This is my mothers vehicle, I have been telling her I would clean up the headlights for some time now. Every now and then I would polish them by hand or dual action with some compound but the old yellowed and failing clear coat was always left behind, the most that would do is add a little shine. I got some 1500 grit sand paper and wet sanded them both, this was time consuming and tiring but worth the effort. The idea is to sand all the factory clear coat off leaving behind a clean plastic surface to work with. Once the headlights were wet sanded I used Meguairs Ultimate Compound followed by Meguiars Ultimate Polish, with a couple of rubbing alcohol wipe downs in between. I then sprayed UV resistant clear coat on which left the headlights very hazy and rough feeling, I could have polished down the rough texture but they were so hazy! I ended up sanding it off then re-polishing/compounding. I ended up topping the headlights with Meguiars Gold Class liquid which is a mix of carnauba / synthetic "waxes". Yes, I know that won't last long at all from a protection standpoint, so I will keep the lights touched up until I can get something more permanent on them. Anyway, here are some pics...huge transformation! They aren't perfect, but they are much much improved.
What I began with...
After wet sanding with 1500 grit. This leaves the lights smooth to the touch but very hazy...
After compound then polish with dual action...
Then applied the wax...
Before and after. Wow, what a difference!
Keep in mind, if you skip the wet sanding and go straight to the compound/polish step you will only marginally shine up the yellow and hazy clear coat. They will only look slightly better and will quickly become yellow and oxidized again. You MUST sand away the "dead" clear coat then polish to bring them back to clarity.
What I began with...
After wet sanding with 1500 grit. This leaves the lights smooth to the touch but very hazy...
After compound then polish with dual action...
Then applied the wax...
Before and after. Wow, what a difference!
Keep in mind, if you skip the wet sanding and go straight to the compound/polish step you will only marginally shine up the yellow and hazy clear coat. They will only look slightly better and will quickly become yellow and oxidized again. You MUST sand away the "dead" clear coat then polish to bring them back to clarity.
