Headlight restoration and protection...BEST PRODUCTS

[EuroTech]

A friend asked to restore his headlights and brought me some Meguiars M10 plastic polish, Will this be sufficient for restoring headlights. I know pictures would be helpful unfortunately I don't have them.
The clear on the headlights has failed, and are a very foggy white probably 6/10 transparetcy. I know there are specific packages with small polish/cutting pads and compounds and polish. However If I can accomplish this with what I already have it would be great!!

1) Should I start with using sand paper and water? If so what grit ?
2)Do I follow up sanding with the Meguiars, or wouldn't Menzerna products work better? I have FG 400 & SF 4000.
3) Which color of pad should I use? I have orange and black hybrid form LC
3)Is plexus a good product for protecting afterwards , what are comparable products or ones you prefer and think are superior to plexus?

[ray6]

Restoring headlights is a two step process; remove the old coating, replace it with a new one. There's no one size fits all for removing the old coating because there are too many variables. Essentially, you remove it with abrasives. The heavier the damage, the coarser the abrasive.

Your first abrasive should remove all the coating, all additional steps are to correct the damage from this first abrasive.

There are many tips and procedures available on this forum, but it really depends on the condition of each headlight and that will be different every time. Start too aggressively and you will spend more time repairing damage from the previous step. Start too fine and you will spend more time removing the coating.

Removing the old coating is the easy part. Once you remove the old coating, you must install a new coating. Most of the processes you see on this forum are various forms of wax. They will only last a finite time.

The new coating needs to block UV from the polycarbonate. Think of it as protecting the paint on your car. Sure, wax will work, but for how long.? This is why modern finish paints require clear coat. It's the same thing.

One of the things you'll notice in threads on headlight restoration is anecdotal. This particular process lasted 2 years, this one only 3 months, etc. The reason is the variables involved in UV exposure. Think of it this way: I could remove the old coating on a headlamp then make sure it never received DIRECT UV exposure by always parking in a garage, etc., and under these conditions it would remain clear forever.
A different headlight with a premium coating might fail in 6 months if constantly exposed to direct UV.

Coating with wax after removing the old coating will work, as long as you continuously reapply it.