Hey guys, so I painted my rims the other day, and had some left over 6 and 8 hundred grit sand paper so i decided what the hell I might as well wetsand my lights.

washed them with soap and water and what not and went at it with 600 then 800.

one of them looks great, the other one does too but i ran into a problem.

silly me gave one (literally one) pas of the 600 without water and not it looks like it is scratched

the rest of the light is clear as day but this section looks like it has condensation in it but it isn't it's just roughed up lens...

it wouldn't be an issue, but it is smack dab in the center

would the mother headlight restore with the power ball buff that out? I really don't want to hear i'm fucked...

thanks!

 

the headlight restore most likely wont buff that out. use a heavy duty rubbing compound. but did you continue wet sanding the lens with the 600 after you scratched it? otherwise keep going with the 600 wet and see if the scratches start to disappear.
also if you could get a picture it could help us help you.

 

^it's dark now but I will take a pic.

yes I did wetsand it after, it was a boneheaded move I know.

The scratches seemed to go away and most of it did but there still is a teeny bit.

once It was cleaned off I used some car wash (rain-x wash and wax) and gave them a good scrubbing which made them look very nice but a couple hours later I noticed some white film forming on the lights. It came off easy enough but I'm just worried now because I don't want to have to get another headlamp housing I just want them to be clean and clear and under control!

 

Get some Mcguires rubbing compound. I did both my headlights with it and it removed haze and scratches. Rub it in hard, then seal it with some wax. Just repeat the process every month or so. Mine has looked great for months now.

 

continue with 800 and keep going up (1000,1500,2000) then rubbing compound and finish with a good polish. a mothers powerball works great.

 

thx!

i figured they weren't permanent, but since it's the first i've done then i wanted to be sure

 

thats the trick- keep polishing with lower number 400-600 until it looks worse, then it gets better as you get above 1500 step up by step up

keep the paper wet and shake it in the bucket of water to get crud off it frequently
A soft wet-sanding block to wrap the paper around may work better at keeping even surface contact

Or: powerball or similar on a drill, metal or plastic polish and have at it for 10 minutes

 

^thanks!

yeah I'll do that today...

the one doesn't look bad at all, it's really really clear. the other one not so much. The main problem is the condensation now. I'll wash the bad boy 100 times but every time I dry the lights, with shop towels and a microfiber shammy, 10 minutes later they'll be completely white again! It's like a little film, I can wipe it with my hand but then it'll come back and if I wipe it with a dry paper towel it just smears... >:-/

 

You have to polish after wetsanding. Whether you did it wet or dry doesnt really matter. The water just lubs the paper to make it work better and last longer due to how fine it is. Get yourself some 1000-1200 and finish them off with that, then get a polish kit and polish them.

 

oh ok lol, yeah i guess that makes sense

 

its like doing the car --cleaners and different grits to remove swirls and marks,
then finer grit 1500-1800 to remove marks left from the polishing work,
and finally a WAX

pure synthetic car wax can be used on plastic parts to protect them, has 100 degree F higher melt point than carnuba wax--use it on your rims too!
read label to see if ok

 

sand
polish with liquidy compound
wash and dry
wax