Sanding headlights

[BrianMcLeod]

When sanding headlight with the PC to restore them what speed do y'all use on

500 grit

800 grit

1200 - 1500 and final

3000 grit

[KillaCam]

500 grit is pretty aggressive. Most headlights won't need that. But for sanding you won't need a high speed. Maybe around 4 on the pc.

[hernandez.art13]

In this video (cheesy I know :laughing: )

I started with 1,000 and finished with 2500

It was all done by hand though. I agree 500 is pretty aggressive, but at times it might be necessary.

http://youtu.be/PgXCTMSUGU8

[hernandez.art13]

If doing that combo

You can do

500

800

1000

1500

3000

[hernandez.art13]

Still wondering if one can go from 800 to 1500

And skip the 1000?

Anybody know?

[harrell51]

I've actually went from 800 to 3000 with great results. I've attached some photos

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using AG Online

[Misael7]

How do you know you've taken down of the oxidation when sanding? I tried wetsanding for the first time on some practice lights, I started out with 500 ended with 2000 then compounded and polished. After polishing it still wasn't clear so I went down to 360(lowest grit I had) and it came out better but looks like I will have to go down even lower.

Did I do anything wrong or just didn't take out enough of the oxidation in the initial sanding? I used a rotary with 4" wool pad when compounding and polishing speed 3.

[Rsurfer]

How do you know you've taken down of the oxidation when sanding? I tried wetsanding for the first time on some practice lights, I started out with 500 ended with 2000 then compounded and polished. After polishing it still wasn't clear so I went down to 360(lowest grit I had) and it came out better but looks like I will have to go down even lower.

Did I do anything wrong or just didn't take out enough of the oxidation in the initial sanding? I used a rotary with 4" wool pad when compounding and polishing speed 3.

800 should be enough to take out any scratches and oxidation. Do cross hatch sanding so you know if you removed the previous sanding marks. Use a bucket of soapy water and rinse often..work clean.

[harrell51]

I just use the eye test, usually if by the time I'm finish with 800 and its not clear I know I need to sand a little more.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using AG Online

[Misael7]

Sorry for the thread hijack. I tried the same process on these headlights today, you can see the left side was pretty bad. They made a big improvement but if you look closely the drivers side is much clearer(had less oxidation originally). I didn't even have to wet-sand it just compound and polish.

Passenger side went down to 360 and in the sun you can still see a bit of yellowing and not clear like the drivers. What am I doing wrong? I'm going to go down to 220 and do cross-hatch unless im missing something.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131022_1717321.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131022_1717321.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131022_1717372.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131022_1717372.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131023_1855261.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131023_1855261.jpg.html)

[BrianMcLeod]

Sorry for the thread hijack. I tried the same process on these headlights today, you can see the left side was pretty bad. They made a big improvement but if you look closely the drivers side is much clearer(had less oxidation originally). I didn't even have to wet-sand it just compound and polish.

Passenger side went down to 360 and in the sun you can still see a bit of yellowing and not clear like the drivers. What am I doing wrong? I'm going to go down to 220 and do cross-hatch unless im missing something.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131022_1717321.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131022_1717321.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131022_1717372.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131022_1717372.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131023_1855261.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131023_1855261.jpg.html)

It could be on the inside? Are you using 500 grit dry sand

800 grit dry sand

1000 to 1500 grit wet sand

And 3000 grit wet sand? Also compound and polish after that

[BrianMcLeod]

I've actually went from 800 to 3000 with great results. I've attached some photos

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using AG Online

Is the left before you did anything? Looks great!

[KillaCam]

If there is still yellow you aren't sanding long enough. No need to go down to 220 grit that's insane.

[BrianMcLeod]

Sorry for the thread hijack. I tried the same process on these headlights today, you can see the left side was pretty bad. They made a big improvement but if you look closely the drivers side is much clearer(had less oxidation originally). I didn't even have to wet-sand it just compound and polish.

Passenger side went down to 360 and in the sun you can still see a bit of yellowing and not clear like the drivers. What am I doing wrong? I'm going to go down to 220 and do cross-hatch unless im missing something.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131022_1717321.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131022_1717321.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131022_1717372.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131022_1717372.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/Fury887/Detailing/20131023_1855261.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Fury887/media/Detailing/20131023_1855261.jpg.html)

Np I am glad it helped someone else out besides me 😃

[BrianMcLeod]

Some one helped me out on other another forum about headlights go check it out and others too





Step 1: Sand with 500 Grit until the lens is opaque white. This is the most important step because the more even your sanding, the better your overall results will be. Wipe lens



Step 2: Sand with 800 Grit and sand as your did the first time. This step is to begin refining larger sanding marks



Step 3: Wet-Sand with 1200 Grit. Fill a spray bottle and generously apply over the area to be sanded. Sand as you did the first two steps. You will notice that the lens is beginning to look clearer. Continue wet-sanding until all previous sanding marks have dissapeared.



Step 4: Wet-Sand with 3000 Grit. Sand as you did with all previous steps. At this point, all of your previous sanding marks have been refined and its time to bring out the polisher. <font color="red">*If you don't have a polisher, I recommend buying a white Euro CCS Hand Polishing Pad from AG.



Step 5: Compound the headlights.



<font color="red">*Wolfgang Compound, Menzerna Compound, and Meguiars Compound are most commonly used amongst people on the forum with great results.



Step 6: Polish with a fine polish.



Step 7: Seal Them Up. Opti-Lens is a great choice as its designed to be permanent. DP Headlight Coating is a fairly new product made by the good folks at Autogeek so it's also a solid option.



<font color="red">IF YOU DONT WANT TO SAND, DP MAKES A HEADLIGHT RESTORATION KIT BUT THIS REQUIRES A DRILL. THIS IS A MUCH FASTER OPTION AND HAS YIELDED VERY SIMILIAR RESULTS TO SANDING.