Clear Up your Headlights, How to w/ pics!!!!

Well I just got my passenger side headlight replaced and it really looks out of place next to my other headlight which is foggy and hazy. I tried to apply plastic polish and cleaner and it didn't work. The haze was soo bad i had to go about the wetsanding and buffing. So here is a guide to clear those headlights up!

What I used:
- 1500 grit sandpaper
- 2000 grit sandpaper
- Dewalt DW849 Buffer
- Meguiars SOLO Buffing Compound (Any Buffing Compound will work though)
- Car Brite Phaze Glaze
- Car Brite Crystal Shine
- Wool and Foam pads
- Microfiber towels
- WATER

Procedure:

I think the best way to do this is to take off your bumper first so you dont sand your bumper or accidently burn it with the buffer. Here are some GREAT instructions to take it off How to Take off front Bumper

Here are some pictures of my headlight. It looks worse in person, but no compound put on by hand would get rid of the haze.



here is a picture of my new passenger side headlight, as you can see there is a big difference.


a good thing to do is to tape off around the headlight by the fender also. I started sanding the headlight with the 1500 to get rid of the haze. If its REALLY bad then go to 1200 grit, but no less than 1000. 1500 did perfect for me. USE LOTS OF WATER. Here is a pic of it done at 1500.


Then finish off with 2000 grit. U can stop at the 1500 grit but i went higher so my buffing time was reduced. Its easier to buff out 2000 grit then 1500 grit scratches. Here is 2000 grit.


Alright then i whipped out the buffer and the compounds. I use a Dewalt DW849. I don't like the porter cable. Ive always stuck with my dewalt. Also used Meguiars SOLO buffing compound and Car Brite's Phaze Glaze and Crystal Shine. Also I used 1 wool pad to cut and 2 foam pads to add glaze and polish. Here are the pics of everything.






Next I applied the buffing compound and buffed with the wool pad. Let the weight of the buffer do the work and dont press to hard or else you burn the plastic. Buff at speed between 2000 to 3000 rpm


Here is the pic after buffing the compound only. It looks a LOT better.


Then apply the glaze. I buffed with a coarse foam pad at 1500 rpm


Then apply cyrstal shine to add polish and shine. I buffed with a finishing foam pad at 1000 rpm


Then wipe clean with microfiber towel and add a plastic polish of your choice by hand. Here are my finished pics.






By the way you don't have to use all the polishes and glazes like i did. You can just get away with the buffing compound and then apply a plastic polish. Im just anal like that. Tell me what ya think! Hope this helps!

This post has been edited by HankookS2K on May 4 2008, 05:56 PM

nice job, and great post-
i especially like your pics and full report

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we have another post on this...

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=403076

should i merge these, or would you prefer to leave yours separate?


and btw, it shows that you have what it takes to be a wacko like the rest of us-
so if you want the official badge on your posts, just pm me and i will make it happen!

This post has been edited by wanabe on Feb 19 2007, 01:24 PM

Very Nice! I did similar with my Porter Cable and Menzerna (because I'm too scared to try a rotary).
Never thought of wetsanding the plastic though, looks awesome!
You've inspired me to try this on my wifes car. Her hazing is so bad that you can't even tell if the headlights are on because the street lights light the street better than her headlights do!

Thanks for the great write up!

Thanks Sarek. Hope the write up helps ya with your wifes car! Post some pics if you do it!

great write up and the results are awesome.

Do your headlights reflect any kind of swirls under sunlight or halogen lighting or is it perfectly clear? I've been trying to completely remove any kind of swirl marks on my headlights, using 2500 grit sandpaper, doing 4-6 passes of rubbing compound with a PC on speed 6, but to no avail.

its perfectly clear...no swirls of any sort...what kind of rubbing compound are you using? and also im not familiar with the PC but are you using it at a high speed? i did mine at 3000 rpm with a wool pad to ensure i was cutting through the plastic to remove the scratches.

I was polishing with Sonus SFX-1 and the yellow SFX-1 pad. Speed 6 on the PC is 6000 OPM, which is probably around the 1000 RPM range on a rotary (really rough estimate). The SFX-1 polish and pad are middle-ground in terms of abrasiveness, so maybe that's why I'm not getting through it all. I will pick up a rotary in the near future and hopefully redo my headlights with the polish I have now, Poorboy's SSR2.5.

yea if its roughly around the 1000rpm then its definately not fast enough to impact the plastic. I use 1000rpm when im polishing. if your in the market for a good buffer look at the DeWalt DW849. You can purchase those buffers on ebay for 160 shipped! A very nice deal considering at retail stores they vary from 300 to 400 dollars! I have done detailing for the last 3 years and everywhere that i have been uses the dw849. even Car Brite recommends a rotary buffer like the DW849 and im a firm believer in Car Brites products.

and also you wanna get a buffing compound for cutting. a good gritty compound should get the job done. If you need any further help with any compounds or detailing let me know!

that's incredible

I'm truly impressed at how much that cleared your headlights up.
I can only hope I do as good a job when I have to do this to my S.

And thanks for putting together a great write up, I'll have to save this one.

will add this thread to our how to on headlight clearing...

man i have problem with right side headlight iremplacer 2times the headlight get water inside ? what can i do? tech me how i can clean inside i buy 2 hosing i hate see water inside damn

korean news paper is good for everything

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lol

looks like your gonna need to bake the headlights and reseal the housing

lol i didnt even realize that til now lol

Amazing post. Thank You!

"WOW" that looks amazing ! How about i hire you to come to my house and do it to my car and my girlfriends car...lol Man it look like new, i sanded mine with 2000 grit and used some special wax made for that but i dont have a buffer

yea the u def need the buffer to impact the plastic in order to get that smooth and clear finish.

Question 4 u, do you NEED to use both 1500 n 2000 sand papper???? It look real good man, thanx again

no, you can do 1500 but your buffing time is gonna increase because the scratches a TINY bit deeper.

a 2000 grit will be a LOT smoother and easier to buff out, if you can get you some 3000 grit, its a little bit of overkill but it comes out REALLY nice

True!!

Wow very nice job

OK. Did the 2000 grit wet-sand, followed that w/ PlastiX using a foam pad and my PorterCable at 3000 rpms. Still have some minor swirls. Next step is???????

More speed and more PlastiX?

Novus 2?

what kind of foam pad did you use? i usually use the plastx last as a protectant.

do you have any other compounds u can use that have a heavier cut? or a foam pad that is more coarse? ull need to really impact the plastic to get rid of the swirls.