# I've begun to sand my headlights. Need suggestions on polishing.



## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

I have some original Nis-knacks projectors on my car and I'm still very hesitant to give them up. The lenses are all yellowed and the surface has tiny dimples and surface cracking (not actually a crack, but just aged).

After hearing from a friend who's done it, I decided to wet sand my headlights and see if I can get the lenses looking like new again. I started it today. First with 180grit, then up to 320grit, then 600grit. I wish they sold finer sand paper at lowes, I might see if I can find any 1000grit before I polish it.

So, now the surface is smooth, but, of course, they're foggy. I need to get some polishing compound tomorrow and polish the crap out of them. What polish should I use and what method of polishing would be most effective?

Should I use good ol' elbow grease or should I find an attachment for my 18V drill and polish with that?


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Why not get a new lens entirely. Just oven off the first and oven back on the second?
Find some broken halos to use for parts or something.

Seth


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## pete? (Jul 6, 2004)

go to any auto parts store and they should have 1k frit and 2k grit. use bot of those, then use some car paint polish, finish it with plastic polish and a good cleaner wax.


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## LIUSPEED (May 29, 2002)

use blue magic justin.. that thing works wonders... blue magic plastic/glass polishing compound.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

seth, what you're saying is next to impossible. Even though all projectors and all crystals share the exact same lense, there is not one company who will sell just the clear plastic lense. Me and Liu have tried. To find a 'broken' set of halos means to find a broken lense as well, think about it. The lense is the first item to be damaged, whether caused by impact or by melting, I would never find a damaged set of halos with the lense still in tact.

Plastic cleaner like blue magic is maintenence, it will not accomplish what I am doing. I need to wetsand the crap out of my lenses, then I need to polish them until the lense is clear.

I guess I'll see if I can find any 1k and 2k sandpaper and I'll grab some paint polishing compound and work it into the lenses.


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## xt_out (Jun 23, 2003)

good luck man, post pics when done!


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## Dustin (Dec 14, 2003)

hm, the polishing compound might work, but try to go to like a 2k wet sand, and if it comes out pretty good, then try the polishing compound. it wont work on huge gouges, just light scratches.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

Well, I finished up today. I gotta say, they look 232402302.1% better than before. All nice and clear and smooth 

Here's the process:
dry sand with 180grit
wet sand with 320grit
wet sand with 600grit
wet sand with 1000grit under running water
wet sand with 2000grit under running water
I picked up a soft rotary attachment for my 18V drill and some meguiar's deep crystal polish. I lightly spread it by hand, then used the rotary tool to spin the towel around and work it in. I did this 2x. Finally, since I couldn't find any blue magic at the store, I picked up some meguiar's PlastiX ( http://www.meguiars.com/estore/prod...astX-Clear-Plastic-Cleaner-&-Polish&sku=G-123 ) and I buffed that in with the rotary tool.

I'll take pix once they're back on.


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

here's the result:








tonight's wash:


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## NotAnotherHonda (Aug 7, 2003)

great!!! do you have any before pics?


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

no before pics that actually reveal the shape they were in.


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## pete? (Jul 6, 2004)

very very well done!


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## nitestridar (Jun 29, 2002)

came out nice. cars looking good. I miss my se-l


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## pimpride (Mar 28, 2005)

The Meguire PlastiX would have gotten near that by itself! Lol I suggest anyone try that before sanding.


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## I'm tired of my usernamee (Feb 16, 2004)

Good god man, your car is OH SO CLEAN!! Good job.


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## LIUSPEED (May 29, 2002)

it is a huge improvement from what it was.. i saw it in person at SERCA in austin that thing needed some bad cleaning. nice job justin.


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## sentrastud (May 3, 2002)

Tip for anyone else whos trying to clean theyre plastic lenses:

I used to work at a car dealer, when we were cleaning used cars with plastic lenses, we used either rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover and a sponge. Took some elbow grease but it worked pretty good.

If your going to attempt it, be sure to try a really small corner first as some brands of the above contain other chemicals and actually stained the plastics.

-Nick


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## Sentrixx (Apr 30, 2002)

So would this work now on stock ones? Because I got some new ones about a year and half ago and there is some slight foggyness getting on the top of them. So would it work????


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

I guess so, since you have a 99


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## [High-Octane] (Jun 2, 2005)

Ninety-Nine SE-L said:


> here's the result:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOOD fu(|<ing JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol im doing this shit 2 day lol ill take sum pics of before...
so you can get all this stuff at like discount auto parts????


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

and lowes for some of the sand paper


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## pimpride (Mar 28, 2005)

No, not at Lowes, at least not for the 2000grit sandpaper. I don't think they carry that, I've searched they're before. Go to an Auto Parts store and they will have it all. Try the Meguires PlastiX before sanding though, I got mine in a little sample pouch thing for a dollar at AutoZone, and it worked better than when I sanded my headlights.


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## ICP Sux0rZ! (Jan 10, 2005)

auto parts stores carry all the grit u need, and also every grit of wet paper possible, but by far my fav set of paper, is my 5ft 8mircon roll, so smooth


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## [High-Octane] (Jun 2, 2005)

ICP Sux0rZ! said:


> auto parts stores carry all the grit u need, and also every grit of wet paper possible, but by far my fav set of paper, is my 5ft 8mircon roll, so smooth


lmao thats like sanding with paper


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