Brake light lens Restoration

**HotRod** · 02-28-2010, 06:14 PM

My van was recently involved in a hit and run accident and caused minor cosmetic damage to the rear of the van. The drunk driver crashed into my parked van, bounced off it and hit the house. Only minor damage was done and nobody was hurt thankfully. And the cops arrested him when he got stuck in a snow drift, but not before he hit 3 more vehicles down the street.

Anyhow, My van went to the body shop to be repaired, and I told them to replace the broken brake light lens with a salvage yard piece to save money, and if it was faded out I would then restore it. They also replaced the bumper assembly and repaired and repainted a few trim pieces. They did a decent job, but induced some swirls and scratches in the paint when they washed my van.

The steps to restore this lens is the same as if I was restoring a headlight and produces brilliant results! In the past I have tried restoring headlights and brake lights with Klasse sealant. But, within 4 months they would start to show wear and fade out. So I am using the spar urethane sealant with excellent results, longevity and adds awesome gloss unmatched with paint sealant or any wax that I am aware of. I have restored the break lights with the urethane before the wreck(7 or 8 months ago) and they still look new, in fact, the broken light was only damaged on the back side of the lens and chipped at the corners. Not sure why the original lens exterior stayed mostly together when the vehicle hit it. It should have shattered but the exterior stayed together. The bulb mounts are what broke, and chipped the corners.

Process:
Wet sand 400, 800, 1000, 2000
Buff with Ryobi drill, wool and foam pads, M105 and M205
Wipe down with Denatured alcohol
Sealant- spar urethane/mineral spirits mixture
If anyone is curious about the urethane treatment, please view this thread, it should answer any questions.Headlight Restoration-new UV sealant idea

Salvage yard lens before restoration. It is scuffed, scratched, faded and almost has an orange peel texture.

Before Restoration

I took the light off to get better pictures and show it with different lighting. This light source is one that I use for paintless dent removal (fluorescent light).

Here is a reflection shot with the fluorescent PDR light.

After Restoration. Same reflection source, same brake light, after cure time, Dramatic difference!!!!

After Restoration

After Restoration. Reflection shot is bare bulbed PDR light.

After restoration. Outdoor reflection.

Another outdoors reflection.

After Restoration

After restoration

**sparkie** · 02-28-2010, 07:36 PM

HotRod, the lens look awesome

....I'm going to try your system one day...Thanks for sharing.....

**HotRod** · 02-28-2010, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by sparkie

HotRod, the lens look awesome

....I'm going to try your system one day...Thanks for sharing.....

Thanks, Definitely try this out sometime, get some junk lenses to practice first, as there is a slight learning curve.

**Slava** · 02-28-2010, 07:49 PM

Thanks for sharing.

**HotRod** · 02-28-2010, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by Slava

Thanks for sharing.

No problem. Just trying to help people out. I know many are scared to try this method out, I know I was a little cautious at first, when I was told of this method. But, I experimented, and I will never use Klasse, etc.... on lens restorations again. However, Klasse on paint lasts longer than anything else I have used, not sure why it fails on plastic lenses.

**Slava** · 02-28-2010, 09:59 PM

Originally Posted by HotRod

No problem. Just trying to help people out. I know many are scared to try this method out, I know I was a little cautious at first, when I was told of this method. But, I experimented, and I will never use Klasse, etc.... on lens restorations again. However, Klasse on paint lasts longer than anything else I have used, not sure why it fails on plastic lenses.

I haven't used Klasse on my lenses yet but have thought about it. I tried 3M headlight restoration kit and was going to use it on my break lights. After seeing this I'm going to try your method, i have a broker tail light that I'll try it on first.

**DARK HORSE** · 02-28-2010, 10:19 PM

Very nice...Great work!!!

**cnfowler** · 02-28-2010, 10:50 PM

Wow, the lense looks phenomenal. Now you just need to buff out the rest of the van. Its amazing how one little project can lead to so much more.

Colin

**HotRod** · 03-01-2010, 07:11 AM

Originally Posted by trichard

Very nice...Great work!!!

Thanks

**HotRod** · 03-01-2010, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by cnfowler

Wow, the lense looks phenomenal. Now you just need to buff out the rest of the van. Its amazing how one little project can lead to so much more.

Colin

Thanks, the scratches and swirls they induced are not horrible, but they are bad enough to bother me. The average person probably would not care or notice it.