Headlight Restoration-new UV sealant idea

[jendra]

Solaray Headlight Lens Clear Coat is designed to be used with a U.V. Cure lamp. Although, I have used this product to restore a headlight lens and allowed the lens to stay out on a bright sunny day and it cures out just fine. However, Use of this method is the sole discretion of the purchaser and is in no way warrantied by the manufacturer or seller. Seems to me you could build your own curing 'table' using whatever UV bulbs you can get at Home Depot, or your local hardware store. You might need to experiment a bit with getting the right amount of UVA, UVB or UVC light, or at least copious amounts of each.
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[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

Here is another update on a pair of headlights restored with the spar urethane method. This is my work van(2000 GMC Safari), the headlights were pretty bad to begin with, so they were sanded, buffed and sealed with the urethane.

This test is about a year old, and these lights were washed regularly and applied a couple coats of paint sealant(BFWD or whatever I was using) every couple of months. This van is driven a lot and never garaged so it is exposed to the elements all year.

Since these lights were maintained after the restoration, there is absolutely no evidence of the urethane degrading or loss of gloss. However there was a slight loss of gloss and possibly haze on top edge of the 1998 mercury lights that was the original test subject of this thread. But that car was not maintained at all. My van lights were treated as if they were new since restoration.

Wow man those really held up well. I know about those Safari headlights....my godfather has a 96' safari. the top of the lights have held up pretty good...but the bottom set are foggy as hell. We're trying to sell it right now, was thinking about maybe clearing them up to help the sale.

So you said that your technique has improved now that you have sorta mastered the learning curve of the process.

Could you describe step by step how you do it now and what you've changed since your first attempt at doing this process?

Great job and congrats on it holding up!

[feslope]

So you said that your technique has improved now that you have sorta mastered the learning curve of the process.

Could you describe step by step how you do it now and what you've changed since your first attempt at doing this process?

Great job and congrats on it holding up!

+1

[HotRod]

So you said that your technique has improved now that you have sorta mastered the learning curve of the process.

Could you describe step by step how you do it now and what you've changed since your first attempt at doing this process?

Great job and congrats on it holding up!

Well, I'm not really a master at this technique, but I think my skill level has improved just with the experience of multiple applications. I have fewer goof ups. It just takes time to get comfortable with the applications, if it looks bad wipe it off with the mineral spirits before it starts to bond and start over.

Wiping the headlight 'side to side' with your applicator, starting at the top and ending at the bottom of the light usually will give the best results to get the urethane to lay flat without any runs. And sometimes I go over the light once more with the applicator to help 'even' things out(without reloading the applicator).

I also have added different wet sanding grits, I use 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000. Its polished out with M105 and M205. Cleaned with alcohol to remove polishing residue, then I use my air compressor to blow any moisture around the headlight(if light is still attached to car) Then I seal it, let it cure in the sun, or turn brights on, or use heat gun. Then I watch the customers jaw hit the floor when they see how big of a difference I made with the restoration.

I also advise the customer to not drive the car on the highway for 24 hours to give it more time to cure, before it gets splattered with bugs. I am not for sure, but if it gets bug splattered right away before it has enough time to fully cure, it might etch into the urethane easier. So to be on the safe side, no highway driving for a period of time. Also pressure washing might not be good until it is fully cured and hardened.

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

Well, I'm not really a master at this technique, but I think my skill level has improved just with the experience of multiple applications. I have fewer goof ups. It just takes time to get comfortable with the applications, if it looks bad wipe it off with the mineral spirits before it starts to bond and start over.

Wiping the headlight 'side to side' with your applicator, starting at the top and ending at the bottom of the light usually will give the best results to get the urethane to lay flat without any runs. And sometimes I go over the light once more with the applicator to help 'even' things out(without reloading the applicator).

I also have added different wet sanding grits, I use 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000. Its polished out with M105 and M205. Cleaned with alcohol to remove polishing residue, then I use my air compressor to blow any moisture around the headlight(if light is still attached to car) Then I seal it, let it cure in the sun, or turn brights on, or use heat gun. Then I watch the customers jaw hit the floor when they see how big of a difference I made with the restoration.

I also advise the customer to not drive the car on the highway for 24 hours to give it more time to cure, before it gets splattered with bugs. I am not for sure, but if it gets bug splattered right away before it has enough time to fully cure, it might etch into the urethane easier. So to be on the safe side, no highway driving for a period of time. Also pressure washing might not be good until it is fully cured and hardened.

Sounds great man. So you really use all of those steps of sandpaper with every light? How long does it usually take you to do a set of lights...and what do you normally charge a customer for this service? It sure seems like a much higher service than the standard yellowing removal and polish.

[HotRod]

Sounds great man. So you really use all of those steps of sandpaper with every light? How long does it usually take you to do a set of lights...and what do you normally charge a customer for this service? It sure seems like a much higher service than the standard yellowing removal and polish.

Yeah, I usually use all those grits of sandpaper by hand. I need to switch over to wet sanding with a drill to speed things up a little. It usually takes me 1-2 hours to complete a restoration. In my area you can't get someone to pay more than $40-$50 per restoration even when you tell them how much a new set of lights will run. In other higher populated areas you could probably get $75 or more per set.

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

Yeah i was thinking of charging between 40-50 as well. I dont know that i'd do all those steps of sanding thou AND the sealant idea as well for that price.

Id have to test it out on some bad headlights and see how fast I could do it. Have you ever tried skipping the sanding and just going straight to compounding and maybe doing it twice...then polish...and then seal...or do you pretty much believe that all headlights that have yellowed need to be sanded?

[HotRod]

The headlights that I have done need to be sanded because the factory clear coat is failing and needs removed first, and sanding is the only way to do it. It would be easier to just buff the lights if they did not have the clear coat on them. But from my experience, the lights that I restore all have remnants of the old clear coat.

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

The headlights that I have done need to be sanded because the factory clear coat is failing and needs removed first, and sanding is the only way to do it. It would be easier to just buff the lights if they did not have the clear coat on them. But from my experience, the lights that I restore all have remnants of the old clear coat.

Ah ok, makes sense. I was wondering if you can reuse the sandpaper or is it only for 1 job and then toss it?

It sounds like your pretty fast at what you do, and since i do my work with my sis i'm sure we can knock it out in an hour once we get our process down. For $40-50 i think it would be worth it to the customer, especially if i can promise them its not going to just fade back to yellow in a few months.

[O.C.Detailing]

I charge $60 for headlight restorations. It's where you make the most hourly rate in detailing, at least for me it is. I usually knock out both headlights in 2 hours and that's $30/hr. for me here in Lynchburg. Detailing, I MAYBE make $10/hr. but the pay-off is SOOOO much better!