Headlight correction without a PC Polisher?

[CrippsCorner]

Right taking the headlights altogether soon so might as well give them another touch up. In my cupboard I found 600, 800, 1000, 1500 & 2500 should I use the lot? Also have Scratch-X for afterwards but not really sure what a sealant is as such, is it essential? I have Mer which is what I usually use for polish.

 

[Tommo.]

Right taking the headlights altogether soon so might as well give them another touch up. In my cupboard I found 600, 800, 1000, 1500 & 2500 should I use the lot? Also have Scratch-X for afterwards but not really sure what a sealant is as such, is it essential? I have Mer which is what I usually use for polish.

It really depends how bad they are and how you will be polishing them afterwards (by hand or machine). If they aren't too bad, I'd probably start with the 1500 and see how you get on.

As for a sealant, I wouldn't say it's essential, but it should help to preserve the finish. I'd probably go for something like Gtechniq C4 if you do apply a sealant, a single application should last 1-2 years.

 

[Steven103]

It really depends how bad they are and how you will be polishing them afterwards (by hand or machine). If they aren't too bad, I'd probably start with the 1500 and see how you get on.

As for a sealant, I wouldn't say it's essential, but it should help to preserve the finish. I'd probably go for something like Gtechniq C4 if you do apply a sealant, a single application should last 1-2 years.

FLOL. I entertained that idea then found it's £25 for a 15ml bottle. Any cheaper recommendations?

I find my headlights look lovely after 800, 1500, generic polish... then 3-6 months later look rubbish again

 

[Tommo.]

FLOL. I entertained that idea then found it's £25 for a 15ml bottle. Any cheaper recommendations?

Surprisingly, a 15ml bottle goes a long way. If you did all of the exterior plastics on a Clio, I'd say you'd get 2 - 3 applications from a single bottle. Not bad value when you consider a single application can last up to two years!

 

[CrippsCorner]

Same here mate... done mine a couple of times now and they look good for a while then deteriorate!

They're not too bad in that they're not tarnished heavily, just looking a bit yellow. Is there s decent sealant I can get from Halfords as won't have time to wait for a delivery.

Thanks for the tips @Tommo.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Well spent about an hour per headlight this afternoon and they've not come out very good 😧 done 600/800/1200/1500/2500/Scratch-X/Mer. They're a lot cleaner certainly, as they were going a bit green/yellow but they're hazy as f**k!

I'm guessing my mistake was starting on a too low grade... oh well, is there anything I can do now?

 

[loggyboy]

go back to mid grade and work up to higher grades again. Unless your running out of plastic thickness, they are recoverable

 

[loggyboy]

Heres mine I did using Megs heavy duty kit I picked up in the States last year.
Before:

Other side was worse with lots of pitting:

The Kit:

Whilst still wet

Dry after 1st abrasive (1000grit)

Dry after 2nd abrasive (3000grit)

After Polish with PlastX and UV protectant

1000 grit, pitting still there but I didnt want to spend hours!

3000 grit

Polish

Close up of pitting.

Overall I was happy with the kit (only cost about £15) took less than an hour with 15 mins spent ensuring i had masked well!
There is plenty left in the kits to do lots more headlights or redo these if I have the patience to really clean up the pitting.

 

[CrippsCorner]

go back to mid grade and work up to higher grades again. Unless your running out of plastic thickness, they are recoverable

Okay mate so reckon start around 1200 again? How long do you think per grade... I was going for about 10-15 minutes...

 

[loggyboy]

Okay mate so reckon start around 1200 again? How long do you think per grade... I was going for about 10-15 minutes...

Hard to tell without seeing it properly, and feeling it!. It looks like you have a fairly even finish so shouldnt need anything too course. Are you using lots of water?

 

[CrippsCorner]

Oh it's very smooth and yes had a bottle of water with me spaying it all over every couple of minutes.

 

[Stefan.]

Oh it's very smooth and yes had a bottle of water with me spaying it all over every couple of minutes.

Minutes??

You should be keeping it soaked! Bowl of water, sand few times, put in water and repeat..

I used 1500 wet n dry and then 2500 wet and dry. And had no issues

 

[loggyboy]

As above, a bucket of water and keep it soaked, paper should be soaked and soft.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Cheers for the tips guys. Went back for another 30 minutes per headlight today... started off at 1200 then up to 1500 & 2500. Used loads more water this time, literally spraying every couple of seconds. There's definitely been an improvement, though still no where near as good as other people are managing to get.

Any other changes I can make to my method or is it just a matter of keep battling on? Can still see loads of scratches up close

 

[Coby.]

1200 is quite aggressive IMO.

Think I went 1500, 2000 and 2500... If doing again I'd probably add 3000 into it to make the polishing easier.

My first try, Not perfect but much improved, Will do it again once I've moved my stuff to my new house.

 

[Allan H]

I had prev used the 3m kit and found the results to be ok- came up nice enough but that must have been over a year ago and was deffo needed done again.. Kinda already had the bits similar to the Meguiars 1step kit but saw the 2 step kit and thought I'd give that a go as it came with a uv sealant. I looked at the YouTube vids and saw a sales rep demo too and thought it looked pretty decent. I had used a drill before but just tried using the pads by hand tonight as was getting a lot of splatter from the polishing compound- went over twice with that then put on 2 coats of the sealer. About 15 min of polishing on each side and I have to say I'm very impressed at the results for the time spent on it.. have heard that the coating can come off sometimes but put on 2 reasonably thick coats so fingers crossed.
Before and after pics below..