Headlight Restoration Wierdness

Stopsign002

Stopsign002

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Ok, so I got the Mothers headlight resto kit. It comes with 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper squares, plus the polishing pad and compound. I started working on my lights and went through all the sandpaper spending probably 10 minutes on each square, but I ended up with some weird stuff going on;

IMG_20120816_204511.jpg


Here I had just gone back to 800 to try to get whatever that is to buff like the rest of the headlight. Whatever is going on there I cant seem to sand it. I'm guessing its some kind of coating? Besides that area on top, it seems to work VERY well. I also noticed that the top didnt sand smoothly like the front did, it felt gritty
 
You know, I had a similar thing show up when I did the Sylvania kit on mine. As far as I could tell, it was actually on the inside of the light. Once I applied the UV coating I could no longer see it.

Of course, you'll go apply your coat and it won't go away, and then I'll be an @ss.
 
regiment1 said:
You know, I had a similar thing show up when I did the Sylvania kit on mine. As far as I could tell, it was actually on the inside of the light. Once I applied the UV coating I could no longer see it.

Of course, you'll go apply your coat and it won't go away, and then I'll be an @ss.
Click to expand...

Lol, yeah I was wondering if it was inside. Man, its annoying the hell out of me though... I guess Ill finish it up and seal it and see what happens
 
I could be wrong but, that is the UV coating you are seeing. The line is the seperation between where it still exists, and where you have removed it. If you are going to clear coat them, or some other type of UV coating, it should virtually vanish. I've seen this happen on several headlights I've done, usually on older cars.
 
Manoli, are you familiar with the above? I know you refinished my Halogens before sending them to me.
 
Grr, I've been going at this thing for 2 days now. Cant seem to get it as nice as the other headlight (which came out that nice with just a polish using the pad and compound). Heres the difference between the two.

IMG_20120822_183622.jpg


Bad one;
IMG_20120822_183634.jpg


Good one;
IMG_20120822_183630.jpg


I've gone at the bad light with all sorts of sand paper, starting around 500 going up to 3000. Ive buffed it for like 30 minutes straight, twice. I've tried UV sealant. Nothing. Its as if the plastic is just tinted that with that foggyness. Its freaking pissing me off at this point. Suggestions?

A little history. That light has always looked worse than the other one and this is my attempt to bring it up to par
 
Likely a molding temperature issue, if it's porous you'd wear out your elbow before getting a good surface. First pic looks like a bit of splay, injection molded parts can turn out this way.

And it doesn't look too bad but probably frustrating
 
embe said:
Likely a molding temperature issue, if it's porous you'd wear out your elbow before getting a good surface. First pic looks like a bit of splay, injection molded parts can turn out this way.

And it doesn't look too bad but probably frustrating
Click to expand...

So basically nothing I can do beyond replacing the lens? (Which wouldn't be too hard really...)
 
The lense is the same regardless of generation yes? I figure I can just go to a junk yard and pull a halogen headlight and switch out the lenses. No idea how hard this would be. Any idea? (Yes, it definitely is bother me THAT much)
 
replacing the lenses is not easy on 2nd gen lights, early first gens could be separated with heat alone, then they changed the glue and now the have to be cut apart, the tricky part would be cutting both headlights (current one and doner lenses) so the new lenses would fit the old housing, you probably could use both the lenses and the rear housing from the donor headlight assembly but i cant say for sure, also your probably going to have a glued seam that will be visible (probably only when the hood is open) that you will have to live with.
 
1LoudLS said:
replacing the lenses is not easy on 2nd gen lights, early first gens could be separated with heat alone, then they changed the glue and now the have to be cut apart, the tricky part would be cutting both headlights (current one and doner lenses) so the new lenses would fit the old housing, you probably could use both the lenses and the rear housing from the donor headlight assembly but i cant say for sure, also your probably going to have a glued seam that will be visible (probably only when the hood is open) that you will have to live with.
Click to expand...

Well I wouldnt mind a seam while the hood is open, so that would be ok... I guess I should just do this whenever I get around to doing angel eyes... May as well only open them once. I did a lot of buffing today, and Ill try one more time tomorrow, but this doesnt seem to be something I can buff out. Sigh, if only I wasnt so OCD about **** lol
 
Judging by the [what looks like] orange peel on the bumper. It is possible the better looking light is a replacement. Mine were like this as I wrecked one light in my accident.

I just bought two new ones to get back on even level.
 
i have been watching this one for a minute, as freshening up my replacement headlight is on my lis of things to do. at first i thought you were saying that the product hazed it up like that. have you run a vin check on your car? in the recent past you could just post a car on ebay and a get a free vin check, not sure if that still works. one of your lights is probably a replacement, I would guess a used one at that. the clearer one is possibly the original light. i picked up a replacement from GA and its a lot hazier than my original even though its the same year (05) and the yard did not indicate any haziness. it probably saw a lot more sun GA vs OH, on the yard vs in the garage. It doesnt look bad, it just doesnt match my original if youre really looking hard @ it. if i were you i wouldnt sweat it, 100k miles when you bought it so it probably has more miles now. thats an expensive piece to fck with on a 7 yr old car with 100k+. I will try a few products first (the one you used fell to the bottom of my list thanks) and if no luck maybe give the lens a little 'smoked' look so its not as noticeable.
 
have you tried the minwax/ min spirit coating.... did mine over a year ago, still look brand new... might clear up you haze.
 
i had some of these issues when redoing my lights. i just kept sanding about 30 mins total on each light with 3m kit, used rubbing compound afterwards, then cleaned off with alcohol then used the minwax/spar mix and they looked practically new.
 
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