Headlight Restoration

[kdubski]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for advice regarding headlight restoration. I recently tried to bring back the headlights on a 2006 Honda Odyssey. They were almost fully opaque but NOT completely gone yet. I dry sanded them with 400, wetsanded with 800 and 1000. Final sanding step was with the DA sander using 2000. I compounded and polished them.

The final product is SOMEWHAT hazy, and a few scratches remain. Did I take too big of a leap with the 400 to 800? Also, There was SERIOUS swirling in the headlights when I checked with my inspection LED lighting. Any idea how to fix this?

[g35_coupe]

Did you check in between steps or only when you were done?

[RangerDetails]

I always do the final sanding with 3000 grit.

[dschia]

400 to 800gr is too big of a leap in my opinion. I too faced difficulty removing sanding mark completely usually with lower grit from 320 onward. 1000grit onward is easy to remove and not as sensitive. From 360grit, 500grit is probably the widest leap i am comfortable doing.

[dcjredline]

Too late now for you but next car try the McKees headlight polish!!! I have only had to sand one pair of headlights since I got it! I do at least a car or 2 a month and they get the headlights done. McKees will change your mind on headlight restoration.

[kdubski]

It's a personal car so I will be going back and forth on this pair of headlights to perfect my technique. While there are a few deep scratches from, I'm assuming here, the 400 grit, the headlights look nearly brand new in sunlight. When I fire them up at night/with the brickman LED light, they are hazy and dull looking.

Does the 400 to 800 jump really make that much of a DIFFERENCE?

If a corrected 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and compounding process doesn't make them perfect I will be trying the McKee's.

[2pennies]

Think of it like a haircut. If you are getting your hairline faded, it has to be a gradual process. you may need to go from 400 to 600. I've also heard that going up to 1800, 2500 and even 3000 or 3500 makes a huge difference as well.

[dschia]

It's a personal car so I will be going back and forth on this pair of headlights to perfect my technique. While there are a few deep scratches from, I'm assuming here, the 400 grit, the headlights look nearly brand new in sunlight. When I fire them up at night/with the brickman LED light, they are hazy and dull looking.

Does the 400 to 800 jump really make that much of a DIFFERENCE?

If a corrected 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and compounding process doesn't make them perfect I will be trying the McKee's.

Yes, the lower the grit, the lesser the jump. You can sand till as fine as you want, but as long as you not removing the 400 sanding mark completely, it is there to stay. 400 to 600 is really tight enough in my experience. When you reach above 800g though, you can get away with 1000g then 2000g then 4000g.

[Mantilgh]

The lenses could have tiny little cracks that go deap into the surface if they are degraded badly enough. I have seen this on some Toyotas. There also could be damage on the inside from the heat from the lights.

[Crispy]

I don't do a lot of this on the headlights (went new instead). I have done on the fogs though and I went exactly opposite to your technique. I started with 3000 trizact damp sanding disc on 3 " DA. Polished with compound and checked. Least aggresive method first. If not good enough then step down to 2000 grit and then 3000 and polish with compound. You get the idea. It takes a while but after dialing in you get consistant results. Just me method.