UNKNOWN_MEMBER

iTrader: (3)

Here's how to restore your old oxidized plastic headlights/taillights

Step 1: Sanding

Sand off all oxidation. Depending on how bad your oxidation is will determine what grit you will be using. I started off with 320 grit and took down all the clear. You will eventually want to end up with 600/800 grit before applying your final coat. For me, i ended up at 600 grit before shooting my final coat.

Step 2: Masking/prepping

Mask the areas you wish for not to get clear on. I used the outline of the bucket for my masking line. The tape I used for branding is the 3m green tape and for the masking paper i used cheap habor freight tape but if you're balling, 3M is highly recommended, as for most cases, quality made products usually perform better and in this case, it does not leave sticky residue, it does not get gummy with heat so maximum adhesion is generated, and it is thick as **** so it doesn't leak through.

Step 3: Shoot that b*tch!

This is going to require a little practice. You will be using automotive clear so it's a 2 part product. It consist of the clear itself which normally comes in a 1 gallon jug and then you have the activator/catalyst which normally comes in a 1 quart bottle. Depending on which manufacture u use for clear will determine the mixing ratio, in most cases it's 4:1. 4 parts of clear to 1 part of activator. Mixing cup with ratios are great if you don't have a weight scale to monitor the amount of product to mix up.

When you have the clear down, next is spraying the clear. I'm not going to get into detail on what gun setup to use and how to set it up correctly for optimum atomization but for me I used an Iwata lph-80 with a 1.2 tip. My air pressure was at 15psi and i reduced the clear a little bit. I try to have minimum texture as possible that's why i reduced the clear. Reducing your clear is not necessary.

An adhesion promotor like the product "bulldog" is HIGHLY recommended. I usually shoot it out of the gun, not the aerosol can as the aerosol one can isn't great in atomizing and can leave uneven streaks/patterns. Spray before clear coat, let it flash for 10 minutes.

So here's what I started off with:


Rinsed off the dirt and sanded off the oxidation. What i look for when sanding off the oxidation and making sure i got everything is consistency. You want the headlight to look like this when you are done. If you see lines that transition from clear coat to plastic, keep sanding! If you stop here and shoot clear, the clear will delaminate on the area you did not sand completely off. Here's what mine looked dry after final sanding. Note that the yellowing of the headlight was completely diminished.


After applying the clear coat, here's what i got:

Here's another set of headlights I did on a 2007 Civic SI.





Total time took that i personally took was about 5-6 hours. I like to take my time and make sure i'm getting every step right and double checking that every step is done properly. I'm sure there's people that can get it done faster BUT to each their own.

If you have any questions, please post on this thread, DO NOT private message me regarding any technical questions. If you have a question, most likely someone else out there will have the same question, post up on the thread and i will try and answer it accordingly so everyone else on here has the opportunity to see the answer.

ENJOY!!

not sure if this is the correct section to post in but i dont think it should be in body and paint as those guys probably already know this