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View Full Version : How to polish, or de fog headlights



Luminatorz34
07-01-2010, 06:17 PM
Im posting this as a helpful tip or fact, or a howto. I learned this somewhere else and cant even remember where to be honest, so i thought i would do this to help anyone else out with their headlight fogging or fading or scratching issues. its pretty simple, and almost impossible to screw up. dont be intimidated by the fact your using sandpaper on your lights. like i said its almost impossible to screw up. if you do make a mistake you can always sand it back out. items i used were the following


200grit sandpaper (very aggressive will get any good scratches,nicks or light gouges out)

600(wet or dry sand paper. not as aggressive as 200 but still very stout at removing finer scratches)
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/006-1.jpg
1000 grit (wet or dry, getting finer on the aggresiveness, starting to polish with this)
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/003-2.jpg
1500 grit(wet or dry, even finer as above really starting to notice its ability to polish
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/004-2.jpg
2000 grit(wet or dry, finishing touches on scratches really polishing and making the lense smooth)
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/005-1.jpg
mothers powerball (used as finishing polisher)
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/008-1.jpg
turtle wax polishing compound ( as title says, it polishes)
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/009-1.jpg
1 spray bottle, used to lubricate the sand paper (always keep paper and lense wet!)

1st step is to spray the snot out of the headlight with the spray bottle, which should only be water).

also mist the lense with clean water and dry off with towel in between each step

2. start sanding with the 200grit sand paper. making sure to keep lense and paper wet, if you feel resistance, spray more water. you cant have too much. the picture shows what the lense will look like when you feel as thought your done with this paper, yes there are a ton of scratches, but dont worry
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/011-1.jpg

3. wet down lense with water again, and start sanding with 600 grit. you will still notice alot of scratches but if you rub it with your hand its not as rough as before
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/014-1.jpg

4. repeat above steps with 1000 grit paper. will start to get clearer on you and will start getting smooth
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/016-1.jpg

5. same as above with 1500 grit
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/018-1.jpg

6. same as abovewith 2000 grit. lense will look finished when its still wet, and virtually no scratches
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/020.jpg

7. smear on a good amount of the polishing compound. spray a few times with spray bottle so it is a little runny. rub the powerball thru it to spread it around then giver her hell and really get in there and polish her up. thats when the lense will come to life on you. you can repeat this step another time if youd like to achieve ultra clarity

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/022.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/021.jpg

NewSpeedSteed
07-01-2010, 09:40 PM
Nice write up.
Do you think you can post up a before picture? I'm just curious on how it looked when you started. Kind of a side by side comparison shot.

sLoWnStEaDy
07-01-2010, 09:50 PM
Damn it Steve! I charge people $30 per light to do this LOL... that would be about $350/hr since it takes like 5 minutes per light.

FYI, "Plastix" polish worked better for the finish polishing. I used the same Turtle stuff until I found the Plastix, they also make a more expensive "mirror finish plastic polish" that works well but it is like $10 compared to like $5 for the Plastix...

Luminatorz34
07-02-2010, 05:31 AM
some befores
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/001-1.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/Stevecz28/eclipse/006.jpg

Luminatorz34
07-02-2010, 05:32 AM
lol sorry keith. yea i see people all the time on craigslist offering this same service. which isnt bad, i spent about 20 mins per lite, but still not too bad. sorry if i am taking your thunder away by posting this, lmao

FiFdYnUtZ
07-02-2010, 11:21 AM
you do realize that if you dont re-coat the lights with the brush on solution most "kits" include they will fog again...

sLoWnStEaDy
07-02-2010, 11:48 AM
you do realize that if you dont re-coat the lights with the brush on solution most "kits" include they will fog again...


clear coat

Luminatorz34
07-02-2010, 08:02 PM
you do realize that if you dont re-coat the lights with the brush on solution most "kits" include they will fog again...


clear coat

this!

FiFdYnUtZ
07-06-2010, 11:42 AM
well it wasnt included in the write up, clearcoat would be a good step after the 600grit stage and then you could continue with your 1000, 1500, etc on the clear and buff it out...

69gt4speed
07-14-2010, 12:10 AM
What about this crap w the ball? They rate it pretty good and it's cheap. Saw it on tv a while ago.
http://www.properautocare.com/moplpo.html