Honda Accord Headlight Restoration

[Shane731]

Well, we had a customer come into the Honda dealership where I work for some service work, and she asked if we could do anything about her headlights. Usually when there is a question about something detail related, I'm the one that people come to, so naturally, I was asked to fix her headlights. Her car was at the dealer for a couple of days, so I had the chance to look at the headlights before doing the work. Now, the only real "headlight kit" I have is the Meguiar's consumer headlight kit, and I knew after seeing these headlights that it would take more than PlastX to correct them. Ahhh, what to do?! Time to do a little experimenting. I don't know if anybody has done this yet or not, but I used M105 with a 3 inch microfiber DA cutting pad to clear up the oxidation. Perfect! I sealed them afterwards with Rejex. Have a look!



Passenger side before


driver's side before


passenger side after M105 with 3 inch microfiber cutting pad on G110v2 speed 4


50/50


driver side after


both sides done



They turned out very well. I was quite impressed. I think I could have given the passenger side headlight probably 2 more passes, but it was OK. Only took about 25 minutes to correct and seal both headlights, including the time it took me to go to the mechanic's area to use compressed air to blow off the pad (we don't have compressed air in the detail area). I don't think the customer has come to pick up her car as of yet, but I'm sure she will be very pleased with it. Thanks for looking!

[Marc08EX]

That's a great turn around Shane! You didn't wetsand the surface at all? I'm surprised it actually made it clear without wetsanding. I've always thought that wetsanding is required in headlight restorations..

[Shane731]

That's a great turn around Shane! You didn't wetsand the surface at all? I'm surprised it actually made it clear without wetsanding. I've always thought that wetsanding is required in headlight restorations..

Nope. Didn't wetsand at all. This was probably the easiest headlight restoration I've ever done. Gotta give Meguiar's props for sure.


Note to add: surprisingly, M105 didn't dust at all. I mean at all! It was amazing. It was like playing with M205 instead. It didn't dry out at all, and removal was an absolute breeze. I think I've found my new best friend(s) for headlight restorations!

[Setec Astronomy]

You need to ask for an air line over there! I'm going to keep those 3" discs in mind for a future order. Just out of curiosity, how are they going to charge her for the headlight restore? Flat rate, time and materials? Just thinking you might be able to leverage this into you getting a promotion, a raise, and/or some more equipment in the detail area. Maybe the dealership could start offering a flat-rate headlight correction service while cars are in for mechanical service. Maybe seal them with Opti-Coat to make it semi-permanent. Would be a money-maker for them, and maybe good for you (I know, this is asking for the impossible for a dealer to do something win-win). Was this just a whim? Would they usually have just replaced the headlights, but this woman didn't want to pay for that and asked for another option?

[Shane731]

bump