Headlight restoration

I'm looking for some tips and tricks on headlight restoration. I picked up the sylvania kit, worked well until I got to the coating part, didn't realize it flashed so quickly and missed a few spots and your natural instinct is to go over it. Not what you do... Left streaks that you can get out. Now I have to re-sand them and coat. I picked up the megs spray clear coat this time. The sylvania kit came with 1k and 2k sand paper, I have plenty of that, even 3k. Should I go as fine as 3k? And I'm curious once you apply the clear, once it cures, if you can apply a ceramic or graphene coating to it for prolonged longevity?

 

Yes, 3k will be even better. Headlight rsroraisnt hard...just takes time and patience.

 

I believe I used up to 3k when I did it a couple of years ago. Finished off with an all in one compound and a DA.
By the way, Cerakote has a headlight coating that I’d like to see in action. Their trim restorer is amazing, so I bet this is good stuff as well.

$17 CERAKOTE® Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit – Guaranteed To Last As Long As You Own Your Vehicle – Brings Headlights back to Like New Condition - 3 Easy Steps - No Power Tools Required

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084RQKLV8/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_f02CFbJZ514P6

 

I think I'll be doing my buddies headlights on his G37 with this kit in a week or so. I'll keep you posted.

 

I used the Sylvania system and it worked great. Your right about the clear though. You get one shot at getting it coated fully with swiping the cloth across the headlight. Luckily I missed only a little spot and was able to go over it with minimal streaking.

I would just sand it again with the 2k and try the clear coat again. Mine looks brand new now and has been that way for months.

 

Project farm you tube channel has a video comparing and testing trim restorers. Cerakote won hands down. It made the trim look brand new and held up to his tests. Plan to get some soon.

 

I used white toothpaste on my old Sienna....but I'm cheap.

 

Ordered

 

I’ve had fantastic results with 3M kit. Follow the instructions take your time and you will get amazing results.
Before Restoration

After, turned out sweet!

 

Finally got the right conditions to use the Cerakote today. Not too hard, I have a slight bit of carpal tunnel so the sanding kind of sucked. Good results, I'll report back in a lifetime as to their guarantee. No before pics.

 

Did this go as planned? Just bought the kit and will be doing my own light housings soon

 

i used a 15yr old tin of aluminum polish and a princess auto orbital polisher. I am cheap as well.

 

Well, couldn’t wait for the restore kit to arrive lol. I spent an hour this morning with a cloth and a bottle of Meguiar’s PlasticX making little circle motions on my headlights. Here are the results.

 

I’ve done the clearcoat method after wet sanding and just wasn’t that impressed with my work LOL. Haven’t tried the Sylvania kit. I just spend some quality time with different grits of sandpaper and polishes of different stages. I’m sure clearcoat helps keep them shiny for a longer period of time, but eventually you will have to sand that off and clear them again. So for now, every time I wash my vehicles I hit them with Maguires plastiX and it always brings them back, as long as you have a fairly decent headlight to begin with. Just some minor yellowing in between washes. That’s my method to my madness.

 

I probably should have sanded mine. I have multiple sheets of 1000-2500 grit from another recent project that would probably do better than just the polish. Maybe next time I’m bored I’ll tackle that, but for now, my lenses are clearer than they have been since before I purchased the truck, and I’m happy with that