Diamondite Headlight Cleanup

[Becciasm]

It's been a minute since I've posted anything on the forums. Sometimes you just need to step away and focus on real life for a while.

I'd like to share a headlight cleanup that I did this past weekend, using Diamondite products and the CCS Spot Buff kit, sold here at AG. This is a show/shine plus review, so a double-whammy of a post.
:)

On to the good stuff.

So, what prompted this cleanup? State inspection. The car passed, but the tech suggested that i look into the lenses.

OK. I'd purchased the CCS Spot Buff Kit a while back, and picked up the Diamondite Clear Plastic Enhancer, Plastic Restorer, and Plastic Liquid Armor.

Here's a before shot, all taped up and ready to go. 50/50 tape line in place.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZXWL95NRdkM/Ug62jaByRzI/AAAAAAAAHPI/UzzUBIwjKo4/w750-h450-no/0816131931a.jpg

Pretty cloudy, pretty grungy. it was cleaned with dp rinseless.

First step, applied the plastic enhancer in an 'X' to an orange CCS 4" Spot buff pad, and got to work.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ekRQ2HE0sgA/Ug63XjX6VTI/AAAAAAAAHQo/XgFYzosv8Oc/w750-h450-no/0816131934.jpg

This is after two passes with the plastic enhancer, 4" Orange CCS Pad, using the backing plate that comes with the Spot Buff kit - we'll come back to the backing plate later on.

Not too bad, let's try to clear it up a bit.

I used the plastic restore on a white CCS pad, again, applying an 'X', and making two passes.

Close up of untouched side.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BjWcDWmDUFc/Ug63V98-O7I/AAAAAAAAHQc/nl19KyB6X70/w750-h450-no/0816131935b.jpg

Close up of 'corrected' side

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mUFNRV8SnrI/Ug63M-_-_yI/AAAAAAAAHPg/uZThTCrkqdE/w750-h450-no/0816131934a.jpg

Not bad.

50/50

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xqQk984NVAQ/Ug64Z1yoiII/AAAAAAAAHRI/ri0_-Mid6xk/w750-h450-no/0816131939a.jpg


Drivers' side finished, passenger's yet to come. Finished with Liquid Armor, which for all intents and purposes is a sealant. This will have to be maintained throughout the year, to keep up the UV protection.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0sV84UZLqTE/Ug69d9VZ4hI/AAAAAAAAHRs/JpGD2ShYPaE/w750-h450-no/0816132001a.jpg

Now, a few things.

a) this is a 'cleanup', not a full on correction or restoration. Ain't nobody got time for dat! heh. I didn't want to break out the sandpaper, and wanted to see just what I could do with the Diamondite products and CCS pads. Being that it's my vehicle, i can monitor the lenses and touch-up as necessary. Overall I'm very pleased with the diamondite products. All in all, it took 20 mins a headlight, including taping.

b) I used the CCS Spot buff kit, as sold here on AG. That kit comes with the orange and white pads, as well as a 2 3/4" rotary backing plate, with a DA adapter that I fit to my GG 6". For those that are wondering why the 6? the 3" didn't have the umph needed to move the 4" pads, and the 3" GG orange pads are not of the same caliber as the orange LC CCS pads.

A few comments.

One, I'd add the option to choose the pads for the Spot buff kit. If Yellow was an option, it would have made a bigger difference. You can see in a few of the finished pics, glare from garage lights and camera flashes show that the lense is not 100% corrected. The diamondite videos use yellow and orange pads - i used orange and white. Adding an option to choose the pads for this kit may be a good move.

Two. And this is the more important of the two, i think. Get rid of the existing backing plate in the kit. If the intent is to use this kit for any serious correction on a DA, the backing plate is junk.

Exibit, ummm, next:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wVyo3fnqRbk/Ug-ShKST0pI/AAAAAAAAHS0/K3WMHGIT48Y/w750-h450-no/0817131110.jpg

The heat generated from the GG 6" through the thick 4" CCS orange pad totally delaminated the velcro from the backing plate. This failed halfway through the passenger side headlight. Not good AG.

If this could be thrown away and a proper 3" or 3.5" LC backing plate be included in it's stead, that would make this a power kit.

The passenger side is still not fully finished, but the plans are to get a few more of the CCS pads and a proper backing plate and go at them again.

Diamondite Headlight restoration products, A+.

CCS Spot buff kit, C+.

Thanks for viewing. Comments welcome.

[Pureshine]

Looks much better nice job :)

[Becciasm]

bump for the early crowd.

[Becciasm]

Looks much better nice job :)

Thanks!

It was funny, but when the drivers side was complete, my wife had come out to the garage to get some beverages for us, and she stopped in her tracks at the improvement.. hehe. little victories :)

[Setec Astronomy]

Devil's Advocate argument...if you had started out with some 2000 grit paper or maybe even a bit coarser...it would have taken you but a few minutes on each light, then on to your orange and white pads. Obviously from the ease you cleared them up, you didn't have a failed factory coating line which is usually what takes all the sanding time...

[Becciasm]

Totally agree. Devil's advocate always welcome in these discussions :)

I didn't want to break out the sandpaper, and wanted to see what I could accomplish with the Diamondite system :)

The next try will be with the recommended Yellow pads, to see if the last bit of haze can be cleared up.

[Becciasm]

The biggest issue i've had with the whole process is the lack of quality of the backing plate included with the CCS kit. It failed after 20 mins or so of sporadic use.

[Vegas Transplant]

The biggest issue i've had with the whole process is the lack of quality of the backing plate included with the CCS kit. It failed after 20 mins or so of sporadic use.


I looked at that kit last winter or so.
Wound up ordering the 4" Cyclo pads, DA adapter and rotary extension, and various sized bp's. Spent a little more than I wanted to...as usual.
I'm not a fan of the CCS pads, nor the rigid BP in the kit.

Kinda realized that you were MIA when I bumped your thread recently. I kinda figured you were in the lab perfecting another keg of your home brew. ;)