Ok, I know there are several how to clean the lenses out floating on the various forums, but most of them only use things like toothpaste or a plastic polish….this one is with wetsanding, you get the same results, but if done right it looks better and lasts longer

I picked up these headlights for only 180 . Typical market prices are currently about 300 for ones with some yellowing…not to this extent and no broken tabs. For the 120+ saved I figured I could make them look just as good as the ones I’ve had previously(long story) and make my own 2 little tabs. I’m going to also be doing something that as far as I know has never been done on jdm del sol 1pc. Before but that’s another writeup for another day.

So on with the HOW TO stuff:

Pics of the headlights before(EWW!...on the one it looks like someone spooged on it :vomit: LOFL)

Driver side befores:





Passenger side befores:




Now first thing I did was spray them down with simple green and thouroughly wipe them down with just an old dish rag(no pic should needed) this itself removed quite a bit of gunk on them.

Pic of my “wetsanding station” (AKA kitchen sink) LOL. The headlight looks so good because when the surface is wet it fills in any scratches/dullness that might otherwise be seen…sort of like how when you wash a car it’s always glossier when it’s wet:



The tricks to wetsanding are simple:
-ALWAYS keep the surface being sanded and the sandpaper itself wetter than a pornstar after a gangbang
-DON’T use too much pressure(let the sandpaper just sort of glide over the surface….sort of hydroplaning on the water) but at the same time make the sandpaper work it’s hard to really put into words
-Start off with the highest grit you think will work(I only used 2K and it came out fine)
-Only use a criss cross pattern….NEVER CIRCULAR!(I’ve read this everywhere I looked so it must be bad)

Wetsanding:
-With water running (or spray bottle just sprayed) place sand paper on surface and gently go back and forward (DO NOT GO IN CIRLCLES!!!)
-start by going side to side, after a minute or two go about it vertically….then in diagonals(if you’re OCD like me)
-stop to check your work every minute or so(took me about 15 minutes each headlight using only 2K)
-do this till the surface has an even but dull finish like so:

AFTER pics:
Driver:


[URL=http://imageshack.us][/

Passenger:




Now this is where it becomes like most other HOW TOs (for lense cleaning anyways) on take your choice of plastic polish(I’m partial to Meguairs PLASTX)

Take a standard wax applicator and rub the polish into the headlight surface until(just like waxing a car) till you get coverage all over like so:



Then to remove you can either buff by hand (but that’s hard work plus I’m feeling kind of lazy) or use one of 2 setups: a mother’s mini ball and a drill(used this many times before…never fails) or a real buffer(which I have, but I’m gonna stick with the polishing ball since they are off the car). After a few rounds they look pretty nice and clean dare I say almost brand new LIKE SO:

AFTER ONLY 1 ROUND


AFTER 3 rounds(may do another 1 or 2 to get them as blinging as possible):


Now all you need to do is apply a coat of wax to resist fading again and you’re golden. To keep them looking like new every few weeks I will mask around them on the car and go at them with the polishing ball

*NOTE: I am not responsible if YOU mess up YOUR headlights. It’s kind of like watching the freestyle moto-x guys, TRY IT AT YOUR OWN RISK, no one is forcing you to do it this way and it’s your decision to do it however you feel comfortable. I’m posting that because some guy actually sent me a paypal request for money when I did another how to and he damaged his JDM visors very loosely following a write up I did.


Modified by broketuner-Sol_Si at 11:57 AM 10/31/2007

 

No finished pics?

 

camera died before I could get them.,...I'll try to take them tommorrow, but might not get them till this weekend

 

should have waited until you had all the pics! great how to though

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vietnamezerice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">should have waited until you had all the pics! great how to though </TD></TR></TABLE>


thanks. LOL I know...put the memory card in the computer and there was nothing after the wetsnading pics

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by broketuner-Sol_Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I’m posting that because some guy actually sent me a paypal request for money when I did another how to and he damaged his JDM visors very loosely following a write up I did.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
hahaha, what a dumb *** . you sent him the money right

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Brewer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No finished pics?</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NotoriousEK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
hahaha, what a dumb *** . you sent him the money right </TD></TR></TABLE>

lol hell no. as a joke I sent him a request for the same amount saying that if he was too stupid to follow a simple how to that he should give his money to people who can at the very least follow directions without screweing something simple up....he never paid

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by broketuner-Sol_Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

lol hell no. as a joke I sent him a request for the same amount saying that if he was too stupid to follow a simple how to that he should give his money to people who can at the very least follow directions without screweing something simple up....he never paid </TD></TR></TABLE>
so how did he expletive the visors up, got a link to your old thread? Anyways lets see the finished product

 

how original theres forums showing this way everywhere

 

NO END PICS

 

I "borrowed without asking" my stepmom's digi. camera....finished pics getting hosted NOW


Modified by broketuner-Sol_Si at 12:03 PM 10/31/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BLANCOh22a4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how original theres forums showing this way everywhere</TD></TR></TABLE>
I have an idea..... kill yourself and have your mom make a thread

Hurry up sean

 

DONE!

 

So how did you fix the broken plastic tab?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Halo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So how did you fix the broken plastic tab?</TD></TR></TABLE>

supa grooo

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BLANCOh22a4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how original theres forums showing this way everywhere</TD></TR></TABLE>

and how many wetsand them with pics and/or instructions???? NONE as far as I can find....Like I said there's TONS of them using just tootpaste and/or a plastic polish....I wanted to show people how to do it the LONGER LASTING WAY....besuides, can just toothpaste and plastic polish fix little rock knicks or scratches like these had and totally eliminate the build up?

<FONT SIZE="14">NO!</FONT>

nice try being an ***

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Halo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So how did you fix the broken plastic tab?</TD></TR></TABLE>
I've got a couple pieces of thick ABS plast and a plastic welder

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NotoriousEK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
so how did he expletive the visors up, got a link to your old thread? Anyways lets see the finished product </TD></TR></TABLE>

instead of using a scruff pad, he used some low grit sand paper LOFL

can't find my actual how to anywhere for that, but here's the link of all that was done:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1935056

NOTE: all except the headliner came undone during the summer....that glue sucks and unless you get real auto grade sued it fades like a **** in less than 3 months headliner still looks **** though

 

oh shi-

came out even better then expected!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fventura03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">oh shi-

came out even better then expected!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks just wait until I do a write up for the ACTUAL finished porduct going on my car something that's been done several times....but to my knowledge never in del sol headlights(NOT a retrofit unfortunately)

 

don't OEM headlights have some sort of protective coating you remove when you wetsand?
or is my information wrong?

 

 

they do...that's what yellows and eventually peels and gets a raised build up all around... by sanding it off and keeping them waxed regularly it works just as well but no yellowing /build up at all

as you can see in the first 4 pics...these were in pretty bad shape adn that the film was already for the most part gone

 

good work bro

damn i need to get me one of those polishing ***** because i had to polish my jdm eg headlights and corners by hand when i did this to them...i couldnt even bend my fingers for a couple days lol