So I have a buddy who restores old BMW's and told me that a process he uses to get a clear headlight again is to take something like a 2k grit, and wet sand the head light then shoot it with a gloss clear coat. Anyone ever hear of this? Don't get me wrong it looks great and is something that would heavily benefit my mother's Dodge Grand Caravan. It makes sense to me, I just wonder about the longevity of it.

 

It works well. I did it on an old minivan I sold a while back and made a huge difference. Of course sometimes you have to get the light apart to also do the inside also.

 

Yeah I'm def going to do a before and after on this one. Probably get this done on Monday, day off and hopefully all of the rain will be gone by then

 

my "buddy" at the stealership has a side business doing headlight restoration and he said that exact way to do it. i call him my "buddy" because everytime i go into dodge i f*ck with him, since when i walked out he laughed at me and told me good luck finidng a better truck than whats on his lot....about once a month i drive by and say hi and laugh in his face at the deal i got.....he hates me lol

 

You don't need anything like 2K grit, but I guess you could use that for final finishing sand. I use the sanding sponges like this http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/...ponge_5421.jpg
because you can easily get them wet to do a wet sand and a dry sand.

I use a 320 grit and it does just fine removing the yellow hue. After sanding, there is a bunch of very fine scratches on the lens, but the yellow is gone. This is where the clear coat does the finishing job. It will fill in all those scratches and dry to a smooth, incredibly clear finish.

This is the clear I use


I would highly suggest it as it has done several light restorations and lasts a long time. Mine have lasted through Pennsylvania winters.










A friend of mine did similar to his headlights, even while doing an "eyebrow" on his.


Notice the hazy look directly after spraying the clearcoat. This dries completely clear.



They look brand new afterwards.


It is certainly an easy task to do and very worthwhile.

 

Impressive results.

 

Hmmm....dunno how well that spray glaze works, but one thing I have found is that regular old auto wax does a great job protecting the plastic headlight covers.

My RAM QC 2500 is a 2004 and I have yet to get any hazing or anyhting, even in these Pennsylvania winters. I just make sure I wax them good when I wash and wax the truck.

If however you do need to recondition, check out some of the woodworking tool sites and look for the pen turning supplies. They sell plastic polishing kits (used for finishing plastic and synthetic pen barrels on the lathe). They consist of a set of sponge backed sanding pads up to 12000 (yes, 12000) grit and some plastic polish. Wet sand the lights through the 12000 grit and then polish, they come out like new and no spray coat needed. Put some wax on them and they will stay clear for years.