Help me, DB - I'm no good with headlights!

This is pretty frustrating. :shead: I've been working on some long overdue detailing on the S2000. Among the things I've tackled are the headlights. I'm having clear film put on them next weekend, so they need to be perfect. The car is a garage queen, so they weren't cloudy, they were just sandblasted. So, I wet sanded them, first with 1500, then 2000. When they were nice and smooth, I got out the Makita, a green Uber 4" pad, and some Menz. Power Finish. , lowish RPM, no more than 1250. They looked good. I then followed up with some 85RD on a black LC pad, similar speed. Better still.

So, all is well, right? Not so much. Upon closer inspection, under the correct light, I was greeted with this:



Ugh. :thud:

Repeated attempts to polish the remaining scratches out of them have gotten me nowhere. I went up as aggressive as a yellow Uber pad and some Menz. Power Gloss compound. This made them worse. I can get them back to the above state, but no better.

What could be wrong? I think this is the first set of headlights I've done with perfectly clear outer lenses. Can you guys help?

Thanks!

 

i just did my tail lights the other night and 106fa on a white LC pad via porter cable on speed 5 worked perfect. i even had my brother who is learning do them

i think the problem in your case is that you might be going too aggressive

 

What was the speed you where running it at? Too much heat makes some plastics too soft. I never used paint polish when I did lights, just plastic polish on a orange and white pad and did it with a DA.

Did you have that texture before polishing? Or are we looking at the fine scratches, ha.

 

Dave & norcal bob usually use DA's on clear film I think it gives them better results maybe they can provide more info

By no means am I a polishing expert LOL

 

Agree on the aggressive, plastic may not like aggressive polishes as it scratches easy and done not "polish" like paint does really.

Just try and use 106FA on a uber green and see what happens, use low speed if you do not have a DA, or if you really cant get it let me know I let you borrow mine.

 

Thanks guys, this is a big help. :thumb: OK, since the DA topic came up - I only just recently started doing headlights with the rotary. I've still got a PC. Last headlights I did with the rotary had those lenses that aren't really perfectly clear, sort of fluted if you will, and I guess I just didn't see the scratches. That's a little embarrassing. :sorry:

Another thing - I think I overestimated how fast I was running the rotary. Probably right at 1000. Still though, clearly too aggressive.

Thanks. I guess I'll go back to doing them with a PC. I even had the stupid thing out on the workbench for something different.

You're looking at the scratches. The texture is another mystery. It's been there forever, and is the main reason I wet sanded them; I'm trying to make these lenses as close to perfect as I can make them before putting the film on. I'm rather surprised that the texture didn't get better with the sanding, but obviously, it didn't. I kind of figured that since sanding didn't fix it, maybe I'm stuck with it.

Just one minor clarification to my original post - there is no clear film on the lights yet. I'm trying to make the lenses perfect before I put the film on.

Roger that. I'll try the PC tomorrow, 106/green, on speed 5. The monthly car meet I go to got cancelled for weather, so I'll have plenty of time.

Thanks gang. Anyone else who has tips, please, fire away.

 

Usually when I do headlights I find doing a three step wetsand works best. 1500, 2000/2500, then 3000 to really smooth everything else. Then I usually compound them and then polish them. Try going over them with 3000 paper and that should take care of the RIDS you have left over. Then compound them and polish them.

 

could the texture be on the inside of the lights. i ask this because looking closely at it i had a weird feeling i had seen the same spotting before. and it just hit me, my mom's toyota 4runner has one headlight that has an opening i guess and water gets in and its cloudy and it has the same spots that are permanently there

 

I just went out and looked, and it's difficult to tell. You might be on to something though. When my breath caused the lens to fog over, I didn't see any texturing "in" that fog, if that makes any sense.

I'll know in a week. I'm having the headlights taken apart to have those amber reflectors removed. Guess I'd better pick up some Plexus or something before then - it'd be a shame to seal the lights back up without fixing the lenses as best I can.

 

yeah i was going to suggest removing the lens if you have the capability to do so, and maybe clean the inisde of the lens with an AIO and then some plexus.

 

Karl, smoke the lenses!!

Go to hobbytown, or your local hoby store, and pick up RC Car Tamiya "smoke" or "tint" spray. And spray SEVERAL thin coats over a day or two. Looks like a professional job for less than $20 :thumb:

 

Getting them "perfect" seems impossible.

Thanks to Ankeet, I've tried an unending number of different combinations. Went through the whole 3M kit. PlastX by hand, the Meg's plastic twins (blue and white bottles) by hand, 106FF, 85RD. I'm doing this all with the PC (except the 3M kit, which was 2 hours ago), at various speeds. Pick your pad, any pad. Mostly blue ones and black ones. The scratches "move around," but I can't make them disappear completely. At the moment, a blue (zero cut) pad plus OTC Meg's Plast-X is showing some promise. I just needed to take a break.

Am I chasing something that's impossible? With headlights, is there just going to always be certain lighting conditions where you can see defects? I can't remember the last time something has frustrated me so badly.

 

I use a DA on plastics. You can actually cause some "burning" on the plastic with a rotary if your not careful. I also find the DA is so much easier to use on plastics. You may possibly be chasing something impossible. It very well could be some kind of issue in the plastic itself.

 

Yep, I'm using a DA too.

What I'm describing looks similar, but a little less bad, than the picture I posted on page one. To simply look at the car, the headlights look close to perfect. It's when I get my face up close to them, and let light hit it at an angle, that I can see the little scratches.

The way I see it, if I can get the scratches to change / move around, I should be able to make them disappear altogether. It's become a bit of an obsession now.

 

:thud:I was just going to text you to see how the fight was going. This may be what we talked about and some really sensitive lens as you saw from the s2ki forum. Just get it to the best and that may be about all you can do. Time for a nice strong drink!

That lens may be the Jet Black of the plastic world.

 

I saw the photo, and it does not look like something that abrasives can cure. See if you can source a BG headlight repair kit. If you can not I can send one down to you. Its a chemical process which works wonders on clear lenses.

 

Here's a picture from S2KI that is stickied as a reference for fixing headlights. Note the scratches:



I can't seem to get past this point.

 

Read up on the BG stuff. I have only seen it used on Mercedes headlights. It worked wonders on those, I am wondering if it will help yours.

 

Is this the stuff?

BG Products, Inc.

 

Yes, however thats not the description the BG guy told me. Its apparently like a chemical peel for your face( the general idea).