If you want to save money and get the oxidation off of your headlights heres how

[C_stripes]

Hey everyone, as many of you know. I work at a Toyota dealer as the Detail Manager. I have learned many things working there. One thing that I thought I would share to help save my friends some money is how to fix your headlights for about $10 and around an hour of your time. Once you get good, you can also charge people for your services. I charger about $20-$30 a side depending on how bad they are. Initially, it will cost a bit more. But once you have some of the products, you won't have to buy them again for a long time.

Products required to do this project;
1. Green 2" masking tape
2. 3-4 sheets of 800 grit sand paper
3. 3-4 sheets of 1500 grit sand paper
4. Vereable speed DA sand ( I prefer an electric one)
5. Meguiars PlastX
6. Meguiars 6" butterscotch polish pad
7. Razor blade
8. I like to use a plastic razor to help with the masking (not necessary, but a big help)
9. Patience






Very first thing is to clean the headlight with glass cleaner,

Second is to mask around the headlight. You need to lay the masking tape from the outside in so that the sander doesn't catch the tape and pull it up. Also, make sure any edges like the point of the fender have an extra layer of tape so that you don't sand through to the paint.

Now put a sheet of the 800 grit paper on the DA and take a razor blade and cut the paper down so its about the same size as the pad. Notice that the pad is a 5" pad.


Now, start sanding. I usually set the DA to 5, but you can go to 6 once you get comfortable with what you are doing. The first few times you do this, you will have a hard time getting all the angles, but you will figure it out.

Be careful not to get the headlight or the backing pad to hot, otherwise you will get goobers. Then you have to wait for it to cool and use another sheet of sandpaper.  (pic of the other headlight)

Now put on a piece of the 1500 grit. DON'T trim the paper. Be sure to sand it very good. You need to get as much of the 800 grit lines out as you can.

Once done with that, put the buff pad on and prime the pad (massage a little bit of PlastX into the pad). Then put a little on the pad and wipe it on the headlight before you turn on the DA (this will keep the product on the light and off of you). Now you want to have some heat. Set the buffer at 6 and just polish away. Do two to three coats.


Before;

After;


Be sure to wax your headlights when you wax your car. It will help significantly.

All pics and work are from me.
Hope this will help some of you.
Jeremy

[Back N Black]

Nice work! 

[FLG]

Cool 

Ive found a good cutting compound and a foam pad work good by themselves if you just want to do a quickie cleanup.

[1969chargerrtse]

Great tip, thanks for all the info and pictures.

[mikepmcs]

Let me save you guys even a little more money. That 2 inch green tape is pretty expensive. 
Use masking paper or newspaper instead of taping up the whole surrounding area.   
Or just take the headlight out of the car but it's more difficult to secure it that way.  Have someone hold it for you.  Also, you can wet sand it as well with almost the same results.

That's about how we do it around here too.

I remember the guy trying to sell my buddy Danny the 3m kit for some ungodly amount of money. Danny put his arm around the guy and said, let me show you something son. 

Good tip Jeremy .

[Brock Samson]

 Great! that's my next project for the 300... 

[C_stripes]

The Green tape is a bit expensive, about $8 for a roll. But paper wont hold up as well if you hit it with a DA with sand paper. The way I figure it, $8 is allot cheaper than a $250 repaint for the fender.

There are many ways to do it to get good results. I plan on buying an airbrush this summer and actually re-clear coating lights. I will let you guys know how that works out. There is a guy around here that goes to dealerships and charges $50-$100 per car to do that. I want to under cut him a bit, 

I also want to learn how to do that scratch less dent repair. I think that would be cool too. 

I hope to own my own detail shop by next year.

Anyone that's trying this, hit me up if you need any advice. PM and I can call you.

Jeremy

[FLG]

Jeremy, i forgot who but someone on the forum does the paint less dent repair 

He might be of some assistance

[mikepmcs]

IT's VANCAMP.  18 years i believe.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=3379

[68charger383]

 

[471_Magnum]

3M has a kit that does the same thing. Runs about $22. Comes with a couple different grits of sandpaper, a steel wool-type pad, a polishing pad, polish and a mandrel/disc.

Just as a point of clarification, it is not oxidation that is being removed. You are removing the hard coat from the polycarbonate (Lexan) lens. The hard coat was originally applied as a scratch preventative and UV inhibitor. Unfortunately, it eventually deteriorates. Once you've done this process, you have polycarbonate exposed to the elements. You'll have to freshen it up with some frequency, and don't expose it to any strong solvents. PC is not chemical resistant and it will etch or craze upon contact.

Don't try to recoat the lens either. The solvent in any spray bomb clear coat will attack the PC. The original coating is a UV cured product.

How do I know all this you ask? Once upon a time I made automotive lighting for a living.

[Chatt69chgr]

I seem to recall reading that 3M bought Meguires (sp?).  Not sure where I read that.

[471_Magnum]

I seem to recall reading that 3M bought Meguires (sp?).  Not sure where I read that.

That is true, but so far, the two companies are pretty much still marketing their products independently.

[C_stripes]

I love meguires products. I went to training seminar for Meguires once. That was fun. Lots of good products.