Headlights in need of help :x

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FXchosen1

Member
Location
Boston, MA
so a few months back i stupidly tinted my headlights black, what at first seemed like a really good idea, until a cop pulled me over telling me i had to get rid of them because they were just way too dark
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I eneded up using something called googone to remove the tints (they were sprayed on) and this happened :x










Ive tried wet sanding them down and using the turtle wax kit they came out okay but not how they used to be any suggestions ? ill make sure to upload some pics of after the restoration​
 
after wet sanding you should use a rubbing compound, what was the final grit you used?
 
Gee you really went for the batman look lol. Next time just paint the housing. Looks more classy and still legal. As for your problem, looks like they're pretty jacked up. You might be able to make them a bit better with wax and wet sand, but they won't be like new for sure.
 
Use the headlight restoration thingy from 3M. It works real well. I think powerball has something similar that people say works real also. Either way you will end up finishing off with a good plastic polish to get it nice and clear
 
im probably gonna try it one more time to restore them but if that doesn't work out any idea on how much a new set of the headlights would cost ? or maybe i could just get the plastic case ? idek if they sell them like that :x
 
FXchosen1 said:
Should I use the compound on them again and then clear coat it as a finish ? Or sand them and just clear coat them ?
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I would go a little more abrasive on the wet sand, 5000 is way to smooth. Try stepping down from 2000 to 3000 grit then compound the crap out of them.
A mini buffer would be key at low speed. If your still not happy then re- sand and clear but I think it's worth a shot.
 
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I start with 500, then 800, then 1,000 then 1,500, then 2,000 then 3,000 then a plastic cleaner with a medium white foam pad then a plastic polish with a fine grey foam pad, all done with air powered mini sander & buffer. this is 3m's pro version of the headlight restoration kit. only the 500 & 800 sanding is done dry, every thing above that is with water sanding... if the headlights are not bad at all then I'll sometimes start at 1,000 or even higher depending on there condition

with this they can look brand new again if you take enough time on each step, unless the plastic is oxidized deeper than just the surface. sometimes the plastic is damaged all the way through.

even when there restored the problem then is you've polished off the uv protection coating that most headlights have on the surface & the'll now oxidize even sooner. you need to either just keep them waxed, or ideally apply a new tinted or clear clearcoat. if applying a new clearcoat I stop at around 1,000 wet sanded for clear, don't polish then clear, it'll chip flake & peel...

by starting with 500 I can get out some pretty deep scratches, but doing it all by hand would be way too hard, can't do a really good job without some sort of power sander & polisher unless you want to rub for hours & hours :)
 
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I was buffing out a scuff mark on my rear door with Griot's Garage Paint Glaze (with the mini 3" orange pad) and discovered it's also an amazing headlight defogger! (the Paint Glaze and mini pad is cheaper than their own plastic polishing kit).
 
fxBeast said:
I was buffing out a scuff mark on my rear door with Griot's Garage Paint Glaze (with the mini 3" orange pad) and discovered it's also an amazing headlight defogger! (the Paint Glaze and mini pad is cheaper than their own plastic polishing kit).
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Yeah I'm going to try my normal pads and polishes on the headlights also. Should work the same.
 
These methods should work but its just a temporary solution. I think the problem is once it hazes and we keep buffing it out, the UV protectant on the headlights is gone. I can get my headlight really shiny and clear by using various polishes, but then the haze comes back a week or so later. I actually stumbled upon a furniture cleaning kit I have that has a plastic furniture cleaning spray in the kit. It has anti-UV coating or properties in the spray, so I think I will test a small area on the headlight and see how it works out.
 
AeroBFA said:
These methods should work but its just a temporary solution. I think the problem is once it hazes and we keep buffing it out, the UV protectant on the headlights is gone. I can get my headlight really shiny and clear by using various polishes, but then the haze comes back a week or so later. I actually stumbled upon a furniture cleaning kit I have that has a plastic furniture cleaning spray in the kit. It has anti-UV coating or properties in the spray, so I think I will test a small area on the headlight and see how it works out.
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Yeah, Nissan/Infiniti headlights are notorious for hazing, but then you use the UV coating when polishing. Just need to protect them well with something afterward. This is why I plan to finish mine off with the same product I use on the paint, as it is supposed to be a UV protectant.
 
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