(Jr Member)

02/28/09 04:03 PM

Just finished my brother's headlight

My brothers v-dub has had a cateract headlight since he got it about 2 years ago. Initially we though it was on the inside of the lens, but figured out it was on the outside later. So on this rainy Saturday morning we decided to fix it. Supplies were:
1000, 1500, and 2000 Wet/Dry Sandpaper with soapy water
Painter's tape
Menzerna Intensive and Micro Polishes
Porter Cable 7424 Random Orbital Buffer

Here's a couple of before work shots:

We pretty much cleaned it off and taped around it. Next we wet sanded with the 1000 grit for about 5 min, keeping the light and paper constantly wet with car wash soap and water. This is the most important step IMO since it gets the majority of the major imperfections out. Here's the after:

Next we did the same with the 1500 grit. Not much visible change after this step:

Last was the same with the 2000 grit:

Then to the polishing with Menzerna Intensive Polish. Only took about a minute:

And last with the Menzerna Micro Polish. Here's the finished product:

Not 100% perfect, but infinitely better than the initial product. Not bad for a 30 min job though. A little more TLC and they would look brand new

(Post Master Supreme)

03/02/09 12:25 PM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

Nice job! That's a huge improvement.

2000CheetahStud

(Post Master Supreme)

03/02/09 04:58 PM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

Good work man!

-Matt

(Sr Member)

03/07/09 12:26 AM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

How can you tell if the inside or outside of the plastic is the one that needs to be sanded?

(Jr Member)

03/07/09 06:31 PM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

Basically just by looking really close and running your hand across it to see if it feels rough (it shouldn't). Also, most headlights come as a sealed assembly that are glued; therefore, it would be pretty difficult for the inside to get messed up. I'm not sure how this headlight got this bad, it looked much worse than the pictures showed. Anyway, it happens, just try working on the outside, it won't hurt and it doesn't take too long.

(Post Master Supreme)

03/19/09 10:44 AM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

Where did you get the polishes? Also what pad did you use?

(Jr Member)

03/20/09 08:18 AM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

These may not be the exact pads that I used since they were given to me as a gift; however, I think these are them and if not then they will work:
http://www.autogeek.net/ceramic-polishing-kit.html

Here are the polishes:
http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-intensive-polish.html
http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-micro-polish.html

2000CheetahStud

(Post Master Supreme)

03/24/09 05:09 PM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

Originally Posted By: GenericCivicSIusername

These may not be the exact pads that I used since they were given to me as a gift; however, I think these are them and if not then they will work:
http://www.autogeek.net/ceramic-polishing-kit.html

Here are the polishes:
http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-intensive-polish.html
http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-micro-polish.html

All this is correct. $\:\)$

-Matt

(Newbie)

06/18/09 11:58 PM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

hows the headlight holding up?

2000CheetahStud

(Post Master Supreme)

07/15/09 03:19 PM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

Still looking good, I saw it last weekend.

-matt

(Post Master Sr)

07/21/09 12:02 PM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

Good write up. I've been using this process on my cars for years and it works great!

(Newbie)

11/04/09 12:05 AM

Re: Just finished my brother's headlight

Awesome. I hope you sealed it well, so it doesn't happen again.