Plastic Headlight Care & Polishing

[lokuputha]

I recently took the one and only PlastX to my plastic 1pm headlights. It worked great; however, the results are not perfect. The yellow cloudiness is gone, but the deeper scratches and the pitting from highway sand blasting is still around.

question to those seasoned peeps...do you think I can use some sort of polishing compound to remove these scratches? If so, with which ones have you any experience?

[djcaz_aom]

I use 1200 grit then 2500 grit. I follow with plasticX.

[lokuputha]

I use 1200 grit then 2500 grit. I follow with plasticX.

cool.

Question:

Do I require a random orbital polisher/buffer or can I use a polishing/buffer bit attached on to my drill?

The latter is much cheaper and I already have one.

[djcaz_aom]

I prefer the Mother's power ball. It works wonders!!!

[cb4_honda]

that looks great .. meguiars is a good polishing brand. try using a buffing machine instead of a rag .


edit theres a 3m compound you can buy at autozone or discount autoparts .. its a bottle about the same size as the meguiars

[TypeG]

i often use mag and aluminum polish with a machine and then follow with plastic polish by hand.

the mag polish is more aggressive and therefore does more work in a shorter time. the plastic polish being finer, puts a more reflective finish when worked long enough. you can tell when the reflections on the lens go from blurry colors to cystal clear reflections. later.

[accordaffair]

I use a fine grit, wetsanding until all the yellow cloud is off, then I use a medium cut sort of liquid or paste, like polishing compound, and finally I use plastic polish.

Oh and I bought a kit once that had a protectant to put on afterwards that really helped extend the lifetime of your polish. It must have extended the effects by 2-3x. But I don't know what it was so I don't know what to use since I ran out

[djcaz_aom]

^^^^The kit you speak of is available at Advance Auto Parts. It comes in a silver package and costs $20.

[accordaffair]

^^^^The kit you speak of is available at Advance Auto Parts. It comes in a silver package and costs $20.

Yeah that's the one. But I already have most of the pieces in my car supplies. Fine grit paper, polishing compound, fine plastic polish, I have a lot of that stuff in big bottles. But I don't have the protectant, and I don't know what it is made of. I believe it's some type of light oil, but it stayed on for a long time, unlike something like wd40....

[djcaz_aom]

It's more like a sealant for floors.

[accordaffair]

hmmm...we have cleaner for faux wood floors here...is it something like a polyurethane?

[lokuputha]

It's more like a sealant for floors.

hmmm...that might be interesting. I am going to look into this sealant some more. when I take off the lights for the retrofit, thats when I'll do the full polish.

[djcaz_aom]

It has dried up on my hands and thats what it feels like. Maybe test on a different plastic?

[PR CB7]

for regular headlights i use 1000g then 1500 the plastic polish with the buffer

for my one pieces i used
1500 first adding drops of water every now and then
the 2000g
wore down the 2000g and finished sanding

used mag and aluminum with a wool pad at med speed

finished with plastic polish at med/hi speed with a foam black antiswirl pad

and to conserve it i sent them to my painter for a new coat of BMW clearcoat so i dont have to do it all over again

[lokuputha]

for regular headlights i use 1000g then 1500 the plastic polish with the buffer

for my one pieces i used
1500 first adding drops of water every now and then
the 2000g
wore down the 2000g and finished sanding

used mag and aluminum with a wool pad at med speed

finished with plastic polish at med/hi speed with a foam black antiswirl pad

and to conserve it i sent them to my painter for a new coat of BMW clearcoat so i dont have to do it all over again

how is the clear coat holding up to rocks and dirt?