Headlights, Before and After

[MaddShadez]

Thanks to the advice of you fine folks I tackled my headlights last weekend. I actually tried this last summer using the 3M kit, but i used their protectant crap which only lasted a month or so before the haze came back. This time i finished with Spar Urethane, but out of a spray can as it was much, much cheaper than the gallon size they sell here, and I only needed a little. They turned out great and I've gotten a lot of compliments, including one guy who tracked me down in Home Depot in a slightly creepy/stalker way to tell me he loved it lol.

BTW don't mind the scratched on the right side of the finished light, I got swiped by a car once and they are too deep to sand out.

All in all it took about an hour, including the time spent removing and putting back in the lights, but I also did a lot of the gruntwork last year so i didn't need as much sanding this time. I imagine starting from scratch it would have been 2-3 hours or so tops.

 

[wade0731]

This is great! How exactly did you go about doing this? What exactly is the spar urethane?

 

[rsimmons1]

I tried the 3m kit a couple of weeks ago but the 500 grit barely did anything. Yours look very good btw

 

[MaddShadez]

Ya if i recall i had to start with 300 grit or something rougher than what came in the kit before moving on to the drill attachments from the kit. The spar urethane is a way to protect the lights from further UV damage, especially since the sanding takes away whatever protection was already there. Here's what i used, http://www.menards.com/main/interio...thane-aerosol-high-gloss/p-1492492-c-7966.htm

 

[stugots]

How did you apply the urethane? Spray it on?

 

[MaddShadez]

Yup, just a light coat of it, doesn't seem to take much, which is why i didn't want to buy a tub of it and brush it on, the remainder would go to waste.

 

[stugots]

Yup, just a light coat of it, doesn't seem to take much, which is why i didn't want to buy a tub of it and brush it on, the remainder would go to waste.

Nice, I just ordered it off Amazon.

 

[myfirstlincoln]

I'll promote my thread

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/showthread.php?74933-Refinished-my-lights-PICS!!!

 

[MaddShadez]

Please do! much of what I did came from it!

 

[shake the cove]

Thanks to the advice of you fine folks I tackled my headlights last weekend. I actually tried this last summer using the 3M kit, but i used their protectant crap which only lasted a month or so before the haze came back. This time i finished with Spar Urethane, but out of a spray can as it was much, much cheaper than the gallon size they sell here, and I only needed a little. They turned out great and I've gotten a lot of compliments, including one guy who tracked me down in Home Depot in a slightly creepy/stalker way to tell me he loved it lol.

BTW don't mind the scratched on the right side of the finished light, I got swiped by a car once and they are too deep to sand out. View attachment 828467041

All in all it took about an hour, including the time spent removing and putting back in the lights, but I also did a lot of the gruntwork last year so i didn't need as much sanding this time. I imagine starting from scratch it would have been 2-3 hours or so tops.

If you want to get the scratch out try looking up micro surface finishing products on google. Years ago i used a kit ran about $85 dollars then but I used it on a plastic motorcycle headlight lens that a buddy dropped slid down the road. This got 95% out and they were deep 1-2mm. Course it might be cheaper to get a new light assembly, but when you can't that stuff was amazing . It was developed for aircraft windshields.