Cleaned the headlights

[asiancivicmaniac]

This is my mother's car. She let's my sister and I drive it when we want so it's my turn to have it for a while and the headlights were bugging me. They were polished with a DA polisher in the past, but they're hazy again.

Cleaned it with Menzerna Intensive Polish, Ultima Paint Prep Plus, and topped with Ultima Paint Guard Plus. Don't have my DA polisher with me so I had to do it by hand. Bug guts etched some areas of it (stupid love bugs). It's not a dramatic difference, but it's good enough for now. There's still a tint to the lens, but I don't know if it's supposed to be like that since we didn't get it new. The rest of the car needs a wash, but it has been raining so much that there's no point. Thanks for looking.

Pics:

I don't know why, but for HID projectors, the color of these lights are a bit warm. The reflector ones on my Max are cooler, and they're both factory so I'm guessing 4300k temp range.

 

[SatinSilver]

Looks good. Time to do the rest of the paint. Looks like it could use a little work. But use the polisher on it and take some after pictures if you can. With the products you just mentioned the paint will look so much better. Thanks!

 

[OriginHacker21]

Very impressive! I always thought that stuff was on the inside of the headlight so I never bothered to try to clean it (other than scrub on it a bit when washing) on my old Sunfire.

Thanks for the info.

 

[dparm]

Nice improvement for not wetsanding.

 

[BISCUT]

BUT how long will it last? Not beating on you but these products seem to not last long. I used a polish (I can't remember the name) from a friend who owns a high quality autobody shop. Was amazing for about 30-60 days then degraded. He pays about $30 for a 20oz jug IIRC.

 

[97tbird]

Nice improvement, but like already stated, without sealing it properly with a UV surface protectant or selant, it won't last long.

I think the 3M kit now includes a surface sealant/protectant.
OR you can just use a sealant like Opti seal or black fire Crystal seal?

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Thanks for the comments

Quote:
Time to do the rest of the paint. Looks like it could use a little work. But use the polisher on it and take some after pictures if you can. With the products you just mentioned the paint will look so much better.


It will be a while before that happens. Between temps in the 90s and 90-100% humidity and guaranteed afternoon rains, I'm not in a hurry.

Quote:
Nice improvement for not wetsanding.


There's a car in the family that desperately needs it, but my sister drives it so I'm not too concerned about that one.

Quote:
BUT how long will it last? Not beating on you but these products seem to not last long. I used a polish (I can't remember the name) from a friend who owns a high quality autobody shop. Was amazing for about 30-60 days then degraded. He pays about $30 for a 20oz jug IIRC.


The before pictures showed what it looks like after six months and that was without reapplication of the wax. It didn't look all that terrible, just had a yellow tinge to it. I already had all the products for other purposes so the cost was $0. I wouldn't have paid $20 for a specialty product since car polish works.

It took ~5 minutes/side side by hand so I wouldn't mind redoing it when it needs it. Key is to not let it get so bad that it looks like it's forming a crust.

Quote:
Nice improvement, but like already stated, without sealing it properly with a UV surface protectant or selant, it won't last long.

I think the 3M kit now includes a surface sealant/protectant.
OR you can just use a sealant like Opti seal or black fire Crystal seal?


I used UPGP , which was one of the first wowa products to come to market. It came the same time as the first version of Optiseal. I'm going to try putting several coats on over this weeks time to see how long it will hold up. I know it holds up well on paint, but it needs a few coats.

 

[The Critic]

Perhaps after you improve the clarity with a DA polisher, you could opti-coat the headlights for a more permanent protection?

 

[RTexasF]

Quote:
I used UPGP , which was one of the first wowa products to come to market. It came the same time as the first version of Optiseal. I'm going to try putting several coats on over this weeks time to see how long it will hold up. I know it holds up well on paint, but it needs a few coats.


Still an awesome product. Three coats on that silver will turn it to candy apple silver. That's assuming the correct preparation of course.

 

[k24a4]

That does look good.

Make sure you show your Mom the before and after pics to earn a few brownie points.