I was very nervous before i did this, but when i was halfway through, I new it was worth the risk. Well, I don't know if anyone has went to the extreme of sanding there plastic lenses to there headlights on this forum, but I did a search and found nothing. So I will tell you the results and the method I used. I don't have a digital camera, but I will tell you that, WOW, they look better than new. The Lenses probably have a film on top, but I assume that when you put the polish/wax on or some Plastic light covers (as in the ones Rick's offer), that there will probably be about as much protection, or more. It took me about 2 hours and a Lot of elbow grease for each lens. I had my lenses taken apart for this, because I had separated them to install Rick's Diffusers.

I take no responsibility for work you may do from the advice on this thread, this is just from my experience, but it worked VERY well for me.

1. You have to find the sandpaper, which can be a challenge, but I found mine at
a Hobby Shop. I also bought some lower grits from the auto store. Here is
what is required:
a. 800 and 2000 grit (paper for wet or dry)......auto store.
b. 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, and 12000 grit. They came in a "Micro Mesh
Polishing Cloth Kit" from the Hobby shop. The Kit cost about $18, and they are
not paper, but sanding cloth. I recommend soaking them for about 15 minutes
before use to prevent any cracking in the cloth.
c. Spray bottle filled with water.
d. Some kind of plastic polish (I uses Mother's Plastic Polish)
e. micro fiber or flanel towels.

2. Clean the outer part of the lens with a cleaner that does not have any wax in it, so that the wax does not get in the sandpaper.

3. Wet sand everything, so before and during the sanding, keep the lens and sand paper/cloth wet.

4. First, use the 800 grit and sand back and forth lengthwise (side to side) the lens to get out the tough blemishes. Make sure to get out all of the glossyness from the lens before going to the next Grit. The top layer of the lens is not even. You will see little bumps, and those should be evened out. The entire front of the lens should be very cloudy and smooth before you're done with the 800 (no craters, unless you want to leave them, but get them out for best results).

5. Use the same step for the 2000 grit, except sand it from top to bottom (opposite direction) until there are no more scratches from the 800 grit going from side to side.

6. Use the 3200 grit next, and go lengthwise again (opposite of the 2000, getting the picture?). Make sure all of the scratches from the 2000 are gone from the top to bottom sanding.

Use the same steps untill you get to the 12000, alternating from lengthwise to top to bottom for each grit of sandpaper/cloth.

By the time you get to the 6000 grit, you should be saying WOW to yourself, and when you get to the 12000, you could make a mirror out of "newly" revived lens.

Hope this helps.
Sorry for the poor quality, but I just bought this camera tonight, and I haven't figured it out yet.



800 Grit (OMG!!! What did I do?)


After the 12000 Grit (Smooth as a babies butt, and you could read through it, if i could figure this camera out.)

 

good report... would have been even better to have before and after pics!!

 

Got some, got tired of not having a camera and went to Staples tonight!!!

 

A word of caution:

Only do this if your headlights are in extremely bad shape. There's an anti-UV coating on the surface of the headlights. When you sand the lights, you remove that coating... if you do just one inconspicuous spot, you can actually see the difference, as the coating gives the surface of the lense a subtle, almost holographic effect.

Over time, the lack of UV protection may lead to yellowing/clouding of the lexan lenses. (To see what I mean, look at any Ford headlight from the 90's).

Jimmy

 

Another solution would be sand/refinish them until they look like new, and then apply one of those clear-bra-like headlight protectors. I think the 3M Scotchcal film might offer some UV protection.... but I'm not completely sure about that.

 

Anyone else thinking of trying this?

 

Scary. For very mild buffing you can use Vanilla Moose from Poorboy's.

Or just use Meguiar's plastic polish.

 

Speaking of which, my headlights have a little hazy action to them that the Meguiar's 10/17 combo didn't do jack for (even though it's "brighter" and more reflective, it's not "improved" in terms of surface quality).

I've heard that their new product will actually buff out ONLY some of the finer stuff, which I'd be okay with, especially on the rear window (10/17+PC = clear, but not swirl-free).

Thanks for input.

 

No problem

 

If you're going to do this, I recommend sanding in a round motion a la Danielsan's "wax on, wax off" instead of going lengthwise. You're much more likely to apply too much pressure on one spot if you do a repeated back and forth motion.

Don't worry about swirl marks, if you do it correctly you won't get any.