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New Guys Headlight Restorations

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  • #1

    New Guys Headlight Restorations

    First is a Headlight and turn signal 50/50 shot from a 1991 Chevy Pickup.


    The second vehicle is a 2005 Hyundai Elantra. First is a before shot.


    The next shot is after wet sanding with 800, 1000 and 2000 grit papers.


    The final shot is after polishing using a high speed drill and a (sorry for the word) Mothers Powerball Mini. I also sealed with Minwax Helmsman Spar uerathane mixed 50/50 with mineral spirits.

    Any comments and opinions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks for looking!!!
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

    those headlights look great! good save.... your on the right path!
    - Markito -

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

      Just a suggestion...

      I think you will find that many times you can get great clarity with only two steps of wetsanding. You said you went 800, 1000 and then 2000 to finish...but did you try starting with 1000 to see if that would take care of the surface? If not, I bet you could've also gone straight from 800 to 2000 or even 800 to 1500 and then used M105 to polish it out on a 4" pad.

      It looks good though...but the more time you can save the more profitable things become; just be sure not to sacrifice quality for a little time savings. That's the quickest way to fail as a detailer.
      Shawn - Final Touch Auto Detail
      Houston Area Mobile Detailing
      www.FinalTouchAutoDetail.com

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      • #4
        Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

        Huge improvement. The headlights look great.
        quality creates its own demand

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        • #5
          Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

          Final touch, I did try starting with 1000 but the damage was too much. Thats why I went with all three then polish. I wish I had M105 and M205 in my arsebal, but I don't right now. It will be on my list to buy later on. My jobs last at least two hours and I pride myself on doing things right the first time. I don't sacrifice quality just to speed things along. I really like doing these restorations and seeing the result and the looks on my customers faces in the end.

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          • #6
            Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

            I just bought and tried the headlight restoration kit. On my 1997 Crown Vic with mild discoloration, I was mildly happy with the results. There was still some pitting on the cover, but the clear appearance was nice.
            My next project will be my 2000 Mazda MPV. Now this one will be a test, it`s got 245,000 kms on it, all on country back roads, the lens is pitted really bad and discoloured. Wish me luck on this one.
            Over all I love the Meguiar`s`s products, I dumped all my Armoral products about 2 years ago, once I found Meguiar`s.

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            • #7
              Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

              I've been at it again. These are three mor before and afters that I have done recently. The first is a 1997 Chevy Pickup I did for my cousin.

              Before:



              And after:



              The next vehicle is an older Ford Ranger I did for Michigan's State Representative.

              Before:



              And After:



              The last car is a Lexus ES 300 I did for my uncle.

              Before:



              And After:



              I'm looking forward to do some more but the interest in my area seems to be less than expected. I'm hoping to talk to more people to try to get more interest. Any suggestions on how to market this better? All I have right now is some flyers and they don't seem to be doing the trick. Any help would be appreciated.

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              • #8
                Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

                Nice work on those headlights

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

                  Amazing; I have a 384,000 mi Ford Festiva, a '97 Miata with 170k and the headlights on both are crystal clear with nothing more than washing. Whatever happened to glass? My PT Cruiser's lights are still bad after multiple tries at clearing them up. I guess I'll have to keep at them until whatever coating was originally there is gone.....

                  Nice job on those.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

                    Originally posted by Mal View Post
                    Amazing; I have a 384,000 mi Ford Festiva, a '97 Miata with 170k and the headlights on both are crystal clear with nothing more than washing. Whatever happened to glass? My PT Cruiser's lights are still bad after multiple tries at clearing them up. I guess I'll have to keep at them until whatever coating was originally there is gone.....

                    Nice job on those.
                    I would love to see some pictures of that Festiva, that's astonishing mileage!

                    As for glass headlights, the switch to plastic was about pedestrian safety... glass does more damage than plastic

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                    • #11
                      Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

                      Originally posted by Mark Kleis View Post
                      I would love to see some pictures of that Festiva, that's astonishing mileage!

                      As for glass headlights, the switch to plastic was about pedestrian safety... glass does more damage than plastic
                      Talk about safety; the Tappet Brothers once said about the Festiva that it shipped with it's own body bag. It's a little safer than a motorcycle. It looks fine .... at about 100 yards but obviously it owes me nothing.

                      I wonder about ped safety with glass. The glass is dull intact and if it broke in the accident; the pedestrian would have more to worry about than broken glass shards.

                      Pictures ... this forum doesn't seem to allow anything but links and I don't use a host site for pictures but the Stiva is showing it's age. Heavy rust patching and just enough clear left to make it look really bad. I just put a $100 exhaust on it and almost junked it instead. But by golly the headlights are still clear. plastic headlights.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

                        Knew a courier driver here in the Kansas City area that put 623k miles on a Festiva before he junked it, and one of his compadres out 425k miles on a Saturn sedan....

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: New Guys Headlight Restorations

                          Holy smokes, I'm just on my way back from the moon; he got back and went around the world quite a few times as well! The Saturns don't fare so well but one of my kids got 325k out of one. It was getting to be no fun to maintain.

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