25 minute headlight cleaning (9 pictures; 2.08mb)
 

I am doing a 2002 front end conversion on my cousin's (lusty2kmax) car. It is complete, except for the headlights. He found these OEM ones on eBay for around $100. They were cheap because they were hazy and scratched up pretty badly. I told him to just buy them, because they can be looking like new with very little work.

Materials I used: 600 grit, 1000 grit and 2000 grit sandpaper. A spray bottle with water to keep the headlight and sandpaper wet during the sanding. I used Meguiar's ScratchX to polish them after the 2000 grit sanding.

Here are the pictures of the process:

Driver (before)
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...se/before1.JPG

Driver close-up (before)
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...se/before2.JPG

Passenger (before)
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...se/before3.JPG

Passenger close-up (before)
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...se/before4.JPG

After the 1000 grit sanding
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...ase/during.JPG

Wetsanding with 2000 grit
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...se/wetsand.JPG

Driver (after)
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...ase/after1.JPG

Passenger (after)
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...ase/after2.JPG

Done!
https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...ase/after3.JPG

Enjoy the pictures!

wow talk about a good deal on headlights

now buff them for a super duper shine

AWESOME write up. I will have to do that now. thanks.

Looks good, i have these lights, and the 00-01. the 00-01 are scratched to ****... I am going to do this treatment to them! Thanks

damn, they look brand new! nice work!

You play too much........ excellent work I might say

would you mind posting up a picture in a couple weeks?

I will do a photoshoot of the entire car after the lights have been installed.

wow, I need to sand my lenses...I've got 75K miles worth of bug guts and wear and tear on my set...Looks great man!

I did the same thing before but the headlights look best if you buff them after wet sanding!

Should dump them back on ebay and make some $$ :)

Definitely something I need to do as my passenger light was stolen. The new one looks so nice and clean while the driverside looks dirty and dull. Excellent work!

I wonder would this get rid of the white discoloring on the top of the lense which is from the sun also?

Here are some pictures after the lights were installed.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=443522

https://students.ou.edu/T/Van.N.Truo...e/IMG_0900.JPG

looks nice..............my passenger side needs it bad..

Damn the Results are Awsome i will be doing this to my Headlights, This weekend.

Yes this does take care of that too, I just did mine earlier this week as well as doing the AE mod myself and the results really are amazing. I used 1000, and then 1500 3M Imperial wet/dry (don't use hard pressure at all, very light) and lots of soapy water to sand followed by some 3M Fine Grade Perfect-It 3000 w/ the buffer a couple times over, and finally sealed with some Meguiars Polymer Sealant. Make sure you guys seal your finished products to ensure that the finish will stay clear. This step is VERY important. I will be posting pics soon.

Kevin

Ok, so let me get this straight. Do you wet sand throught the entire process? Also do you go 600 grit then 1000 grit then 2000 grit? Sorry I am a little confused.

Yes, I wetsanded with all 3 grits.

Yes, you want to wet sand the entire time. Keep the sand paper wet as well as constantly adding water to the headlight w/ a little bit of soap to keep it slippery. If you just have a little haze or fog, starting at 1000 is more than ample. In whazzzzzup's project, I'm not sure that something as abrasive as 600 grit was neccesarry but he did need a heavier grit considering that he was trying to remove scratching. Scratches are deeper in the plastic where as the fog or haze is just a thin layer or coating on the lens. So most likely your going to want a finer grit paper. KEEP WET DURING SANDING. Next you will want to use a buffer if possible but elbow grease will work (although very tiring). The buffing will remove the scratching from the sandpaper. Follow this by a hardshell polish, or a polymer sealant if possible to ensure that the shine will last. Hope this is helpful and here's my pics:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...35_70_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...35_72_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...35_99_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...5_100_full.jpg


The really heavily hazed picture is what the lens will look like after drying the sanded lens just before buffing. This is normal to get a really hazy lens while sanding.

And the rest of the pics:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...5_101_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...5_102_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...5_103_full.jpg

To bad I didn't have time to buff the rest of the car :hide:

That looks great, makdaddy386!

Thanks, not as great as a pair of '02 though. :igor&donk

Another wetsanding writeup with pics
 

Yep this is the write-up I read before doing mine...best I've seen yet. Very nice NYC fellas

Great thread. Thanks.

looks like my headlights need a good buff

Those lookg great. Great thread

will this work for super old headlights too?

If they are made out of plastic, then yes, it will.

:sprint: DO NOT TRY THIS ON GLASS but any plastic lens will work

Excellent write up guys. Definately something to do if your headlights are dull and hazzy. Will do this, this weekend more than likely.

You guys say buff it afterward,Do so with regular polish wax?

I used Meg's Polymer Sealant just because of how incredibly long it lasts versus a wax being subjected to the elements and wearing down after a couple weeks. I should get a solid 6 months at the least with the Polymer sealant. I definetly recommend it to anyone however a wax polish will definetly work. Just make sure you are using a hard shell sealant such as Carnuba.

Kevin

I shall use the Meguire's polymer sealant then. I want long lasting quality. Thanks for the info. Sourcing places out now.

ok, I was prepared to do this, except I can't seem to unhook the light from the housing to remove it from the car. How do you do this? newbs huh? lol

nevermind..... I figured it out.

make this a sticky!