Hi, everyone. I recall seeing a thread on here where a guy sanded his scratched up headlights. I've been searching, but I can't find it. Could someone with better searching skills please give me a link to this thread?

Also, does anyone have any outside links about this process from other websites?

Thanks a lot!

 

make sure that you have tried everything else first...
and be sure to try this on a very small section before doing the entire thing- very easy to mess this one up.
be sure to read all of the thread carefully, and i think that you might be looking for this post (again, i emphasize that this is not easy and can make things worse):

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...pic=287445&hl=

 

Wanabe, thanks so much. That was the exact thread I was talking about.

Unfortunately, I think that this is my only choice. I think the PO used an orbital or something because the top of each light is scuffed up. The scratches are pretty deep, so I think that I will need to do this sanding.

Thanks again!

 

I used to be a 2nd generation integra owner back in the day and would frequent one of their boards. They had a good writeup on renewing scratched, hazed headlights. In fact, check here: Link I tried this process back then and had good results. Of course this was not on an s2k, so the plastic may be harder, softer, whatever. And this writeup was intended for cars that are over 10 years old with a lot more wear and tear, so you won't need to be as aggressive. But it looks like the steps are similar to what was in the thread wanabe posted.

Obviously, if you decide to do this, you'll want to go the least aggressive route that will get the job done. Try a plastic polish first, and if that doesn't work then go a step more aggressive. And like wanabe said, be careful.

 

Thanks, usace. I'll be sure and read through that thread too before I do this.

I've had the car a few months now (and am in absolute love, btw ) and am just now getting the time to be able to do it. I have a plastic polish, but I really don't think it will touch the scratches. Other than the scratches on the lights, the car looks new so I'm excited to do it!

Does anyone know if (as the guy who made the original post speculated) there is a protective layer on top of the lights that I would be removing? Don't want to do anything dangerous

 

UPDATE

Taking the advice of the guys on here, I decided to start slowly. I really didn't think my Meguiar's PlastX would do much damage to the scratches, but it started to make them noticably better. But not great. So I switched to rubbing compound... 3M Fine Cut. This in combination with the PlastX is starting to really make them look better. I say 'starting' because it is clear that I am going to need to do several sessions of this to get the scratches completely out. But I would rather do this than resort to sandpaper.

So far so good. My advice is simply to put a lot of elbow grease into it!

 

[QUOTE=ERC,Sep 14 2005, 06:47 PM] UPDATE

Taking the advice of the guys on here, I decided to start slowly.

 

What wanabe said

I was buffing the trunklid of an S2000 with a rotary, white polishing pad and some Sonus SFX-1 (their most aggressive polish) and decided it wouldn't hurt to also hit the top of the center tail light while I was there. It polished up very nicely.

You may want to try (if you have it) a PC with a 4" spot pad and those products on your headlight. I've done exactly this with varying success, depending on the problem with the headlight... Mostly it makes very little difference, but I haven't used any particularly aggressive compounds, either.

Good luck with it.

 

just was reminded about another approach that you might consider, in this thread:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=296109

 

Thanks for all the great advice, everyone! I didn't get a chance to work on it any more since yesterday, but I'm pleased with what I've gotten so far (after only what I did yesterday) with PlastX and the 3M Fine Cut Rubbing Compound. Can't wait to work on it some more!

I was concerned about removing a protective film or layer of some sort, but a guy said in the last thread that Wanabe posted that the UV protection is simply a component of the plastic of the headlight, and thus there is no risk of removing it. Can anyone verify the validity of this or otherwise shed light on the issue?





Oh, and yes I am a 'Zaino Guy' so I'll use your recommendation, Wanabe, and finish everything off with some Z2. Thanks!