Restoring headlights
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plastic only. i dont believe there is much of a problem with glass yellowing plus i dont think there are too many vehicles on the road or being produced with glass anymore. my 97 cherokee and thats about it!
Exactly. And I am not sure that you would get good adhesion either.
[quote]I use equal parts marine grade spar varnish and mineral spirits. Wipe on with a lint free towel. Looks great and lasts.[/quote]
Post some pics! this sounds interesting!
I have been using Micro mesh on the ones I do start at 600 and work all the way up to 8000 then do a Final polish with Plastic sealer/polish and cheesecloth makes em look new and lasts.
I use the stuff at work refinishing Aircraft Cockpit windows occasionally.
I like the idea of clear coating them though I think that would last a lot longer than just polishing the plastic.
http://micro-surface.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=272_1
i think the type/quality of the coatings on headlights vary. This makes sense
as the paint quality varies with different manufacturers.Micro-Surface makes excellent wool pads.
So if I want to clear the headlights from my 2002 530i, all I have to do is sand with 800 grit, clean with plastic cleaner, and clear.
I was thinking about using Nason Glamor clear to do this, it is to mixed with reducer. (3:1:10% I think?).
Either way wouldn’t the solvent from clear (any clear) react with the plastic lens?
Reason I ask is because there was this customer who used brake parts cleaner ( :S ) on his headlights and it kinda melted the plastic lens! Wouldn’t the solvents from clear do this?[b]zarbat007 wrote:[/b]
[quote]So if I want to clear the headlights from my 2002 530i, all I have to do is sand with 800 grit, clean with plastic cleaner, and clear.I was thinking about using Nason Glamor clear to do this, it is to mixed with reducer. (3:1:10% I think?).
Either way wouldn’t the solvent from clear (any clear) react with the plastic lens?
Reason I ask is because there was this customer who used brake parts cleaner ( :S ) on his headlights and it kinda melted the plastic lens! Wouldn’t the solvents from clear do this?[/quote]They will be fine, just sand them and clear them. I couldn’t count how many sets of H/L’s and T/L’s I have cleard. No problem with any of them.
break clean really shouldnt have hurt the headlights. now if he used carb cleaner then it could have softened the plastic some.
I remember the time my father gabbed some carb cleaner to clean the phone off. couldnt figure out why the buttons started sticking :wak :wak :wakdone myne today have a look
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[IMG]http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l342/big_G_essex/180820101161.jpg[/IMG]This stuff works like a charm! AND its CLEAR!
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I tried to clear a headlight from a Kia that is to be scrapped, but
it looks like some sort of reaction happened. No clue what caused it.Here is what I did:
Cleaned the headlight with SEM plastic cleaner, sanded with 800 grit.
Sprayed U-POL #1 clear (spray can clear- it was just a test so I used this clear).
Waited 10 mins, sprayed another coat.From 6 feet, it looks great. But when you look closely at headlight, you’ll see some sort of reaction. I see random straight lines and a few that look like cracks.
But the clear is [b]not[/b][u][/u] wrinkled or lifting.Any ideas? :blink:
can’t use a heavy solvent such as lacquer on that type of plastic or it will crack/react with the surface …. found that out years ago while painting helmets :pcorn:
i no what it is to many coats of product!!
its what i done it happened to myne, i sanded it off and no adhesion promoter just clear i used max meyer 0200, i spray 1 dust coat let it flash off then 1 wet coat job done no cracks no reaction sweet!!Don’t think its applying too many of the product.
They started appearing after first coat and the spray can doesn’t spray it heavy.
Like stone suggested, might be solvents in clear. I’m so not going to clear the BMW headlights until I figure this out. They are close to $500 each! :chair
Here is the clear I used. I’ve had it for 2 years now:
http://www.u-pol.com/product-cat/118/clear%231%E2%84%A2-high-gloss-clear-coat.htm
http://www.u-pol.com/datasheets/tds/CLEAR1-TDS-US.pdfPS: I searched “meyer 0200” and looks like its mostly sold in UK, and its urethane clear coat, not the same as the spray can stuff.
it could be the sand scratches comeing back through. if you can clean one of them off, try sanding over the 800 with 1000. and then reclear them.
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