i understand what youre saying. however the headlights that i wish to restore are in terrible condition. they are so pitted they look fuzzy from far away. it sounds strange but thats the only way i can describe it
that Poorboy's? once i start working ill be saving up for an orbital buffer and car care products combo package from autogeek. it might be poorboy's, but it might be klasse or wolfgang. i am not sure yet. all three are incredible products!
That's what I figured, and that's why I say start with 600. If they are not too bad, THEN you can start higher up in grit. But if you don't start 'low' when they are sick nasty ... they will look like crap (trust me, I've tried) .. Just remember that they are going to look hazy and like crap during the sanding process, but no worries .. the compound/polish will fix that right up. A good idea to know when you are finished sanding (IMO) is, when you are wet sanding with 1500 or 2000 and the headlights look pretty clear (while wet and sanding). Hope that makes sense. Actually never mind the 600, start with 800 grit. I found this tutorial I had made a long time ago so I'll post it here also: You can make them look 95% better for sure, unless they are cracked. I made a tutorial and posted it a while back but search button is trash now .. I found it in a word document I saved: "I will post this again since the last time nobody cared because it was a 'buy new headlights' thread. So here we go. Here is a before pic (after trying to clean it with plastic polish and all types of other ****) and an after pic .. I could only find two pictures of opposite sides of the car, inside and outside. But I put this together so that you could get an idea of the difference. If you follow this procedure you will be amazed! You will need: - 800 grit wet-sand paper - 1000 grit - 1500 grit - 2000 grit - Some 3M polishing compound - Another polish you like - Some time! The procedure: - Clean headlights first with soap and water (dishwashing detergent works great to get as much bugs and crap off as possible) - Wet-sand in the order that I listed above. Start with 800, 1000, etc. The key is to use a lot of water. Keep the sandpaper wet while you sand, this is very important. - As you start to wet sand the headlights, you will say to yourself "damn I am scratching these things up" ... and you are. They should get more and more hazy and after the 2000 grit they will be super smooth but stupid cloudy. This is OK! As you WET sand, you will see some milky looking water .. this is just the crap coming off your headlights. You basically want to smooth the surface by sanding in one direction (back and forth) only. Each stage of sandpaper will make the surface more and more smooth but more cloudy as well. Once you get to the 1500 and 2000 grit, your goal is to WET sand using a plenty of water and you should start to see the headlight get clearer while sanding with water. So, when the headlights are dry, they will be hazy and smooth. But when you are wet-sanding they will appear very clear (especially when you get to 2000 grit). After you have done this, let the headlight dry, or dry it off in the same back and forth direction that you sanded in (would not want to scratch them at this point. - Now is when the magic happens!! Get out some 3M polishing compound, polish on - polish off and you will be shocked at the clarity (for the crappy design that the headlights are). Then use another polish that you like (step is optional). Whatever you do, do not WAX the headlights afterwards for at least 1 month. I have no facts to back this up as to why, but I wouldn't. If you follow those steps, take your time!!, you will have kickass results! I just described it in detail but it is not hard and worth the time (for me at least) "
