Hemispheres
12-28-2021, 06:24 PM
Not sure if any of you remember me from about 7 months ago, but my Buick Lacrosse is making slow progress. I moved it from my cousin's house after finding scratches on it once again.
The good news is after a rain storm one day I managed to wipe my finger across the black gunk that is all over the car and it came right off so it appears it will just wash right off. But my reason for posting today is to show you the results of my first headlight restoration. I replaced the driver side headlight due to a large chip and all it needs is a good polish to be in tip top shape, but the passenger side was in very poor shape. T
This is before I started on it.
74862
This is after 1 pass with 500 grit sandpaper on a drill, and 2 passes with 800 grit sandpaper.
74863
This is after 5 passes on the high beam with 3000 grit sandpaper which left all sorts of swirls and holograms, at this point I decided it needed to be polished so I made a run to the store to pick up Plast-X and some Terry Towels.
74864
This is the finished high beam after about 1 or 2 minutes of polishing with Plast-X. Turned out great. Sun went down shortly after this so I still need to hit the low beam with 3000 grit and polish it and apply the clear coat to both lenses tomorrow.
74865
All in all I'm pleased with how it turned out. Now all she needs is some mechanical work and an inspection aside from a good detail and she'll be back on the road after sitting for 3 years.
EDIT: Turns out I've got the low and high beams mixed up. It's been a long time since I've driven the old girl.
The good news is after a rain storm one day I managed to wipe my finger across the black gunk that is all over the car and it came right off so it appears it will just wash right off. But my reason for posting today is to show you the results of my first headlight restoration. I replaced the driver side headlight due to a large chip and all it needs is a good polish to be in tip top shape, but the passenger side was in very poor shape. T
This is before I started on it.
74862
This is after 1 pass with 500 grit sandpaper on a drill, and 2 passes with 800 grit sandpaper.
74863
This is after 5 passes on the high beam with 3000 grit sandpaper which left all sorts of swirls and holograms, at this point I decided it needed to be polished so I made a run to the store to pick up Plast-X and some Terry Towels.
74864
This is the finished high beam after about 1 or 2 minutes of polishing with Plast-X. Turned out great. Sun went down shortly after this so I still need to hit the low beam with 3000 grit and polish it and apply the clear coat to both lenses tomorrow.
74865
All in all I'm pleased with how it turned out. Now all she needs is some mechanical work and an inspection aside from a good detail and she'll be back on the road after sitting for 3 years.
EDIT: Turns out I've got the low and high beams mixed up. It's been a long time since I've driven the old girl.