Headlight restoration

[HTSS_TR]

I'm a little confuse about "Synthetic Automotive Protectant" and "Synthetic cleaners and polishers", are they the same ?

Are Turtle Wax Ice, Meguires-NXT, Astro Shield, and Eagle One- Nano-Wax "Synthetic Automotive Protectant" ?

 

[ionbeam22]

They just mean a polish that isn't based on carnauba waxes or waxes in general. "Modern" synthetic polishes are based on various silicone waxes/resins/fluids and rely on reactive amino-silicones to crosslink the whole mess and chemically bond it to the paint.

Traditional waxes are based on waxes (usually Carnauba + Montan + Polyethylene), and rely on the waxes hydrophobic interactions to bond to the paint. One downside of waxes is that they have fairly low melting points, and thus the wax film can become soft at high temperatures.

I.e if you ever feel the warm hood of a waxed car, it will feel "greasy" due to the softened wax film.

The real test is if you put the polish on rubber trim. Rubber trim will soak up the solvents, but not absorb any waxes/abrasives in the formula.

 

[Vikas]

3M Kit has uniformly great reviews on Amazon.

Personally, I have used Meguiar's M105 Ultra Compound and the lights came out great looking. But mine were not yellowed and had only slight haze to begin with.

- Vikas

 

[es350]

Originally Posted By: sayjac
I did email tech support at CV after I did the restoration because I had a question. I thought it would be helpful to post his response for maintaining the CV#2 seal for a longer period. This was his response.

I would also recommend using a Synthetic Automotive Protectant. There are are more durable. They help shield against contaminants, UV rays and road film which all could fade or discolor your lens. Synthetic Automotive Protectants are available at all auto parts stores.

Just ask the store clerk, and he will direct you to the right product. Do not use a natural wax. These will melt at temperatures between 105-145F and your lenses exceed this every time you turn them on.

Examples would be Turtle Wax Ice, Meguires-NXT, Astro Shield, and Eagle One- Nano wax is Synthetic cleaners and polishers.

Hope that helps. And, their response was within a few hours.


Outside of the example, that is a carbon copy of the direction in the pkg.

In my eyes, If I need to use their kit and then add more, something is wrong. Again, they suck.

 

[2Fast4U]

The only real way to repair yellow headlights is to WET sand with multiple grades and polish until clear again. Any good products for removing the yellowing with do some form of this. Anything else you use is just wasting your time. I should know... I've spent a few years trying tons of different things. The BEST product I've found is NOVUS. This is a plastic polish. I use #3 heavy scratch remover and #2 fine scratch remover. These along with initial sanding when the headlights were yellow works great. I now only use the #3 and #2 above without sanding because I just never let the headlights get so bad.

This is the stuff. See if you have local plastics dealer that sells it.
http://www.novuspolish.com/

Pics of sanded polished headlights:
http://public.fotki.com/jaime302/cars/collections/z28/polished_headlight/

Check some old threads on this:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=594423&fpart=1
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...true#Post593766

 

[97tbird]

Originally Posted By: es350

In my eyes, If I need to use their kit and then add more, something is wrong. Again, they suck.


LOL; i don't work for CV, but what's your problem with them?
that email from CV (afaik) said to use those waxes or whatever afterward to MAINTAIN the results for a longer time, Not that you need them to restore the old headlights (that's how i understood it)...

btw, "they suck" ?
Look at the 2 pics below; i don't think they suck at all:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
LOL; i don't work for CV, but what's your problem with them?
that email from CV (afaik) said to use those waxes or whatever afterward to MAINTAIN the results for a longer time, Not that you need them to restore the old headlights (that's how i understood it)...
+1 EXACTLY...help MAINTAIN but not MANDATED! You have now entered a no spin zone. I had similar results to 97tbird with CV on an 01 Civic Coupe.

btw, nice pics of the Hyundai, nice results. Crystal View Headlight Restoration

 

[ionbeam22]

The deal is that the polycarbonate plastic is hard, and the layer of oxidation is thick. Hence for really bad lenses (e.g cataract like) you probably need a kit that uses a drill to provide power. There is no need for fancy kits per se.

If you don't mind working slowly, you can do pretty much all of it using some rubbing compound followed up by a polishing compound and/or plastic polish.

The advice the CV people are giving is fine, given that you have just polished the surface it would not be harmed by giving it some protection from a synthetic wax.

 

[es350]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird


LOL; i don't work for CV, but what's your problem with them?
that email from CV (afaik) said to use those waxes or whatever afterward to MAINTAIN the results for a longer time, Not that you need them to restore the old headlights (that's how i understood it)...


Problem is very easy there CS sucks and they are overpriced. What you did, you can do the same thing for less and better (did you miss that?????).......What a company fails at CS, they suck.

Plus did you READ what I posted. They do not honor there money back deal...Dude, read man.

suck #3, if I need to buy more stuff to make lights last longer,finish wise, there kits sucks...But you are on day 1 and need to buy more..Good luck

That is not a problem, but a poor biz practice...But hay, that is me.

 

[bustednutz]

Try the 3M kit. we use the professional version of it at work. Its great.

 

[97tbird]

Originally Posted By: es350

Problem is very easy there CS sucks and they are overpriced. What you did, you can do the same thing for less and better (did you miss that?????).......What a company fails at CS, they suck.

Plus did you READ what I posted. They do not honor there money back deal...Dude, read man.

suck #3, if I need to buy more stuff to make lights last longer,finish wise, there kits sucks...But you are on day 1 and need to buy more..Good luck



1) i could not do the same thing better, even for more money; which product are you recommending? (3M sucked)

2) I don't WANT my money back: DID YOU LOOK AT THE PICS I POSTED? why would i want my money back?>

3) almost any finish needs maintaining, and I didn't really need it anyway; the finish has lasted an year already, and only 10% worse than it looked when i did it last yr; i am fine with that for $20.00

 

[ionbeam22]

How about you guys take this to PM?

 

[Propflux01]

I used CD scratch remover on mine. Then buffed it off with a microfiber cloth I had "retrofitted" to my cordless drill. Worked excellent

 

[Fordiesel69]

Originally Posted By: Brett Miller
The headlights on my 2001 Jeep have really turned yellow....purchased a Permatex restoration kit which involved hand-sanding and while they are better, it really didn't do the job. I found a 3M kit which uses a drill-mounted arbor and various abrasives. Has anyone tried the 3M kit or another kit with good results?


You have NOT sanded the UV layer off yet. If you did, it would be able to shine.

You need to do the following:

Westand with 800 grit for 10-15 minutes each. This will remoove the damaged uv layer.
Wetsand with 1000 unit 800 grit scrtches are gone (5 min)
Wetsand again with 1500.
Wetsand again with 2000.

Then using a 3-4 inch foam buffer pad on a rotary NOT ORBITAL buffer, buff with ultra light pressure. Let the rubbing compound and machine do the work. You want to use such light pressure you may have to do it twice. They will shine like brand new.

Check out my album: Starts at page 2.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563660539UGRKZg?start=12

 

[Brett Miller]

My local Advance Auto didn't have the 3M kit on 2 separate trips so I went to Pep Boys and purchased a Meguier's kit. In conjunction witn some Novus #2 polish I had, the headlights are looking great with about 15 minutes work.

 

[froggy81500]

Originally Posted By: Fordiesel69
Originally Posted By: Brett Miller
The headlights on my 2001 Jeep have really turned yellow....purchased a Permatex restoration kit which involved hand-sanding and while they are better, it really didn't do the job. I found a 3M kit which uses a drill-mounted arbor and various abrasives. Has anyone tried the 3M kit or another kit with good results?


You have NOT sanded the UV layer off yet. If you did, it would be able to shine.

You need to do the following:

Westand with 800 grit for 10-15 minutes each. This will remoove the damaged uv layer.
Wetsand with 1000 unit 800 grit scrtches are gone (5 min)
Wetsand again with 1500.
Wetsand again with 2000.

Then using a 3-4 inch foam buffer pad on a rotary NOT ORBITAL buffer, buff with ultra light pressure. Let the rubbing compound and machine do the work. You want to use such light pressure you may have to do it twice. They will shine like brand new.

Check out my album: Starts at page 2.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563660539UGRKZg?start=12


I haven't used lower than 1500 grit personally, but I've never let mine get too bad either. PlastX from Meguiar's is also good for light cleaning and usually its what I would do after wet sanding as a final step before cleaning mine off with water.

the important thing when using the sandpaper is to keep it wet, otherwise you'll end up leaving more scratches, which I accidently did once.

 

[Mustang_Cougar]

I've used the 3M product recently and it does a pretty nice job with minimal effort. There is no per se "sealant" like you get with the Crystal View kit, but I'm not sure it's needed if you apply a nano wax on a regular basis.

One thing to pay attention to though is the headlight alignment nipples (not sure if that's the correct Latin); they make it somewhat difficult to sand and polish the lens using a drill. The headlights on my Ranger have three of these and they are about a centimeter long. As a result, they tended to get scuffed and added excess plastic to the sanding and buffing pads. Not a big deal, but in hindsight I would have skipped the drill and just sanded by hand. All in all though, it still came out really nice.

Also, the 3M kit gives you 1oz of the buffing compound...which is enough for several headlights. I bet using it once a year (w/their foam buffing pad) would maintain the clarity for many years.

 

[97tbird]

those of you who did not post pics of your results with 3M, Novus etc:
Can we have some pics to see how well they turned out ?
i want to compare it to my results with CS.

Thanks.

 

[moklock]

The BG distributor around here carries a kit that does pretty well and includes a sealant.

 

[occupant]

I would also like to see results from the other brands. I am willing to spend $220 plus shipping to replace the headlights on my wife's Durango because they are horrible, but if I can spend $10-$40 and clean the ones I have, it would be more economical to do so.

I already have 800-1000-1500 grit sandpapers.

Possibly a STUPID question, but would 00, 000, or 0000 steel wool be of any help on plastic lights?