How-To: Resurface Your Headlights

[GTclipse01]

This is for anyone who has headlights that are cloudy and/or peeling. Essentially, it is a simple wet-sanding/polishing process, but I figured a how-to wouldn't hurt for those who aren't familiar with this sort of thing. Obviously, this process will not clean off the inside of the headlight.. there are several other How-To's that describe all of that. This whole process takes about 30-45 minutes at most.


Supplies:
Sandpaper (1pc each- 1000 grit, 1500 grit, 2000 grit, 2500 grit)
Plastic restoration polish
Flannel cloth

(You can simply pick this up as a kit (i.e. Permatex Headlight Lens Resurfacing Kit) for about 15$, or you can pick it all up separately.)

Before:


Step 1: Let sandpaper sit in water for about 10 minutes- wash off the headlight while you wait.

Step 2: Start with the 1000 grit sandpaper. Use firm strokes in ONE DIRECTION (if you use circular motions the polishing process will not work as well), lubricating the sandpaper with water as necessary. You should spend about 8-10 minutes on this step.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 with the 1500, 2000, and 2500 grit sandpapers, washing off the headlight occasionally.

This is what you should see when you are done with the sandpaper- yes, it is supposed to look cloudy and scratched up at this point:


Step 4: Wash the headlight off and dry it well. This gets any abrasive particles out of the way so you don't scratch up the light even more as you are trying to polish it.

Step 5: Apply a small amount of resurfacing polish to the cloth. In a circular motion (you will have to apply a good amount of pressure), work the polishing agent into the headlight. I had to repeat this step several times to get a decent shine out of it- this step probably took me about 15-20 minutes by itself.

Step 6 - Wash and dry once more, step back, and admire your work!

In the end, this is how it came out.. you can really see the difference, especially in the shine on the headlight- the reflection is nearly twice as bright:


Just to compare, the driver's side was resurfaced, and the passenger side is almost brand new-


Hope this helps!

[kOMPRESSOR]

Did you do this because BRM's headlights look like poop?

[H8R]

A clear lens would not help those ugly ass PROJECTORS that you have BRM. Good How-To Teddy!

[crpearce]

Thanks for posting this up, Teddy. I'm going to do this for my Sonars because I have the same problem.