Ok so in the pic you can see everything I used. Here's a decent write-up.
First, remove the lights and you need to set yourself up some sort of system to hold the lights in place with the lens hanging off the edge of the table. I took some 4x4's and make a makeshift box to surround and hold the lights. You'll notice you need to secure them or they move all over the place and it's 100 times harder to work. It took me a good 30 mins to set it up so the lights were secure and wouldn't move on me.
I cleaned them off with some soap and water (not a huge deal since you'll be sanding them anyway).
I had a spray bottle of water on hand at all times. I sprayed the light thoroughly and I used the Dewalt sander (in the pic) with 300 grit sandpaper. This is a sander for wood and I know 300 grit is rough but my lights were bad. Many of you could probably skip this step. I would run the sander over the entire surface of the lense for about 30 seconds. After 30 seconds I would wipe the light down with a microfiber towel. Then I would apply more water and sand again. I did this 5 times. The look you are going for is like in my second pic (The ENTIRE light needs to look cloudly!!) If some parts are still clear/shiny, then you missed the spot.
After the 300 grit I wiped it down with the alcohol and moved to the 500 grit. At this point I'm already into the 3M headlight restoration kit. (It comes with 500 grit, 1000 grit, and 3000 grit(which doesn't even feel/look like sandpaper.) I used a high speed Milwakee drill. I used the same method as I did with the 300 grit - continually wiping and making sure the light is always wet!!! I sanded 5 times (about 45 seconds each time) with the 500 grit.
When you get to the 1000 grit, you're basically just cleaning up any fine scratches. At this point the light should start to actually clear up just a bit. I ran the 1000 grit 5 times wiping with microfiber and rewetting each time.
After the 1000 grit, I cleaned with the alcohol thoroughly and lightly wet the lense for the 3000 grit. I used long strokes with this (the entire length of the light) moving back and forth covering the entire light. I think this is probably the most important step of the entire process so I spent a good 25-30 minutes with the 3000 grit wiping, sanding, wetting....over and over.
After the 3000 i wiped with alcohol twice and moved to the "polishing pad" which came with the 3M kit. If you look in the pic, you can kind of see what the pad looks like - it's on the drill. All the sandpaper/pad velcro right to adapter you put in the drill so you just have to peel off instead of changing and chucking/rechucking - good thinking 3m! I used 3M Rubbing Compound that I already had but the kit does come with a small pouch of it. A little goes a long way so don't use too much or you're lens will still look foggy. I polished the light for about 5 minutes straight continually moving. At this point don't expect the light to be crystal clear. I buffed the light with a microfiber towel and wiped down again with alcohol. At this point I inspected the light and since mine were awful, I actually went back to the 500 grit and sanded again twice, 1000 grit twice, and 3000 grit 3 times then repeated the polishing.
The lights at this point are pretty darn clear but not real shiny - this is where the mineral spirits and Helmsman Clear Gloss Minwax comes in (both at Home Depot). Make sure the light is completely clean (alcohol it again) and mix 50/50 ratio of Minwax/mineral spirits in a clean coffee can or something. I used the blue shop towels you can see in the pic and folded them over a bunch of times to create a pad to apply the mixture. I started at the flat side (away from turn signal) and pulled across the light gently. I continued this until I had the entire light covered in the Minwax mixture. This is what gives you the glossy look and the minwax has UV protectant.
If anybody wants more info or needs pics of anything, let me know. Hope this helps.
Couple notes:
Once I figured out what the heck I was doing I think I could probably do each light in about 1.5 hours for a 3 hour total job. Just take your time.
It is kinda a scary job cuz at first your lights look 1000000 times worse and it's kinda of nerve wracking. Don't worry, 3M rubbing compound is your friend.
MAKE SURE THE LIGHT IS ALWAYS WET.
IF YOU USE THE 3M KIT (AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT) IT DOES COME WITH PRETTY GOOD INSTRUCTIONS AND 3M RUBBING COMPOUND WHICH SHOULD BE ENOUGH IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE DECENT.
I believe the 3M kit was about $25 at any local auto parts store.
The Minwax was about $10 - If you can find a smaller one than what I got, go for it - you use so little of it.
Mineral Spirits about $7
Alcohol $1 (grocery store)
