Foggy yellow headlights - sanding?
Foggy yellow headlights - sanding? I read the thread on fixing Camaro headlights that are foggy and yellow. Well both headlights on one of my Camaros are fogged up and look terrible! I read that you're supposed to sand them then polish them. OK, this is a dumb question, but what do you sand them with, and do I sand the inside or the outside? It sounds like a way better alternative to buying new ones.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Originally Posted by SSCamaroChick
I read the thread on fixing Camaro headlights that are foggy and yellow. Well both headlights on one of my Camaros are fogged up and look terrible! I read that you're supposed to sand them then polish them. OK, this is a dumb question, but what do you sand them with, and do I sand the inside or the outside? It sounds like a way better alternative to buying new ones.
Thanks!
Thanks!
sand them with wetsand paper and water. you can find sandpaper from 500 to 2000 at your local wal mart. work progressively from about 600 to 2000. thats what i did. take time with each step in the paper.
once you have them well wetsanded out to 2000 grit get some sort of polish. I cant remember what i used, but i use mother's aluminum polish for about everything. there is also a plastic polish that meguiars makes that would work great for finishing them off after a slightly more abrasive polish. to make the polishing part go quicker you could buy some sort of buffing wheel and attach it to a bench grinder.
once you have them well wetsanded out to 2000 grit get some sort of polish. I cant remember what i used, but i use mother's aluminum polish for about everything. there is also a plastic polish that meguiars makes that would work great for finishing them off after a slightly more abrasive polish. to make the polishing part go quicker you could buy some sort of buffing wheel and attach it to a bench grinder.
Did this a while ago with a buddy he bought a crappy yellow set and after a bit of work they looked better thatn the near mint ones he had on his car, the set we refinished are for the whistler mod.
i like to start with 400, to remove the UV/clear coat off easily. Then i go to 800, 1000, 1500, then 2000. Then i use Novus plastic polish #3, then finish with #2. I polish with plain ol terry cloth and elbow grease. But i use a high quality, "soft" kind that doesnt leave scratches. (skygeek.com has great prices on novus)
They look brand spankin new after that. You just need to polish with the #2 and wax, every so often to keep it from foggin' up again. It will fog up quicker, after removing the uv/clear coat.
Also some tips, go ahead and remove the weatherstrip that surrounds the lights, makes it 100x easier. Reattach with weather-stripping adhesive.
Also, have a plan of how you do it. I start on the nipples (sand the tops, sides, then bases) then sand the wide open areas last.
I always sand in one direction, then the other (left-right then up-down), to remove all the scratches from the previous grit.
Takes me about 5-10 minutes on each grit, and about 10 minutes total per light to polish. So about 35-60 minutes per light.
Here's some pics from the first headlight I tried. Both were equally yellow, before. They still had some small scratches left over though, which made them look somewhat "hazy". The second attempt came out much better, after getting my technique down. Now i can do a set of lights without any scratches left over, except a few small ones on the nipples. I just finished another set and did the whistler mod, and they are freakin awesome looking.
They look brand spankin new after that. You just need to polish with the #2 and wax, every so often to keep it from foggin' up again. It will fog up quicker, after removing the uv/clear coat.
Also some tips, go ahead and remove the weatherstrip that surrounds the lights, makes it 100x easier. Reattach with weather-stripping adhesive.
Also, have a plan of how you do it. I start on the nipples (sand the tops, sides, then bases) then sand the wide open areas last.
I always sand in one direction, then the other (left-right then up-down), to remove all the scratches from the previous grit.
Takes me about 5-10 minutes on each grit, and about 10 minutes total per light to polish. So about 35-60 minutes per light.
Here's some pics from the first headlight I tried. Both were equally yellow, before. They still had some small scratches left over though, which made them look somewhat "hazy". The second attempt came out much better, after getting my technique down. Now i can do a set of lights without any scratches left over, except a few small ones on the nipples. I just finished another set and did the whistler mod, and they are freakin awesome looking.
Here's the kit I bought from Advance Autopart. I believe you can get it from Walmart too.
The kit comes with 2 grits of sand papers and 2 types of chemicals. However, I felt like the kit by itself was not enough so I took some extra steps. Here's what I did.
- First I wet-sanded using sand papers 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000.
- Then I wet-sanded with the blue sand paper supplied in the kit. This is a 2500 grit sand paper.
- Then I use the 1st chemical. This one is basically rubbing compound. You can use other types of rubbing compound instead if you want.
After this step the lens surface would be very smooth but still somewhat hazy. This is where the 2nd chemical comes in. Most of the haziness was gone after I applied the chemical. It also seals in the lens from future fogging.
It's been less than a month since I did my lens so I can't tell yet how well this kit helps protecting the lens from future fogging. But now I'm pleased with the results.
The kit comes with 2 grits of sand papers and 2 types of chemicals. However, I felt like the kit by itself was not enough so I took some extra steps. Here's what I did.
- First I wet-sanded using sand papers 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000.
- Then I wet-sanded with the blue sand paper supplied in the kit. This is a 2500 grit sand paper.
- Then I use the 1st chemical. This one is basically rubbing compound. You can use other types of rubbing compound instead if you want.
After this step the lens surface would be very smooth but still somewhat hazy. This is where the 2nd chemical comes in. Most of the haziness was gone after I applied the chemical. It also seals in the lens from future fogging.
It's been less than a month since I did my lens so I can't tell yet how well this kit helps protecting the lens from future fogging. But now I'm pleased with the results.
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I couldnt agree more... ANything below 1000 is asking for trouble... I did 1000 then 2000 took my time, used a miguries scratch remover then polish and they came out amazing... You will get scratches if you rub too hard or dig deep with anything under 1000. Now 1000 grit will also leave scratches but will polish up much easier
Last edited by Cobra2WS6; Jan 18, 2008 at 06:27 PM.
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