Headlight correction

[Christopher.Brown]

I have only been using Opti-Lens for roughly six months so I can't compare its long term durability to Opti-Coat at this point.


@critical ill admit you may be correct here.. :props:. i definitely respect yor opinion and i may switch...I haven't researched it enough to claim which is better difinitively .. but as i said before i constantly have opti coat on hand and i also use other protection on top.. so when i maintain the vehicle i make it a point of emphasis to keep up..

@Art.. for a headlight you dont need much.. ive never counted but 6-8 drops shoukd be plenty to flash it... wipe.. go to the other.. then come back and add 6 more drops for the second layer

[CriticalDetails]

I was actually getting yellowing in a little less than that with one layer of OC 2.0. I just recently did my test subject with two layers of Opti-Lens...I'll report back in the spring.

I look forward to seeing your results from the Opti-Lens test. I have Opti-Lens on my personal vehicle which is kept in the garage and on my brother's vehicle which is parked outside. Both vehicles had the headlights coated with Opti-Lens within a week or two of each other.

[Setec Astronomy]

I look forward to seeing your results from the Opti-Lens test. I have Opti-Lens on my personal vehicle which is kept in the garage and on my brother's vehicle which is parked outside. Both vehicles had the headlights coated with Opti-Lens within a week or two of each other.

Did you find the Opti-Lens to apply differently than OC 2.0? I think I actually started a thread about this but didn't get much feedback. I found the Opti-Lens to take much longer to flash.

[RaskyR1]

It all depends on how bad the headlights are. Just like polishing paint, sometimes you simply have to get really aggressive to get the correction you need. Pretty common for many of the nasty jobs to start at 320 or even lower at times...heck, I recently saw someone say they had to resort to 80 grit to fix a set of trashed headlights....not something you want to reach for off that bat, but he fixed what others had failed to do. Just like polishing paint, you need to refine your work properly as you go an not make too large of jumps in aggressiveness.


I'm still a bit of a skeptic on the Opti-Lens and only time will tell if it has adequate UV inhibitors in it to replace the protection the factory UV clear had. Personally, I feel if you have to remove the factory UV coating than a dedicated headlight UV coating should be used.

[CriticalDetails]

@critical ill admit you may be correct here.. :props:. i definitely respect yor opinion and i may switch...I haven't researched it enough to claim which is better difinitively .. but as i said before i constantly have opti coat on hand and i also use other protection on top.. so when i maintain the vehicle i make it a point of emphasis to keep up..

@Art.. for a headlight you dont need much.. ive never counted but 6-8 drops shoukd be plenty to flash it... wipe.. go to the other.. then come back and add 6 more drops for the second layer

Topping the Opti-Coat may help increase the durability and UV protection. Sometimes I will get a customer who just wants a headlight restoration and I need to make sure that the results will last with no maintenance. I haven't been using Opti-Lens for long enough time period to compare the durability between the two coatings. I will have a better idea on the durability of Opti-Lens come spring time once the coating has been subjected its first Vermont winter. I know that Opti-Coat can last through multiple winters and I am curious to see how Opti-Lens holds up.

[CriticalDetails]

Did you find the Opti-Lens to apply differently than OC 2.0? I think I actually started a thread about this but didn't get much feedback. I found the Opti-Lens to take much longer to flash.

Yes. I too experienced a longer flash/dry time with Opti-Lens. When Applying Opti-Coat you can barely see it a few seconds after the application and with Opti-Lens it felt like it took a few minutes to flash.

[Rsurfer]

How many headlights uses do you get with opti lens? Per se

Because I might be getting some if the headlight correction that I might do, goes through

You should get 8-10 sets, depending if you do a second coat.

[hernandez.art13]

Thank You Christopher and Rsurfer

[Christopher.Brown]

It all depends on how bad the headlights are. Just like polishing paint, sometimes you simply have to get really aggressive to get the correction you need. Pretty common for many of the nasty jobs to start at 320 or even lower at times...heck, I recently saw someone say they had to resort to 80 grit to fix a set of trashed headlights....not something you want to reach for off that bat, but he fixed what others had failed to do. Just like polishing paint, you need to refine your work properly as you go an not make too large of jumps in aggressiveness.


:iagree: completely Rasky but didnt want to say anything below 1000 because someone might take 80 [rocks on paper] and think it makes the job faster and next thing ya know they sand THROUGH the lamp ahahahah... sometimes i think its good to look out for people trollin the web

90% dont generally need more than 1000 grit from what ive seen. LOL unless they live RIGHT on the ocean or in the mountains and drive in salted roads and havent maintined vehicle in about 10 yrs ahahahah

[Calendyr]

the size of the Mf doesn't matter.. this is on a da.... the megs pads are aggressive and will remove and finish down on paint and headlights..

as far as preferring Opti coat... I have it on hand... I don't see the point of buying another product for the same application... I wax and keep a layer of wax in top of my coatings anyway.. so I have up to triple protection on many vehicles :props:

Ok that makes sense. Since I plan on doing a lot of headlight correction, I think buying opti-lens might be a good idea. I have Opti-coat on hand but the cost is probably about the same for both.

[Calendyr]

Why do you like using Opti-Coat instead of Opti-Lens for coating headlights. Opti-Coat works better than your average sealant and prior to the release of Opti-Lens it was my go to headlight coating. Restored headlights start to fade after a year or so when using Opti-Coat. Keep in mind the headlights still look many times better than they did before the restoration was performed.

I have only been using Opti-Lens for roughly six months so I can't compare its long term durability to Opti-Coat at this point.



Here is the video that Art was talking about.

Car Detailing: Headlight Restoration - Honda Civic, GoPro Hero3 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACu1yRyjzOU)

Great video.

[Calendyr]

This brings me to a second question.

I have been trying to get hook and loop sandpaper disks for my 3" DA backplate. Very hard to find. I did manage to track down a place that sells it around here but they sell the disk in single grit boxes of 100 disks! That would last me 2 lifetimes!

How do you guys get yours? I did not find any on autogeek, and none of the canadian detail suppliers have it either.

Doing it by hand works, but doing it with the DA will save a lot of time so I want to switch ;)

[cardaddy]

For me it depends in the condition of the headlights. Very bad I use 320, 500, 800, 1500, 3000, polish, and sealant. In others, I start on 800 or 1500. For protection I now only use Opti Lens. You can use a sealant, only if your going to maintain it with other applications of sealant like you do with the paint.

I'll do something similar to this one as well. Just depends on what it was like starting.
Typically I'll go with as rough as I can to remove the old finish, then work from there.

I picked up the Meguiars Headlight & Spot Repair Kit (http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-pro-spot-repair-kit.html)here on AG, and still got % off on the close out price. Really comprehensive package of wet/dry unigrit paper and foam unigrit finishing discs, plus the wool and foam polishing pads, hand pad holder and all in a nice Meg's bag. :)


How many headlights uses do you get with opti lens? Per se

Because I might be getting some if the headlight correction that I might do, goes through

Art,

The small OL will do 4~5 pairs, but if you go to the jobber size for not even twice the price it's more like 18~20 pairs. ;) You seriously need to contact Chris@Optimum about dealer status if you're thinking about doing headlights. :props:

[Setec Astronomy]

I have been trying to get hook and loop sandpaper disks for my 3" DA backplate. Very hard to find. How do you guys get yours? I did not find any on autogeek

Dude, you need to look harder in the store:

Meguiars Unigrit Sanding Discs, paint sanding discs, sandpaper discs, abrasive discs (http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-3in-sanding-discs.html)
Meguiars Unigrit Finishing Discs, paint finishing discs, Meguiars finishing grit discs (http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-3in-finishing-discs.html)
Meguiars Unigrit 3 Inch Foam Interface Pad, foam backup pad, sanding disc interface (http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-3in-interface-pad.html)

[Setec Astronomy]

Aw shoot...I missed my chance to say "they probably have those sanding discs at WALMART" LOL

Oh wait a minute...this isn't the Wal-Mart thread...sheesh, I need some coffee...