Finally gave wet sanding/clearcoat headlight restoration a shot

[Alfalfa]

Doesn't quite match the other, but certainly a lot better. I think I might have botched the clear coat application by spraying it way too close, I'll probably sand it off and try again next week.


The white stuff on my bumper is bits of headlight lens.
For those uninformed, you take 400-600 grit sandpaper dry, and then 2000 grit wet on the lens to get the yellowed surface of the lens off, then apply clearcoat. It's supposed to work better and last longer than the restoration kits you can buy

[sony1492]

@alfalfa clearcoat always seems to come out unhappy. If anything you can hit it with another layer then wetsand that down to 2500 and polish

[Peter_Black]

i'm in thge middle of going this to my lexus, but i'm also going the INSIDE of the lense (the outsides I can do whenever, the insides are also FUCKED.

[Alfalfa]

@sony1492 good to know, I'll give it a shot. This is my test run as they already don't match, once I think I've got it as good as I can I'll do the headlights and fogs on the Xterra.

[RallyDarkstrike]

I had this done to my passenger light once a year ago and it's already yellow again

[S65]

I did this earlier this year, didn't come out the greatest but they're clearer and I had to move my car. I took the front bumper off and everything.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

I've had trouble with my headlights coming out very uneven. I've grinded off a ton of material but it always looks like there are water stains on it but it feels almost perfectly smooth there. It's a visual difference between as clear as I'd like it and slightly fuzzy. Can't figure it out but I've hit that one side with several rounds of sanding like 5 times.

[sony1492]

@alfalfa going that route means the clearcoat has to be fully cured and thick enough that you don't bust through to plastic during the wetsand.

[Peter_Black]

@rallydarkstrike you need to clear coat them. Grab a rattle can and have at it

[RallyDarkstrike]

@Peter_Black True....annoying part is that I wasn't the one that did it, a local shop did, and they were the ones that put no protection on it