3M Headlight Restoration Kit

[hondacare]

I used 3M Headlight kit that I picked up at WalMart for around $17. It worked pretty good. Headlights was all cloudy with a chance of meatballs. But after about 35 minutes per light it was clear as light. Now I consider this kit to be extreme, but useful because of the condition it was in. Now is there something I can do to protect it? I mean I realize it can happen again.

[Railroad]

Used the 3M kit myself last weekend. Loved it. Don't know why I wasted
time and money on other methods. I put wax on mine, but I think their's
more to it than that.

[dad07]

opti-coat to seal it.

[waterloomarc]

I used the kit about a year ago and found it worked great. However I never "got around" to sealing them after I did it and not surprisingly they got cloudy much (MUCH) faster the second time around. Not much help for a product rec. but don't be lazy like me!


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[alko]

Is this the same kit that Bruno is promoting in the commercial?

[SON1C]

Put a lens protectant on it, or just a sealant

[Flash Gordon]

This is a great kit if you're only wanting to do one or two jobs, otherwise you would come out a lot cheaper buying your discs in packages and using a 3" DA for efficencey

[jwgreen6]

I used the kit about a year ago and found it worked great. However I never "got around" to sealing them after I did it and not surprisingly they got cloudy much (MUCH) faster the second time around. Not much help for a product rec. but don't be lazy like me!


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You need a UV protectant like the Diamondite Clear Plastic Liquid
Armor (http://www.autogeek.net/dia-plastic-liquid-armor.html) to prevent the reoccurrence of the yellowing/cloudiness of the lenses.

[oldmodman]

It's hard to beat that price. And the components that it comes with are top notch.

My only problem was my rechargeable drill overheating.

And I bought several boxes of the 3M sanding discs when the Geek had them on sale. Now I have enough to do 50 more cars.:xyxthumbs:

[Railroad]

This is a great kit if you're only wanting to do one or two jobs, otherwise you would come out a lot cheaper buying your discs in packages and using a 3" DA for efficencey
I bought a 5/8x11 adaptor and used the backing plate from the
Diamondite Headlight kit on my PorterCable. I knew my cordless
would never do the job.

[Jomax]

I just used the Meguiars Heavy duty kit. Works way better then the 3M. The megs kit comes with 1000 or 1500 and then 3000grit and Meg's makes replacements . After that you have a buffer wheel for a drill that you use PlastX, then their new UV protectant. I was able to do a set of headlights in 12min.

[ray6]

I used 3M Headlight kit that I picked up at WalMart for around $17. It worked pretty good. Headlights was all cloudy with a chance of meatballs. But after about 35 minutes per light it was clear as light. Now I consider this kit to be extreme, but useful because of the condition it was in. Now is there something I can do to protect it? I mean I realize it can happen again.

The problem with 3M and other sand and polish kits is that they're good at removing the original factory protective coating but don't replace it with a new one.

That original factory coating was applied for a reason. Without UV/moisture protection, your headlights will degrade quickly. Waxes will work if you keep them up, just like the wax on paint.

There are great products available to put back the protective coating, but they're not easy to get nor cheap.

The best coatings are 2k water bourne or 1 or 2k UV cured.

Have no experience with Minwax spar urethane/mineral spirits, but I do sometimes use a polyurethane based coating probably very similar to the Minwax mixture, but I only use it on acrylic such as tail lights, trun signals, emergency lights, etc. I switched to a 2k water based product some time ago and use it for most headlights but it costs about $100 for 16 oz., but only about .80 per headlight. Out exposure tests indicate it should last at least 36 months so I am warranting it for 3 years.

Sylvania makes a kit that has a 1k coating that I used once in an emergency and I believe it's the same polyurethane product we use. You might want to buy a Sylvania kit just to get the protective coating.

ray6