ChineseGuyinthe415

Hey guys so after reading some of your posts and viewing some Youtube videos on properly restoring headlights, I decided to do this myself. My headlights were totally nasty with haze and just looked like crap and when I see my sister drive it down the road, it doesn't look too good with the lights on . I'll show you step-by-step on what I did and I hope you all can find this useful! Enjoy!!

Some of the materials you will need:
1. Wide masking tape. You can use those painters tape or the 3M tape if you're anal. I just bought some from Inchiban-Kan (dollar store) and it worked just fine
2. Microfiber towel
3. Sponge
4. 3M Wet sandpaper (800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit)
5. Bucket with a little car soap and water
6. Meguiars PlaxtX with buffer pad
7. Ipod nano to keep jammin' while working (Actually I used this as a timer)
And now the process on how everything goes + pictures to follow :
1. Tape off the paint around your headlight so when you're wet sanding, you won't risk damaging your paint

Passenger headlight. Look at that nasty haze


Driver headlight


2. Lay out the sand paper that you need and you can pre-soak your first sheet, the 800 grit, in the bucket of soapy water for the meantime while you wet down the headlight with the sponge.



3. The process that I used was just how Mr. Miyagi would put it; use "Up, down, and side to side" motions. NOTE: DO NOT sand in CIRCLES. Each sanding step should take around 3-5 minutes i.e. I finish sanding when a song on my nano stops and move on. I just had the sand paper in one hand and the sponge in the other to drip water as I was sanding.

So this is the results of the 800 grit. When you're sanding and you see a milky film, you know it's working! Great job! Don't worry about that haze, it will go away in the end when you buff it out!


4. After you finish sanding with the 800 grit, WIPE DOWN THE HEADLIGHT with the wet sponge. This will eliminate all the grim from sanding and pre-soak the 1000 grit and do the same process....up, down, side-to-side, and stop after 3-5 minutes. Start jammin' that Ipod again

Results of the 1000 grit


5. After you're done, again, wipe down the headlight with a wet sponge. Pre-soak the 1500 grit and go at it again!

Results of the 1500 grit


6. Last sanding step! And don't forget your other headlight too haha. Wipe down the headlight, pre-soak the 2000 grit and this will be the last time......for 1 headlight heh.

Results of the 2000 grit. Notice how that haze from earlier is gone?


7. Now the buffing portion! Wipe down the wet headlight first. I used Meguiars PlastX and a buffing pad. I really wished I had a plug in or battery operated buffer because I think it would do a hell of a job better but elbow grease sufficed . Apply a nickel size drop of PlastX onto the pad and start buffing in sections and with circle motions now. Now you can use Mr. Miyagi's "wax on, wax off method"

When you're done, wipe down the headlight with the microfiber towel and ooh la la, check out your beautiful work!

Here's how it should look!










And some before pictures:










Any feedback with improvements or whatnot is appreciated thanks!

Aman

I really need this on my driver's headlight.

I heard that it strips the UV protection coating off your headlamps though? Do you know if this is true or not? I read just applying some wax once a month and you won't have a problem.

Was it rough to the touch before you started? Or did it just look hazy? My headlights are basically a bunch of rough scratches that give the hazy look.

Great job!

ChineseGuyinthe415

As for the question on the UV coating, I'm not too sure about that. I've asked about that before and I'm wondering if I should've used some sort of polish/wax on it. But as far as the roughness, yes it was pretty bad. When I ran my hand across the headlights, it felt harsh and sandy I would say?

After all the sanding and buffing, it should feel just like new glass. Extremely smooth and clean!

All that hard work definitely gave me more of an appreciation for people who does a lot of DIY

SPoolinspOON

iTrader: (5)

just run over a sealant.. should last a bit of time. You will need to keep layering the sealant every few months to keep it looking good. If you don't have any type of sealant, wax will work but will not last as long.

Nersh7

looks good dude

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

I tried. Complete mess. I just replaced the headlight.

zeta

iTrader: (1)

Nice write up!

I've been using PlastX for years and I caught mine oxidizing way early; however, the pattern on yours (oxidation) looked very similar to mine initially.

I just applied the PlastX on in sections, buffed and it cleared the oxidation up without the need for the staggard sanding.

The sun down here in FL really tears up the plastic on these quick.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Nice writeup. Using a PC on the lights is much easier too

ChineseGuyinthe415

thanks for the comments guys. As for fuzzy, it's more of just being confident and keep sanding with the paper. I think it just scares people when they wipe away the first layer, i.e. the 800 grit, and even I was like oh damn, did I mess up the headlight? Just keep going up, down, side-to-side evenly and just buff it out real good at the end.

Like I said, I didn't have a power buffer so I think that was a pretty good job for just elbow grease. I don't want anyone to be spending all that money for new headlights and whatnot. We're all trying to save money these days right?

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

No I didn't have any problem sanding. As I said I made a mess. I used a buffer & the paste from sanding & the plastic x went everywhere all over the engine & bumper grill hood. Took hours to clean up. The headlight looked great for about a week & then started to haze again. FL sun doesn't like non UV protected parts.

03tlCHARCOL

iTrader: (3)

Nice write up, but I also have the same concern of sanding taking off the UV protection of the lights. Because of that I just use Plastix with my buffer and it gets the same results without the sanding but the haze comes back after a few months.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Nice write-up!

Aman

I talked to a detailer the other day, and he said that if you just polished it ridiculously with a PC you should be good. Would that avoid stripping the UV coat?

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

If your lights are foggy/oxidized, the UV coat is gone.

Wetsand + polish + sealant every few months = clean headlights.

jptl04

iTrader: (1)

Nice post!

ChineseGuyinthe415

yea thanks guys. I'm just trying to help out the guys who don't have the money or don't want to spend the money for someone to do simple fixes

Tosh1

once it starts doing the haze parts of the coating for the UV is already gone..... whats it matter at that point?

Just do this apply a nice wax over the finished headlight and even a sealant and you should be good for 4-6 months depending on where u live...

Good write up..

I did mine the quick way and just used Maguiers headlight restore kit with powerball. It wasn't as smooth at the end, but did the job almost as good.

YeuEmMaiMai

if you are going to recoat your headlights with UV I would STRONGLY recommend that you remove them and put them a oven ater you spray them to cure them

rkmj

I did the same thing on mine, although they were also a bit yellowed. I just used Meguiar's Plastx and a Mother's Powerball on the end of a Drill. It took about 5 applications per light but they look brand new and I didn't have to use the sandpaper. i was just a bit wary of ruining the lights, so I decided to err on the side of caution. It worked out extremely well for me. I'll probably post some pics later.

victypes

Mine are hazy due to driving on highway and like others said rough to touch and i use same product but if it rains or car is washed its all gone and lights are hazy again.. which is frustrating why couldnt they use better quality product for these cars, I see on 05 camerys have worst plastic it gets hazy just after few months of highway driving, may be new TL 4th gen are better design and are not damaged easy for being small.
any way is there a way to make the plasx thing last longer??

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

You have to seal them afterwards. You should really look into clearcoating them though. Theres a DIY here for it. Posted by SpoolinspooN.

And the UV coating on the plastic wears off over time. I think the worst offenders are G35s. Most of them that I see around here are very hazy.

BTW, havent seen you around at all. Do you go to any meets?

victypes

you know i really thought about clear coat or a tint as i had both at home but wasnt sure if either was good idea but i will def. look into more info about clearcoat gota find that DIY.
G35's are real bad yes but the haze they haave is more like yellowish that i have seen on mos which looks worst but not scratchey haze like CL's its bad either way.
nope i did not go to any meets and yeah have been little busy for past couple months but thanks for asking,
i need to come here more often so i can find out about meets and will do

janakfb

I just got a drill and 3M rubbing whatever (sorry forgot the name) and just pressed against the headlights. Mine were way worse than yours (ChineseGuyinthe415) however I got them clear as crystal by just those 2 items and at least 5 min for both lids. I also did the fog lights give or take a good 2 min extra but it was that simple. Just my

A lil' off topic but now I'm going to try to install Blue LED lights. Will take pics but since I'm new here I'm force to be on restriction. :shakehead

I also have pics before I buffed it out. However I will have after pics up... after 15 days.. lol