Restoring headlights

[Kram]

My headlights are quite badly clouded up and worth restoring I think, mot is soon tho I dont think they would fail yet.

Im happy with the idea to sand them 800-3000 grits and then polish. The question is wheather to protect them with 2k laquer, or to buy one of these kits with a wipe on coating. I know 2k laquer should last a very long time and be harder, more scratch resistant than the original plastic, but Im not convinced a wipe on coating will last more than a few months.

Spraying 2k would mean tidying the shed and finding a way of getting compressor out.. dry weather etc... And relearning how to spray!

@slim_boy_fat , did you recently use one of these restorer products? I remember seeing a post but I cant find it, so may have been someone else?


Looking at these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holts-11750-Headlight-Restoration-Kit/dp/B075KFP3H5/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CERAKOTE-Ceramic-Headlight-Restoration-Kit/dp/B084RQKLV8/

 

[frank horton]

to do our cars I bought a cheapo vari speed car polisher from the net....
I use it with a wetted sponge head and a little T cut or similar....
norm get 3-4 years just doing this.....can't be

"ed with anything else ....2K or other....

 

[Migmac]

I used a kit similar Holts kit. Results were pretty good. The process is a bit daunting, headlights get worse before they get better.

 

[daedalusminos]

I did...

Headlight Renovation

Thought I'd share my experience of the Cerakote kit, it's not cheap at about £30 but importantly does include a post coating to protect from future UV damage. Kit consists of some pre-wipes (4 per headlight) to remove surface oxidation, 2000 and 3000 grit wet and dry (with palm holder) and the...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

 

[Kram]

I did...

Headlight Renovation

Thought I'd share my experience of the Cerakote kit, it's not cheap at about £30 but importantly does include a post coating to protect from future UV damage. Kit consists of some pre-wipes (4 per headlight) to remove surface oxidation, 2000 and 3000 grit wet and dry (with palm holder) and the...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

Thanks! Could I ask how the lights look now, has the coating been durable?

 

[daedalusminos]

Thanks! Could I ask how the lights look now, has the coating been durable?

Just been out to have a look...apart from being filthy, when cleaned they look as good as the day they were renovated. One thing I did notice is that water no longer beads off the coating as it did when first applied but they haven't seen polish since.

 

[nickk]

I’ve heard toothpaste is often used as a cutting compound.

 

[Kram]

I already have adequate polish to cut it with, question is really about the sealing or protection. I dont really believe a quick wipe or spray will do much worthwhile.

I found the Holts SDS for the sealer - (upto) 75% butane (propellant), 25% naptha, 1% each citral and limonene. I am guessing the citrus juice is just for a pleasant smell and not relevant to the product.

 

[AVI_8]

It was a Holts kit I used, ECP sell it, about a year on it looks as it did after I’d done it, none of the yellowing cloudiness has come back yet.

 

[roofman]

I used a kit similar Holts kit. Results were pretty good. The process is a bit daunting, headlights get worse before they get better.

This is so true, i thought i had wrote off a light when doing it , was that cloudy i could not even see the reflector behind, and then after another finer pad it started coming good and became clear again with great results.

 

[MikeBs]

This is so true, i thought i had wrote off a light when doing it , was that cloudy i could not even see the reflector behind

I’ve been tempted to give mine a bit of a treatment, but this is the bit that worries me. The making it worse with the lower grit sanding.
Would it not be possible to just polish them without the first making them look worse?

 

[Jasper42]

I used the holts kit on my wife’s VW Beetle 2 to 3 years ago, one headlight is just starting to yellow but I have enough of the kit left to do them again. If I can find it.

 

[Migmac]

I’ve been tempted to give mine a bit of a treatment, but this is the bit that worries me. The making it worse with the lower grit sanding.
Would it not be possible to just polish them without the first making them look worse?

Don’t know but the ones I did came up well and I did the whole process

 

[roofman]

I’ve been tempted to give mine a bit of a treatment, but this is the bit that worries me. The making it worse with the lower grit sanding.
Would it not be possible to just polish them without the first making them look worse?

Its taking off the UV damaged layer that makes it cloudy first but must be done to get to virgin plastic, what i will say is don't be tempted to rush it and remember you only have 50% of the kit per light so don't go balls deep on the first one and run out of stuff

 

[Onthespotwelding]

I have used this in the past, on a friends car. Worked a treat.

Holts Headlight Restoration Kit | Halfords UK

Shop the latest at Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

my car has glass headlights

 

[Colin Barron]

I have used this in the past, on a friends car. Worked a treat.

Holts Headlight Restoration Kit | Halfords UK

Shop the latest at Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

my car has glass headlights

Glass is much better all they need is a wash now and again. And in the days of glass you didn't need to take the car apart to change headlight bulbs!

 

[AVI_8]

True but if your criteria for buying a car is to have glass headlights, well there ain’t much left, of those,
These headlight restoration kits are great as @roofman mentioned earlier the plastic lenses on modern headlights suffer from uv rays, you need to strip the layer off so polish wont work, the first stage is abrasive, and each subsequent stage less so, so the subsequent stages are removing the scratches from the previous, done properly it works very well, if there’s a problem I’d imagine it’s because you‘ve been a bit namby pamby and not done it properly, more is better with each stage of sanding

 

[Onthespotwelding]

Glass is much better all they need is a wash now and again. And in the days of glass you didn't need to take the car apart to change headlight bulbs!

Yep your not wrong!

 

[Ubique]

I've used the 3M headlight restoring kits, which work well. I used this sealant https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A3S1RGU applied twice at the time of restoring and six-monthly thereafter. Three years later, there's no hint of yellowing or clouding.
The prep. tech. at work uses Menzerna 2500 then 3800 polish - being careful to not melt the plastic with too much friction and doesn't apply any sealant but as long as it lasts six months....

 

[Kram]

I’ve been tempted to give mine a bit of a treatment, but this is the bit that worries me. The making it worse with the lower grit sanding.
Would it not be possible to just polish them without the first making them look worse?

Its normal. Years ago I was flattening and then polishing a metal part. P800 looked ok, p1000 a bit worse, p1200 aweful, p1500 a bit better, then diamond paste and has mirror shiny finnish (but sadly not quite as flat as I'd have liked!)

If you went straight to the polish, it will take far longer, remove the cloudyness but all of the scratches and stone chips would remain.

Provided you dont burn the plastic or sand deep grooves in it, you cant really go wrong.