Do I need something more aggressive than ultimate compound for this headlight?

[zirconx]

I bought a DA polisher last weekend, and picked up some Meguiar's Ultimate Compound tonight. For my first project I am tackling my headlights.

They look much better, it removed a lot of the cloudy haze. But there are still a lot of microscratches yet, and maybe some haze. I'm posting a picture below. Should I use something more aggressive than UC? Or is this as good as they can get? I've read that some people sand them. I would have to do that by hand, right? And would I just rub the paper on it, or do I need some kind of sand paper holder? I'm not sure how well it would work with the curved surface.

Also I'm using pads from Harbor Freight, and they were out of the step 1/cutting pads so I've been using the polishing pad. Would using the cutting pad make the UC cut through these scratches better?

I don't want to buy a $20 headlight restoration kit, I'd like to do this with my polisher if possible.

Thanks!

[zirconx]

Re: Do I need something more aggressive than ultimate compound for this headlight?

I have some Meguiar’s PlastX I could use on these, if you think that will take care of the remaining scratches.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Do I need something more aggressive than ultimate compound for this headlight?

As with anything, there are limits to what you can accomplish with just a liquid paint cleaner/compound and a foam pad on a DA. If the picture you posted is AFTER you've used UC and a foam polishing pad on a DA then we recommend that you wet sand these lenses to remove the scratches, haze, etc. There comes a time when you need to get a bit more aggressive and this looks like one of those times. Sanding with 1000 grit and then refining with 2500 to 3000 grit should give you a very evenly frosted look that will also be very smooth to the touch. Those final sanding marks should then buff out pretty easily with the UC/foam on your DA.