McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish

[Matt@flyingchipmunk]

I wanted to create a demo headlight I could show people and thought great time to bring a new product along for the ride and put it to the test.

I found an ebay special set of headlights for my test subjects. All the pictures below will link to the full size versions in my gallery.

Our test subject today features a very cloudy lens, OEM UV protection broken down, long surface scratch bottom right corner, and heavy pitting.

McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish being an all-in-one I didn't expect miracles. These are worse headlights than I would even waste my time not wet sanding, but for the sake of testing and results let's see what we can do here.


Before Shot




5 Passes of McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish



Meguiar's red foam cutting pad was used on 3" pneumatic rotary, product worked 5 passes.

On the lower part of headlight where the OEM UV coating wasn't broken down it did return a good amount of clarity. It "darkened" the look a little compared to what Plastx does. After thorough wipe down it left something on the lens that Plastx does not, almost a little oily. If the lens is to be coated with a UV protectant (not just a UV lotion/spray) I highly recommend a stripper/cleaner before coating. At the very least an IPA wipe down should be done.

As an all-in-one I did not expect the pitting and surface damage to be leveled out, but I was very impressed with the amount of correction on the surface scratch on the lower right. It did about a 75% correction. Happily impressed with that cut ability.


Deep Clean and UV Protectant Middle Section



Left section is before section. Middle section McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish followed up with Meguiars Headlight Protectant. Right section was further deep cleaned with Meguiar's Mirror Glaze 17 Plastic Cleaner.


Right Section Wet Sanded, Sectioned Again



The entire right section (the entire part of light in this picture), was wet sanded 800/1500 grits with 3" pneumatic DA then 2000/3000 grits by hand.

The center tape was added and on the right side McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish was used with a B&S 3" hex orange cutting pad, 4 passes. Then again with Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad, 4 passes.


Close up McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish 2-step



Close up with bright light showing 3000 grit sanding marks polished out with B&S 3" hex orange cutting pad, 4 passes. Then again with Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad, 4 passes.

I found with using the orange pad it did not finish off as clear as I wanted. There were still enough DA cutting marks left that another section pass with a softer pad was beneficial to finishing off clearer.

Note: Far right grunge is inside lens damage.


McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish After Wet Sanding



Before and After of 3000 grit sanding marks. Left side 3000 grit sanding marks. Right side polished out with B&S 3" hex orange cutting pad, 4 passes. Then again with Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad, 4 passes.

I found with using the orange pad it did not finish off as clear as I wanted. There were still enough DA cutting marks left that another section pass with a softer pad was beneficial to finishing off clearer.

Thoughts: Maybe with some more fine tuning of process the 2nd step could be eliminated making it a true one step product. The end results were about 80% correction. Very respectable for an all-in-one product but since I had to 2-stage it anyways, it won't replace the M105/M205 combo that does finish a tad bit better ~90% correction.


McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish After Wet Sanding



Left side 3000 grit sanding marks, right side after McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish.


After Shot Meguiar's M105/M205



Entire wet sanded side polished with M105 using B&S 3" hex orange cutting pad with pneumatic rotary, 4 passes. Then polished with M205 using Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad, 4 passes.

Using the same pads, pressure, passes as McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish to give an example of difference. The M105/M205 can be seen here finishing off better with about a 90% correction.


Spar Urethane UV Protectant Applied



Spar urethane, mineral spirits 1:1 applied


After Shot - 3 sections



Left - untouched

Middle - Polished with McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish, Meguiar's Headlight Protectant applied.

Right - Wet Sanded, Polished with M105/M205, Spar Urethane applied.


Comparison Before and After



Top headlight showing the before state. The top headlight's OEM UV protectant was not as badly degraded as the bottom one but still shows a great before/after of the different products and techniques.


Some of the Tools/Pads Used



Chicago Pneumatic CP7200S 3" DA, Harbor Freight 3" Pneumatic Rotary.
B&S 3" orange hex cutting pad, Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad


Video



Who doesn't like video? Hopefully capturing the differences in correct-ability of the different products and techniques described above.

Thanks for reading/watching, hopefully this gives you an idea of what is possible and what you can expect at different levels of usage I welcome any questions or constructive criticism on my usage and results with McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish.

Cheers!

-Matt

[TTQ B4U]

So is this the relabled version of DP Headlight all in one? Any formulation difference?

I've used it on headlights with light oxidation and had great results. Anything like what you show here I have zero reason not to just jump in with 1500-2500 and then 3000 grit wet sanding followed by polishing with an orange pad. Very quick but excellent results that I've not been disappointed in at all.

Thanks for the right up.

[Matt@flyingchipmunk]

So is this the relabled version of DP Headlight all in one? Any formulation difference?

Yes it is, I can't speak to the formula change, Nick would need to chime in as to what has changed

I've used it on headlights with light oxidation and had great results. Anything like what you show here I have zero reason not to just jump in with 1500-2500 and then 3000 grit wet sanding followed by polishing with an orange pad. Very quick but excellent results that I've not been disappointed in at all.

Thanks for the right up.

Yup on a headlight this bad I would also jump right to wet sanding totally agree. I did the pre-wet sand polish just to see what it would do. Totally agree, I do not recommend not wet sanding first for headlights this bad

[Mike@ShineStruck]

Onlything that they said change in formula was to help prevent polish from drying up in bottle when low..that's the only change besides brand change
I did really bad ones without wet sanding, turned out great

[Mike Honcho]

"Spar urethane, mineral spirits 1:1 applied"

Tell me more about this, please.

[raysanni]

I wanted to create a demo headlight I could show people and thought great time to bring a new product along for the ride and put it to the test.

I found an ebay special set of headlights for my test subjects. All the pictures below will link to the full size versions in my gallery.

Our test subject today features a very cloudy lens, OEM UV protection broken down, long surface scratch bottom right corner, and heavy pitting.

McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish being an all-in-one I didn't expect miracles. These are worse headlights than I would even waste my time not wet sanding, but for the sake of testing and results let's see what we can do here.


Before Shot




5 Passes of McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish



Meguiar's red foam cutting pad was used on 3" pneumatic rotary, product worked 5 passes.

On the lower part of headlight where the OEM UV coating wasn't broken down it did return a good amount of clarity. It "darkened" the look a little compared to what Plastx does. After thorough wipe down it left something on the lens that Plastx does not, almost a little oily. If the lens is to be coated with a UV protectant (not just a UV lotion/spray) I highly recommend a stripper/cleaner before coating. At the very least an IPA wipe down should be done.

As an all-in-one I did not expect the pitting and surface damage to be leveled out, but I was very impressed with the amount of correction on the surface scratch on the lower right. It did about a 75% correction. Happily impressed with that cut ability.


Deep Clean and UV Protectant Middle Section



Left section is before section. Middle section McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish followed up with Meguiars Headlight Protectant. Right section was further deep cleaned with Meguiar's Mirror Glaze 17 Plastic Cleaner.


Right Section Wet Sanded, Sectioned Again



The entire right section (the entire part of light in this picture), was wet sanded 800/1500 grits with 3" pneumatic DA then 2000/3000 grits by hand.

The center tape was added and on the right side McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish was used with a B&S 3" hex orange cutting pad, 4 passes. Then again with Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad, 4 passes.


Close up McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish 2-step



Close up with bright light showing 3000 grit sanding marks polished out with B&S 3" hex orange cutting pad, 4 passes. Then again with Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad, 4 passes.

I found with using the orange pad it did not finish off as clear as I wanted. There were still enough DA cutting marks left that another section pass with a softer pad was beneficial to finishing off clearer.

Note: Far right grunge is inside lens damage.


McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish After Wet Sanding



Before and After of 3000 grit sanding marks. Left side 3000 grit sanding marks. Right side polished out with B&S 3" hex orange cutting pad, 4 passes. Then again with Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad, 4 passes.

I found with using the orange pad it did not finish off as clear as I wanted. There were still enough DA cutting marks left that another section pass with a softer pad was beneficial to finishing off clearer.

Thoughts: Maybe with some more fine tuning of process the 2nd step could be eliminated making it a true one step product. The end results were about 80% correction. Very respectable for an all-in-one product but since I had to 2-stage it anyways, it won't replace the M105/M205 combo that does finish a tad bit better ~90% correction.


McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish After Wet Sanding



Left side 3000 grit sanding marks, right side after McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish.


After Shot Meguiar's M105/M205



Entire wet sanded side polished with M105 using B&S 3" hex orange cutting pad with pneumatic rotary, 4 passes. Then polished with M205 using Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad, 4 passes.

Using the same pads, pressure, passes as McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish to give an example of difference. The M105/M205 can be seen here finishing off better with about a 90% correction.


Spar Urethane UV Protectant Applied



Spar urethane, mineral spirits 1:1 applied


After Shot - 3 sections



Left - untouched

Middle - Polished with McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish, Meguiar's Headlight Protectant applied.

Right - Wet Sanded, Polished with M105/M205, Spar Urethane applied.


Comparison Before and After



Top headlight showing the before state. The top headlight's OEM UV protectant was not as badly degraded as the bottom one but still shows a great before/after of the different products and techniques.


Some of the Tools/Pads Used



Chicago Pneumatic CP7200S 3" DA, Harbor Freight 3" Pneumatic Rotary.
B&S 3" orange hex cutting pad, Meguiar's 3" foam polishing yellow pad


Video



Who doesn't like video? Hopefully capturing the differences in correct-ability of the different products and techniques described above.

Thanks for reading/watching, hopefully this gives you an idea of what is possible and what you can expect at different levels of usage I welcome any questions or constructive criticism on my usage and results with McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish.

Cheers!

-Matt

Great work!

Sent from my QMV7B using Tapatalk

[g35_coupe]

"Spar urethane, mineral spirits 1:1 applied"

Tell me more about this, please.

It's using a wood varnish mixed 1:1 with odorless mineral spirits to leave a high gloss on plastic with a very low margin of error.

However it does not have great durability as all most urethanes yellow with sun exposure. It can peel with pressure washer rinsing as well.

[Matt@flyingchipmunk]

"Spar urethane, mineral spirits 1:1 applied"

Tell me more about this, please.

g35_coupe pretty much summed it up. Takes a few tries when you are first attempting the method to get it to come out good. But once you find what works for you it's pretty quick to apply.

Here's a thread by sweatthedetails with videos showing the process http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...oration-z.html

g35_coupe has definitely found a recipe that works for him Your headlight restoration thread is full of great work!

[Mike Honcho]

Thanks!

[g35_coupe]

g35_coupe pretty much summed it up. Takes a few tries when you are first attempting the method to get it to come out good. But once you find what works for you it's pretty quick to apply.

g35_coupe has definitely found a recipe that works for him Your headlight restoration thread is full of great work!

Matt, thanks for the compliment.

I looked pretty heavily into the spar/urethane thread started years ago and considered it for a few customer vehicles. Remember this was about the time before coatings flooded the market. The spar/MS concoction answered many prayers. It costs pennies to make, applies easily, fills scratches, levels nicely, and leaves a superb gloss---it seems too good to be true (forgive the cliche). After testing it out, I saw it does have drawbacks. As I mentioned, it flakes off with a pressure washer. Not good if you're not the only one washing the vehicle. Also, if there are washer sprayers (like BMW's and Volvo's), there's a good chance people or shops run some anti-freeze in winter months. How resistant is urethane against chemicals?

In come various (affordable) coatings that cover a wide range of protection, and aesthetics. Any of which give you better: peace of mind, results, and durability you (and your company name) can stand behind. For your own personal for relative's vehicle, it would suffice. It seems like a glorified bug spray trick. Not here to tell people what they can/can't detail their cars with, just putting in my 2 cents and providing info for others to make an educated decision.