So a while back when I was black housing my headlights, I was cleaning up the lens' real good from the inside, as they had sticky sealant on them. I got them clean for the most part, but for some stupid reason, I figured the rough side of a sponge would be a good idea to clean the inside of the lens with on the passenger side, and when I finally put it all together I noticed it was scratched, pretty bad. I'm looking to see if I can open them up again, and possibly wet sand the insides and buff with the right products. I'm not too sure if it can fixed, but figure it's worth a shot, and need to know how I should go about it...

It's $120 for a new light, which is what I'm gonna end up doing if it can't be fixed, but if I can fix it with $15 worth of stuff, it would be a lot better.

Here's probably the best picture I have of it:



It's the passenger side. I just got a new hood, and it was resprayed, along with a new drivers side headlight, and resprayed bumper as someone backed into me not too long ago. I'm gonna need to open up the drivers side headlight anyway to re-black house, so it's only logical to fix the passenger side as well.

If you guys got any ideas on how I should go about it lemme know. And I know nothing about wet sanding or wash/wax lingo really so be detailed please lol.

 

By the sound of it you can get to the inside of the lens. Why not just try the wetsanding with some 2000/2500G paper, then apply some plastic polish to remove the hazing? (You may need something more aggressive but its not like I can actually see what your up against).
On another note, Im currently in talks with a company who is big on drill attached sanding wheels and polishes for this exact reason. Hope to have something on board in short order.....

 

Here is what i did

1500 grit wet sand paper
2000 grit wet sand paper
2500 grit wet sand paper (if you can find, but def help alot)
meguiar's scratch-x
2xmicrofiber towels (buy new ones, dont use old ones)
application pads (for applying meguiars scratch-x and to buff by hand)
a good wax to clean everything up. (mothers maybe)



1.open up the headlight
2. buy 1500 grit wetsand and also 2000 grit and if possible 2500 grit.
3. cut the sand paper into small pieces (3 x 2 inches shoukld be good to work in your headlight)
3. throw the wet sand paper into the bucket of water and let it soak for 10 mins.
4. now use 1500 grit to sand down the inside of the light, make sure you use one motion meaning up and down. then once you are done with that you go side to side.. its like crosshatching. make sure you have water inside the lense (im sure the lense will hold water like a bowl so its easier for you to do without having water run on it)
5. repeat step 4 but with 2000 grit and 2500 grit. the key is to have water on the spot at all times (change water every time you change grit)
6. now once you have that all wet-sanded down it will look hazzy and dull. hit it with some meguiar's scratch-x with a application pad and buff by hand inside the light. work in small areas at a time meaning do left side then do middle then do right.
7. do this process till it gets to your satisfaction. once done, wipe with microfiber towel to get any left over liquids.
8. lay some wax inside that headlight, use other side of application pad to lay this wax on there (never re-use a pad with different chemical on there, always flip or use new one)
9. buff by hand, same process work in small areas.
10. shine a light at it to see if you missed any spots.. once done put it all back together and your good to go.

this process wont make it completely brand new but it will bring it up to 95% new.


ofcourse i did this on the outside of my headlight so i dont know if its different for the inside.

this is all Over-the-counter products so yea, it should be easy..