kimwallace
New member
Restoring a Scratched Headlight
Before I learned how to repair the plastic headlights on todays vehicles, I had one replaced. Before I tried to sell the original one, I thought I would repair it and take a couple pictures of the process.
Picture 1 shows the scratched headlight.
Picture 2 shows the results of wet sanding the scratched area … first with 1500 grit paper and then 2000 grit. You can actually see the layers of different material used in the lens.
Picture 3 represents the finished headlight assembly after buffing the wet sanding marks with an Edge 2000 polishing pad, DCAP and the PC set on 5. I then used Poorboy’s SSR 1 on a cloth diaper by hand and followed that with Meguiar’s #10 Clear Plastic Polish on a cloth diaper by hand. The result was an optically clear, highly polished surface.
The total time involved was 20 minutes.
I have also used the rotary buffer to restore these type of plastics before with the same result. Part of the key is using a compound or polish that contains a lot of lubrication. Meguiar’s polishes contain more oils than others, so they are usually my first choice. If doing this while the headlight or taillight is mounted on the vehicle, be sure to tape off all the rubber trim and adjacent painted panels.
Before I learned how to repair the plastic headlights on todays vehicles, I had one replaced. Before I tried to sell the original one, I thought I would repair it and take a couple pictures of the process.
Picture 1 shows the scratched headlight.
Picture 2 shows the results of wet sanding the scratched area … first with 1500 grit paper and then 2000 grit. You can actually see the layers of different material used in the lens.
Picture 3 represents the finished headlight assembly after buffing the wet sanding marks with an Edge 2000 polishing pad, DCAP and the PC set on 5. I then used Poorboy’s SSR 1 on a cloth diaper by hand and followed that with Meguiar’s #10 Clear Plastic Polish on a cloth diaper by hand. The result was an optically clear, highly polished surface.
The total time involved was 20 minutes.
I have also used the rotary buffer to restore these type of plastics before with the same result. Part of the key is using a compound or polish that contains a lot of lubrication. Meguiar’s polishes contain more oils than others, so they are usually my first choice. If doing this while the headlight or taillight is mounted on the vehicle, be sure to tape off all the rubber trim and adjacent painted panels.
