1st attempt at headlights

[mleach82]

I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 and i've been wanting to clear up the headlights for some time. After reading through several forums and several how-tos, i decided to give it a shot 2 weeks ago.

Process:
Sand 1000 grit
Sand 2000 grit
UC on orange pad
Plastix on black pad
2 coats DP Poli-coat sealant

Here are the headlights before:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/mleach82/Ram/DSC_0316.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/mleach82/Ram/DSC_0315.jpg

Took about 30-45 minutes per light but i think they turned out rather well for my first attempt:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/mleach82/Ram/DSC_0036.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/mleach82/Ram/DSC_0035-1.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/mleach82/Ram/DSC_0034-1.jpg

I think on my next attempt i may start with a coarser sandpaper and finish with a higher grit paper, somthing like 800, 1000, 2000, 3000 and then finish with 50/50 of urethane and mineral spirits.

The reaosn for wanting to go coarser is that some spots required a lot of elbow grease with the 1000 that may have come out better with 800 or 500.

:buffing:

[LuxuryMobile]

What a nice turn around. 800 may have saved you a little time but to me they look like the turned out perfect. Good job.

[builthatch]

nice job! make sure you turn the lights on before you apply the sealant to assure that you got the scratches out you think you removed...this way you can go over some areas again before you go to the trouble of sealing, etc. the lights tend to highlight left over scratches.

[Fly bye]

Good show :xyxthumbs:



Yeah, I think I'd finish up with 3,000 - 4,000 grit wet sandpaper.


:buffing:

[Kristopher1129]

I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 and i've been wanting to clear up the headlights for some time. After reading through several forums and several how-tos, i decided to give it a shot 2 weeks ago.

Process:
Sand 1000 grit
Sand 2000 grit
UC on orange pad
Plastix on black pad
2 coats DP Poli-coat sealant

Took about 30-45 minutes per light but i think they turned out rather well for my first attempt:

I think on my next attempt i may start with a coarser sandpaper and finish with a higher grit paper, somthing like 800, 1000, 2000, 3000 and then finish with 50/50 of urethane and mineral spirits.

The reaosn for wanting to go coarser is that some spots required a lot of elbow grease with the 1000 that may have come out better with 800 or 500.

:buffing:

I don't think you needed a rougher grit in this particular case. But, if you're going to do them a lot more...I would get the 500, and 800 as well. But these weren't that bad. 500, and 800 I don't think were necessary. They look great! Nice job man!:props:

[WEST SIDE]

Nice job,after seeing that i may have to do my wifes 05 Durango(maybe it's a Dodge Thing)only one headlight needs work about the same shape as yours.:xyxthumbs:

[SeaJay's]

Nice job! As builthatch said you should turn on the lights to ensure you get all the little scratches out. Or you can use a swirl finder light (that always seems to work for me).

[BobbyG]

I have a couple of lights that could use some tending to and I'll use your post as instructions..

Nice work! :props:

[mleach82]

Thanks for the kind words.

I used my brinkman to see if any scratches from the sandpaper were left, the UC did a pretty good job of removing the majority, whatever was left was taken care of by the plastix.