Ceramic coating after Headlight restoration?

[sudsmobile]

Is Dr. Beasley's the stuff? How many pairs of lights will I get out of a kit, I couldn't find that info anywhere. Anything else good? I feel like I should start coating our jobs instead of just hitting them with some sealant.

[TTQ B4U]

I usually coat them with the same product I use on the paint.

[sudsmobile]

I was wondering if that would work. Me and my son got into a pretty good argument because I said that and he said if the ceramic coating was meant to bind to clear coat paint and there's no clear coat paint on the headlights how is it going to bind.

[TTQ B4U]

I've done the b-pillars, headlamps and tail lamps on my vehicles and have seen the exact same performance from the coatings on them as the paint. I also use CanCoat on side and rear windows with the same result. My wife's vehicle is going on 5 months with Syncro on the paint and lights and washing it tonight it still performs like day 1. Cquartz is much the same. They even note that it works on Paint, Metal, Plastic and more.

[Mantilgh]

I have been using Opti-Lens but I think the paint coatings would work also.

In my opinion, clear coat is similar to plastic.

Optimums claim of “permanent” and “forever” = about 2 years in real life from my experience.

[itsgn]

Is Dr. Beasley's the stuff? How many pairs of lights will I get out of a kit, I couldn't find that info anywhere. Anything else good? I feel like I should start coating our jobs instead of just hitting them with some sealant.

In my experience ceramic coatings on headlights don't last, a few months max. Well, at least the ones designed for paint. Maybe ceramic coatings designed for trim last longer, but I didn't try those, because those tend to develop a less clear finish - and obviously your headlight is the last place where you would want your coating to haze up or something.

On the other side even if the coatings on the headlight would last for years, it wouldn't really matter, because obviously headlights are the most heavily bombarded parts of the car (well, next to lower front bumper anyway) that are continuously being hit by bugs and dirt, but that are the least tolerated to have dirt and obvious damage on them (because it's more visible on the clear lens, than on any other part or material). Because of this headlights, ceramic coated or not, develop small defects very quickly again - so you will want to lightly polish and recoat them at least once a year anyway.

All in all I personally don't think it makes much sense to ceramic coat the headlights, unless you're coating or re-coating at least some parts of the car anyway. Also, you will waste a lot of applicators and product, if you'll only open the bottle to coat a headlight or two, but not do the rest of the car - so, your question about how many headlights you can get out of a bottle doesn't make much (economical) sense to me in this way.

[acuRAS82]

McKee’s has a headlight coating. It claims 3 years, I’m not sure of real world duration. I’ve purchased but won’t use until late fall.

[sudsmobile]

In my experience ceramic coatings on headlights don't last, a few months max. Well, at least the ones designed for paint. Maybe ceramic coatings designed for trim last longer, but I didn't try those, because those tend to develop a less clear finish - and obviously your headlight is the last place where you would want your coating to haze up or something.

On the other side even if the coatings on the headlight would last for years, it wouldn't really matter, because obviously headlights are the most heavily bombarded parts of the car (well, next to lower front bumper anyway) that are continuously being hit by bugs and dirt, but that are the least tolerated to have dirt and obvious damage on them (because it's more visible on the clear lens, than on any other part or material). Because of this headlights, ceramic coated or not, develop small defects very quickly again - so you will want to lightly polish and recoat them at least once a year anyway.

All in all I personally don't think it makes much sense to ceramic coat the headlights, unless you're coating or re-coating at least some parts of the car anyway. Also, you will waste a lot of applicators and product, if you'll only open the bottle to coat a headlight or two, but not do the rest of the car - so, your question about how many headlights you can get out of a bottle doesn't make much (economical) sense to me in this way.

You know, I'm not sure you read or understood the question. The question was specifically referring to a coating designed for headlights, like the aforementioned Dr. Beasley's.

I would be coating the headlights after doing a restoration. A restoration paid for by the customer. This would be a more thorough completion of the job they paid for. I would be opening the bottle to coat two headlights. I'm really not sure how I would be wasting applicators or product. I would be using the product on the headlights, how is that wasting a product that is being used as it was intended.

I really don't get most of your answer. It seems most not applicable to the question I asked.

[sudsmobile]

McKee’s has a headlight coating. It claims 3 years, I’m not sure of real world duration. I’ve purchased but won’t use until late fall.

I saw that one but no reviews. I went ahead and ordered the Dr. Beasley's using the 25% coupon. I'll try to give some feedback when I get it, including how many lights I think I can get out of a bottle.

[acuRAS82]

I saw that one but no reviews. I went ahead and ordered the Dr. Beasley's using the 25% coupon. I'll try to give some feedback when I get it, including how many lights I think I can get out of a bottle.

There’s a couple reviews on Mckees website, but the product is too new to have any significant longevity observations.

McKee's 37 Headlight Coating