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headlight resoration

A

AliasJerk

Addicted CEG'er
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Oct 13, 2003
Messages
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I want to give this a shot, I read a howto on VWvortex that is proven to work extremely well. I was going through the list of things I need, and one thing is 2000 grit sandpaper. Where in the hell can I find this stuff? I have been everywhere and the highest I can find (which I own) is 600 grit, which is the first step in the process. But I need the 2000 to make the surface smooth and clear. I tried Menards, Home Depot, Autozone, Sears, none of them carry it. Where in the hell can I find it?

I can get 1000 grit, but I dont know if thats good enough.
 
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Sears, HD, etc won't have it from what I've seen. It will have to be auto-parts related. Call around to some local body shops to see if they have any ideas. Heck maybe they could even "spare a square" (from Seinfeld).

You could use just the 1000, but you'll have to polish it much more, because the grooves left over will be so much deeper. I did 1500-2000-2500 and the polishing was easy.
 
If you do it right, it works! I wasn't too sure about it at first, but did exactly as the headlight how-to said and this is how mine worked out.
img0646hj0.jpg

The headlight on the left in the pic above and the pic below are what both headlights looked like when I first got them.
img0648gy7.jpg

After headlight restoration below.
img0647ja1.jpg

img0653wy1.jpg
 
Napa has 2000 grit sandpaper...Ive done this to both the Mystique and the Contour. Worked very well.
 
I used 600 then 1000 then buffed it with Meguire's PlastX. Smooth as glass :shrug:
 
I actually got a kit from Firestone that had everything in the box. Gloves, sandpaper, cleaner, polish, and some other crap. It was about $35. It actually worked pretty well, but i'm sure the sanding process works just as well. Many of the auto repair stores offer this service now. You can either pay them $100 to do it or just buy the kit like i did.
 
I did it the other day with 600 and 1000 grit, then used a headlight restorer I got from Autozone, then Meguiars PlasticX. Looks a HELL of a lot better

I used Liquid Dawn mixed with water as my wet base for the sand paper, I watched the water turn yellow :shocked: headlight looks a million times better now. I have to do the driver side one today as its starting to haze a little.
 
You may find that they "haze or craze" again shortly after you've renewed them. I used the normal procedure and mine started to look bad again after about three months. Bought OEM replacements and they still look good a year later. YMMV.
 
JTod said:
You may find that they "haze or craze" again shortly after you've renewed them. I used the normal procedure and mine started to look bad again after about three months. Bought OEM replacements and they still look good a year later. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Either you didn't take them down far enough or you didn't protect them with a quality car wax or sealant.

Put some on those new ones! :D
 
I did mine about a year or so ago and they turned out okay, but I didn't clearcoat it afterwards (just didn't have any on hand and eventually forgot about it). Mine are starting to haze up again so I'm gonna redo it sometime in the next week or so I hope, but this time I bought some clearcoat which will hopefully make the finished product even better & last longer.
 
yeah, i can't find anything over 1,000 grit at any autoparts store around me, i may try to order some online. and as for sealing, will clearcoat do the trick? or will i have to wax them afterwards?
 
what about protecting them?

what about protecting them?

I just put new OEM lights in my car - anyone have any recommendations on what I can use to prevent or slow hazing in the future?
 
I found the 2000 grit at the autozone near my house. Being I am in the SE YMMV but check those auto parts stores. The autozone had an entire shelf w/ different grit papers, and below the shelf display they had a bunch of DIY headlight restore kits. So they obviously know why they are selling this sandpaper... :shrug:
 
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