For some reason when I got my Caddy back from the dealership after having some repairs done (wheel bearing, motor mount, alternator, & brake lines), my headlights looked really bad and hazy?! So I brought on of 3m headlight restoration kits and I have to say im very pleased with the results! The kit was only $13, I figured what the hell ill give it a try. Boy was that the best $13 I ever spent! Check out the before and after pics:
Very Nice job, Now you should get them clearcoated because the plastic will fade back eventually. I've done many like this in the past and they started fading back so I clearcoat them now.
One more thing, since I own my own body shop, I just mix the clear and shoot, but for the do it yourselfer, I would go buy some enamel clear in a spray bomb and do it that way.
Thanks for the tip. I'll go out today and buy a few cans of clear and spray them down. How many coats should I put on? Also, what brand of spray paint would you recommend? Ive used some clear spray paint in the past and it always eventually flakes off. How much curing time between each coat?
What exactly is included in this kit? I ask because on my 01 ES I have some HID assemblies I replaced the halogens with and the left side has always been hazier than the right. I've used Meguiars Plastx (sp?) and that did a great job but it's still not as clear as the right side. I even went so far as to use the oven technique to take apart and clean the inside but it's still not up to par.
The kit includes the attachment for your drill, sanding disks, a foam pad and some compound solution. Essentially what you do is sand down your headlamps using 3 different level sanding disks and then polish them with the included compound. The sanding disk are P500, P800, & P3000 with the P500 being the heaviest grit. Its very simple to do and has step by step instructions. I would definetely recommend it. Plus you can reuse the drill attachment and foam applicator for other uses.
Any automotive parts store has clearcoat in a can example: Autozone, O'Reily's, Advanced Auto Parts. Hey you can even head over to a NAPA and they should have it as well.
Whatever you do make sure there is no waxes on the surface before clearing. So if your sanding them down as you mentioned in the previous post I would not polish them out before clearing. I would clear them right after you sand with the 3000. I would also spray the first coat and let stand for about 10-15 minutes, then clear again, and wait another 10-15 and do one last time. Also take your outside tempature's into considerations when spraying if it is hot out the surface will dry quicker and you may get a dry haze when spraying and if that happens you will need to recoat quicker, say 5-10 minutes instead of the 10-15. Since I use DuPont's Chroma Premier clear, (automotive grade) I only clear twice. Spray bombs may need 3-4 coats but you be the judge when spraying.
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