I searched on how to restore headlights already, but what i wanna know is should i buy the headlight restoring kit or will it be cheaper to buy 800, 1000, 2000 grit sand paper and a bottle of plastic polish?
and on the polishing, can i use regular towel to do the job? it wont mess it up right?
also what brand do you guys recommend me getting for the polish.

 

Do you have pictures of your lenses? You may be able to just get away with PlasticX and some 2000 grit sand paper.

I've used the kit before and I got some pretty decent results, but make sure you reseal/put wax on them so they don't yellow up again so quickly...

 

I dnt have pics atm but i'll post some up later on today wen i go work on my car

 

go try the 3m kit that's like 20 bucks. it comes w/ a couple different grit sand paper and some polish. I want to try it. or at least try the sanding method.

I've only used the plastix kit w/ the polishing adaptor for a drill and that thing sux by itself. I guess sanding would help even more.

 

Depending on how oxidized the lenses are, you may need more than just PlasticX. That why pictures would help.

If they are really oxidized, the 3M kit would work, or some sandpaper.

OP, did you ever get those pictures?

 

get the kit. if u have a drill, all you do is attach it and use their products. i believe the meguiar kit comes with sand paper too

 

Well i forgot to take pics of just the head lights, but i have these..

This is how it looks like when i got it.


This is after my friend cleaned it a lil with some polish only, no sanding.


This is how it looks like with the HID on, cant really tell the difference, phone quality sucks.

 

i think you posted the exact same picture twice for the "before" and "after" shots. that is unless everyone stayed frozen the whole time in the background while you washed and polished your headlights and took pics be4 and after. lol

oh yeah, and your car is three different colors bytheway.

 

oops sorry bout that, yea i had to replace the driver side fender becuz wen i bought it from my friend he said that some haters kicked in his fenders, i saw how it looked too. Like hecka bumpy. Thats why i have a different color fender and about the hood, wen i bought the shell he took off the cf hood. So i had that hood on, but i primer it already.

 

That honestly doesn't look terrible. You could get away with just 2000 grit sandpaper and PlasticX. The kit shouldn't be bad either since it has a sealant with it.

If you want to use the sandpaper method, I dont think you need to go as radical as 800 grit. You can just wetsand the headlight with the 2000 grit and just take the PlasticX to buff it out with a normal terry cloth. You can then finish up with some plastic polish.

The kit should provide you with instructions. My issue with the kit is that I have used it in the past properly on my Integra, even using the silicone sealant that they provided, and it yellowed again a few weeks later. The silicon sealant was supposed to seal the polycarbonate lenses to prevent oxidation. With the PlasticX and the sand paper, you do the same job, but get more so you can keep touching up. Then hit it with a good wax to seal the lenses.

The PlasticX can also come in handy when you got scratched CDs and other various plastic scratches.

But it's whatever you choose to do.

 

Forget all these waxes people are suggesting, cause after you wash your car a few times, your lights are going to look like crap again. The best thing you can do is to wet sand with 600-800 grit paper and simply spray a new clear coat on. Don't use the rattle can crap, use the same clear that used for your car. From the looks of your pics, it looks like you're going to be repainting the car, so now would be a good time to do that....

 

The OP expressed cost concern in his original post. So I doubt he'll want to buy quality clear just for his headlights.

PlasticX isn't wax either. It's a rubbing compound/plastic polish. Also it will help reseal the lights. However not entirely that effectively. Better sealing can be had through an inexpensive wax.

Anyways OP good luck on your choice.

 

Alright, I'll just try using 2000 grit then polish it. Yea i am gnna do a new paint job but not anytime soon. Need to find a job first and get some cash.

 

A $10 turtle wax kit cleared my headlights right up, cheap and effective, came with 4 wet sanding pads, spray lubricant, plastic polish and a sealant. Mine were yellow to the point of the rubbing compound/plastic polish to not work.

 

I've done this to several of my cars, the earliest about two years ago. I just do a medium grit first, make sure you are wet sanding, and then work up to the 2000 grit. Then I clean the lense with a plastic cleaner (dont use glass that will ruin it) and then I spray on an even coat of just rattle can clear gloss. The first one I did still looks really good. I used to work in a plastics shop and that is how they took out scratches, except they would heat the surface of the plastic to make it clear again instead of using a clear coat spray. I've never tried heating a headlight surface.