but in this pic u can see how the drivers side is "golden".

[Asonyexec]

great job, looks as close to new as a 9 yr old headlight lens can. You're right those "less time consuming" methods don't work on something this bad. All that over the counter, one cleaner does it all stuff is only for lens' in good condition.

[psl car wash]

oh and the bumper was painted with spray can just cause the blk bothered me , lol, so im buying a new grill (big hole lol) and than haveing the bumper and grill painted (WITH LOTS OF CLEAR!!)

[Dent's & Details]

Head light restoration is a service I offer to my customers. I charge 20.00 a light.
I have always used 2000 grit paper. It is much easier to use a small polisher. I have an air driven one that holds the Cyclo pads. After the sanding I use the orange pad with the Optimum Compound. Next step is a white pad and the Optimum Polish.
The wet sanding removes the yellow dried plastic somewhat like oxidation on paint.

Special note. Some of the newer cars have a soft vinyl coating on them. You Do Not want to sand these.

[MarcusD]

Anybody tried a product called Micro-Mesh?

https://www.micro-surface.com/default.cfm?page_id=200

I've got nothing to gain by plugging them, but this stuff is well-known in modeling (cars, planes) circles. The regular stuff is great for plastics, and will produce an almost optical-quality finish.

Their "grits" go down to 12000 (twelve thousand), although I believe they go by a different set of standards than regular W or D sandpaper. The 12000 has the feel of leather, very smooth.

The backing is cloth instead of paper and it's very durable. You can also buy them with foam pads attached, which makes wet-sanding by hand easier.

I used the stuff to polish some scratches and a stain out of the clear instrument panel bezel and it looks brand new.

They have a kit for doing headlights, but I prefer to buy the larger sheets individually. They also sell different types of sheets for polishing aluminum and stainless steel.

Anyway, I just thought I'd point out this source in case no one else had tried it.

[psl car wash]

Anybody tried a product called Micro-Mesh?

https://www.micro-surface.com/default.cfm?page_id=200

I've got nothing to gain by plugging them, but this stuff is well-known in modeling (cars, planes) circles. The regular stuff is great for plastics, and will produce an almost optical-quality finish.

Their "grits" go down to 12000 (twelve thousand), although I believe they go by a different set of standards than regular W or D sandpaper. The 12000 has the feel of leather, very smooth.

The backing is cloth instead of paper and it's very durable. You can also buy them with foam pads attached, which makes wet-sanding by hand easier.

I used the stuff to polish some scratches and a stain out of the clear instrument panel bezel and it looks brand new.

They have a kit for doing headlights, but I prefer to buy the larger sheets individually. They also sell different types of sheets for polishing aluminum and stainless steel.

Anyway, I just thought I'd point out this source in case no one else had tried it.

$15.00 bucks for 4 little 3 inch pieces?? lol ive never tried it but ill stick to my 100 pack of 3M wetsand paper! lol.....
anyone ever try it???