So I got tired of my ugly headlights, I have seen all those commercials and videos online so I figured if they could do it I could do it.
Things to think about when starting.
*Take your time!! I cant stress this enough, if you're gonna short change any of the steps than you might as well not even do it.
*Make sure your drill has good batteries, you will need them!
*Proper Safety should be considered, glasses and a dust mask wouldn't hurt.
*If you're doing this in a garage in front of a fan like I did, cover the car... When I was done my car was covered in fine dust from the sanding.
*Take your time!!
So I went to the store and purchased a 3M Headlight Restoration Kit
They can be purchased at Wal-Mart, or Different Autopart stores.
Headlight Kit
The kit claims it will do two headlights, but our headlights are huge so I bought two.
Imo if your headlights are dirty you will need two kits, the 500 grit paper clogs up really quickly and I used all the sheets it comes with on one light.
Keep in mind you need to remove all the Coating, plus crap that is on the light.
Here is what I started with, they were in REALLY bad shape
Starting with the 500 grit discs I sanded the headlights down, this step took me almost an hour per headlight, it seems like a long time but I think this step is one of the most important.. If you get this one right I think it will make the next steps easier. TAKE YOUR TIME, dont miss any spots! If you're not sure squirt some soapy water, wipe the lense and look for crap. You want a nice even finish something like this.
After this step you need to move onto the 800 grit discs, here again I used all the discs that came in one kit, I spent about 30 minutes here to make sure I removed all the heavy scratches from the 500 grit paper, basically when finished you should see NO large scratches something like below. Take your time, don't rush and if you feel like moving on, go inside take a small break and get a drink and then go back at it, every time I did this I would find scratches I missed.
Next you move on to the fine grit disc, not sure of the grit but it feels like 1500+, on this step you want to keep the lens and disc wet, they tell you to use water but I like to add a little soap to the solution to help lubricate. At this step they recommend you to go until you make a white slurry, once you make a light slurry continue to go over the same spot 8-12 times. Once again take your time, keep in mind you want it to look like new when your finished. When you think your finished the lens should almost be clear when wet, then dry to a haze. I like to think that wet if it doesn't look clear than you need to continue.
Next step is to polish the lenses with the supplied polish.
Take the orange pad that comes with the kit, spread about a dime shaped spot on the pad and then smear it across the lens, start off slowly and polish the lens. If the pad gets dry add more polish, keep in mind I used a kit designed for two lights on one light.
Here is what I finished with
The pictures actually look much foggier than they do on the car, my camera battery ran out so I couldn't get pics on the car but they look ALMOST new, if brand new was 100% clear, I would say these are 90-95%
I am very happy with the results. From this step you should consider applying some UV protection, I will take it to a friend who paints and have him spray clearcoat over the lenses to keep this from happening again.
Hope this helps some people, feel free to post any corrections or mistakes I made, its alot of work and its not much more expensive when you factor in time and cost to just purchase a new set, but if you are like me and enjoy working on stuff then this is a fun project.
TAKE YOUR TIME!!
Things to think about when starting.
*Take your time!! I cant stress this enough, if you're gonna short change any of the steps than you might as well not even do it.
*Make sure your drill has good batteries, you will need them!
*Proper Safety should be considered, glasses and a dust mask wouldn't hurt.
*If you're doing this in a garage in front of a fan like I did, cover the car... When I was done my car was covered in fine dust from the sanding.
*Take your time!!
So I went to the store and purchased a 3M Headlight Restoration Kit
They can be purchased at Wal-Mart, or Different Autopart stores.
Headlight Kit
The kit claims it will do two headlights, but our headlights are huge so I bought two.
Imo if your headlights are dirty you will need two kits, the 500 grit paper clogs up really quickly and I used all the sheets it comes with on one light.
Keep in mind you need to remove all the Coating, plus crap that is on the light.
Here is what I started with, they were in REALLY bad shape
Starting with the 500 grit discs I sanded the headlights down, this step took me almost an hour per headlight, it seems like a long time but I think this step is one of the most important.. If you get this one right I think it will make the next steps easier. TAKE YOUR TIME, dont miss any spots! If you're not sure squirt some soapy water, wipe the lense and look for crap. You want a nice even finish something like this.
After this step you need to move onto the 800 grit discs, here again I used all the discs that came in one kit, I spent about 30 minutes here to make sure I removed all the heavy scratches from the 500 grit paper, basically when finished you should see NO large scratches something like below. Take your time, don't rush and if you feel like moving on, go inside take a small break and get a drink and then go back at it, every time I did this I would find scratches I missed.
Next you move on to the fine grit disc, not sure of the grit but it feels like 1500+, on this step you want to keep the lens and disc wet, they tell you to use water but I like to add a little soap to the solution to help lubricate. At this step they recommend you to go until you make a white slurry, once you make a light slurry continue to go over the same spot 8-12 times. Once again take your time, keep in mind you want it to look like new when your finished. When you think your finished the lens should almost be clear when wet, then dry to a haze. I like to think that wet if it doesn't look clear than you need to continue.
Next step is to polish the lenses with the supplied polish.
Take the orange pad that comes with the kit, spread about a dime shaped spot on the pad and then smear it across the lens, start off slowly and polish the lens. If the pad gets dry add more polish, keep in mind I used a kit designed for two lights on one light.
Here is what I finished with
The pictures actually look much foggier than they do on the car, my camera battery ran out so I couldn't get pics on the car but they look ALMOST new, if brand new was 100% clear, I would say these are 90-95%
I am very happy with the results. From this step you should consider applying some UV protection, I will take it to a friend who paints and have him spray clearcoat over the lenses to keep this from happening again.
Hope this helps some people, feel free to post any corrections or mistakes I made, its alot of work and its not much more expensive when you factor in time and cost to just purchase a new set, but if you are like me and enjoy working on stuff then this is a fun project.
TAKE YOUR TIME!!
