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  1. #1
    rlmccarty2000's Avatar
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    Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    I picked up one of 3Ms Headlight Restoration Kits on my last order from AG. I don’t usually buy their kits but I needed to reach the free shipping mark and I just thought I should try it. I usually just buy some sandpaper discs from eBay. Truthfully I’m not sure why I bought it, senility must be setting in.

    Anyway my son’s truck’s headlights were looking pretty sad so I decided to do the fatherly thing so he wouldn’t hit something at night and polish his headlights.

    The kit


    Before



    All taped up



    The first sanding step with P500



    Second sanding step with P800



    The third sanding step with P3000 Trizact Foam Disc (wet)



    Fourth step compounding with foam cutting pad and CG V32



    Fifth step polishing with CG V38



    Final step 2 coats of Meguires Headlight Coating




    Thoughts. The kit comes with a drill adapter that I didn’t want to use since my drill is an older nicad one and I figured it would die before I finished the job. I used my Rupes mini to do the job. The foam cutting pad (3 in) that came with the kit worked great. It also came with some compound and I’m sure it would work fine, but I’m trying to rid myself of the CG polishes. The tape was included in the kit which was nice. The kit, as you can see, did a nice job of cleaning the headlights which looked worse in person than in the photos. At a price of $22.99 I won’t be buying it again. It is much cheaper to buy sandpaper discs elsewhere, although I will be buying some of the Trizact discs as I really liked the feel of the cushioned pad.

    The Megs Headlight Coating was an old purchase that I’ve been meaning to try out. It’s an aerosol and worked well. The box says “1 year durability “ but I will probably apply more often due to its ease of use. The coating can also be used on new headlights to keep them looking new and I plan on trying that out. The can was pretty full and I would expect it to coat 10-15 sets of headlights.

    Total time for the job was less than1 hour including water breaks.

    I hope this was somewhat informational. I apologize for the out of focus picture. I guess my iPhone X doesn’t take I focus pictures all the time.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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  2. #2
    rlmccarty2000's Avatar
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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    I take back the iPhone slam, the pics look pretty good.
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  3. #3

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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Great review! They came out great

    Impresive that it worked good to go from p800 to p3000. Did you feel like you got the heavier sanding marks out with the trizact p3000?

    /Tony

  4. #4

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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Thanks for posting the detail and picture. The lights came out great. Since you said you would not buy the kit again can you link the sand papers you would buy ? I was ready to buy the kit based on the pics until you said it ou would buy something else. Thanks for explanation.

    Also was overspray an issue with the headlight coating ? Did you spray and let it dry or do you need to even it out ?

    Thanks

  5. #5
    rlmccarty2000's Avatar
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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Quote Originally Posted by SWETM View Post
    Great review! They came out great

    Impresive that it worked good to go from p800 to p3000. Did you feel like you got the heavier sanding marks out with the trizact p3000?

    /Tony
    The P3000 took out all the heavy sanding marks. It worked really well. Surprised me. I’ll be looking to buy some.
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  6. #6
    rlmccarty2000's Avatar
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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Quote Originally Posted by JSFM35X View Post
    Thanks for posting the detail and picture. The lights came out great. Since you said you would not buy the kit again can you link the sand papers you would buy ? I was ready to buy the kit based on the pics until you said it ou would buy something else. Thanks for explanation.

    Also was overspray an issue with the headlight coating ? Did you spray and let it dry or do you need to even it out ?

    Thanks
    I normally go 400, 800, 1500, 3000. This is the first time using the Trizact from 3M and I was mighty impressed. If you decide to get the kit I believe there is a cheaper one from 3M that just has the sandpaper but no Trizact disc. It is closer to what I traditionally do. You can go on eBay and search for the sandpaper and save more money especially if you have multiple sets of headlights. I’m sure you have pads, compounds, and polishes that you can use.

    If you are just doing your own car this kit would work fine. Almost everything is there. Get the 25% off that AG or Autopia runs frequently and it’s not too bad. I used a gift certificate too and saved another 20 percent which is probably why I bought it. 45% off makes it a deal.

    There was a light bit of overspray. The directions say wipe it off with alcohol. I didn’t see any overspray, but I know there had to be some. This was on a 2001 Mazda B3000 and I was not too concerned about it. If I was going to do a customers car I would have taped it up with newspaper to keep the overspray away. (Probably should have done it anyway). Use at least 3 (deep) pieces of tape, because the sanding disc will move and you need to protect the outside edges that connect to the headlights.

  7. #7

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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    The headlights turned out great.

    I was interested to see how well the coating turned out for you. I tried it a year or two ago and was not pleased with the results. It sprayed on just fine, but as it dried it started to take on a fine orange peel-like texture which left the headlights looking strange. I also found they started yellowing again after about six months. Hopefully, you`ll see better results.

  8. #8
    rlmccarty2000's Avatar
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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Quote Originally Posted by Desertnate View Post
    The headlights turned out great.

    I was interested to see how well the coating turned out for you. I tried it a year or two ago and was not pleased with the results. It sprayed on just fine, but as it dried it started to take on a fine orange peel-like texture which left the headlights looking strange. I also found they started yellowing again after about six months. Hopefully, you`ll see better results.
    I kind of expected to see some run lines, but I looks great so far. If it yellows after 6 months I will request my money back. To me, that would be false advertising and unacceptable. Manufacturers need to be held accountable for their products. On my own car it would upset me, but on a customers car I would be forced to redo their headlights.

  9. #9

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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Thanks for a great review!
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  10. #10

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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Quote Originally Posted by rlmccarty2000 View Post
    I kind of expected to see some run lines, but I looks great so far. If it yellows after 6 months I will request my money back. To me, that would be false advertising and unacceptable. Manufacturers need to be held accountable for their products. On my own car it would upset me, but on a customers car I would be forced to redo their headlights.
    BUMP BUMP!

    how did it hold up? I`m searching for a product like Meg`s Protectant, I`m looking at Mckee`s one, but it`s a lot more $$$ than the Meg`s one. I`m curious if you`re still happy with the results. I`ll be doing customers cars, so I need something that either lasts, or I tell them "4-6 months" and they don`t expect a year or something.

  11. #11

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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Don`t know how it is on the US market with 3M. But I noticed a new kind of sanding/polishing disc called 3M Hook It Foam Sanding Disc. This disc has a foam filled with aluminum oxide abrasives as you find in polishes too. Almost half the prize vs their trizact disc. And thought it would be great to sanding headlights with them. P800 P1000 P1500 P2000 are the sizes available in the shop I use to buy from. Can be used wet and damp and dry sanding. Just a heads up on another option to try out if wanted.

    How was the durability from the Meguiars headlight protection?
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  12. #12
    Mike The Guz's Avatar
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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Quote Originally Posted by quebert View Post
    BUMP BUMP!

    how did it hold up? I`m searching for a product like Meg`s Protectant, I`m looking at Mckee`s one, but it`s a lot more $$$ than the Meg`s one. I`m curious if you`re still happy with the results. I`ll be doing customers cars, so I need something that either lasts, or I tell them "4-6 months" and they don`t expect a year or something.
    I used it when it was only available in a kit. It lasted a year here in the So Cal environment.

    It started to yellow as it got closer to a year.

    They now sell it in a liquid form in one of their kits.
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  13. #13

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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    I had good success with the Sylvania version and lasted well over th eyear in AZ sunlight. It cam with a UV protectant finish The 3M kit I saw wanted a drill to do 5000 RPM`s which many will not reach FYI

  14. #14
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    Re: Review of 3M Headlight Restoration Kit and Meguires Headlight Protection

    Thanks for doing this I was looking a just this product., Good review

 

 

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