Thomistopheles Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 Mine had some 5 year old rockblocker film baked on. 3M adhesive remover will take that thick residue right off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 way cool, i have some at the shop too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny5280 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 This weekend I used this tutorial to clean and polish the headlights on my Outback and I must say I am very pleased with the results. However I have not yet applied the urethane protectant as I need to obtain a suitable type of cloth for the application (will pick it up in the next day or two). Before doing so I had a few questions: Would it be OK to use one of those foam corner paint brushes to apply the protectant? Seems like it would be easier than a cloth but I'm OK with the cloth if the foam brush is not suitable.Is it OK to apply the protectant while the headlight assemblies are installed in the vehicle? I'm concerned the protectant might run if applied while the assemblies are in the vehicle (I assume it would if an excessive amount were used).How would I correct a bad application of the protectant? Would I have to sand it down again? Or can the mineral spirts remove an uncured application?It looks as if a 50/50 mix of urethane and mineral spirits is recommended. Can you confirm this? Thanks for the great tutorial. I followed it and I'm very pleased with the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomistopheles Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 The foam brushes are pretty bad about making air bubbles. Mask the surrounding paint before applying the urethane. Mineral spirits can be used to correct any mistakes, or you can sand it down after it cures. 50/50 is a good starting point. I've been using Optimum Polymer Technologies Opti-lens headlight coating for a while now, application is faster and easier than the urethane. I'd recommend it if you have more than one set of lights to do, since the coating is a bit expensive to buy for just one set. $60 for 10cc (does about 10 sets of lights). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny5280 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Thanks for the additional information. I'll pick up some of the blue towels you mentioned. I already have the urethane so I'll move forward with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnstrmech Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 the Helmsmans urethane/mineral spirits combo is AMAZING!!!!! I have done several cars with that and they look better than new..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny5280 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 the Helmsmans urethane/mineral spirits combo is AMAZING!!!!! I have done several cars with that and they look better than new..... Hole-E-Shist! I second this. I just got around to applying the urethane / mineral spirits and wow! My lights looks just as good as new! I had some reservations about the difficulty of applying the urethane / mineral spirits but it ended up being so much easier than I expected. While I masked off the surrounding area per Thomistopheles's recommendation I found it really wasn't necessary if you're careful. The application was much, much easier than I expected. No problems with bubbles or anything of the like. Hats off to Thomistopheles for his guide. Though the cost of materials was ~ $100 I now have a like new set of lights. And now I have the materials for future use. Even did my neighbors Izuzu and it took all of 30 minutes to restore his lights to like new condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regardie Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 the Helmsmans urethane/mineral spirits combo is AMAZING!!!!! I have done several cars with that and they look better than new..... I just did this with my headlights and they look pretty good for a second (or third?) attempt. I did one set with the Meguiars Plastix and the pad that came with the kit, not so good. I then moved to the 3M kit and it worked pretty well but I didn't do the Helmsman Spar step and they yellowed pretty quickly. New car and I needed to do the headlights so I started with the 3M kit, added wet sanding 1500 and 2000 by hand and Meguiars Ultimate Compound with the Compound Pad from yet another kit and liked where it got me. I then tried the Plastix but I didn't like the results so I did another pass of the Ultimate. I did not sand down enough to take out some deep gouges on my 14 year old lights, I thought little ones would be ok. I was surprised when I opened the Helmsman and it seemed really dark. I thinned i and started spreading it anyway. I used the heat gun trick since I had pulled the lights to do the job in the house at the slop sink and I was working on a tight timetable. I dried it until it was tacky and applied the second coat and did the same for the third coat. The lights came out pretty well but now I have questions. Did anyone do a sanding pass between coats? I didn't and I am wondering if it would come out better with some sanding between coats. In the very limited search I did I could not find M105 and M205 so I got some Ultimate with a DA pad and I was hoping the Plastix would serve as the M205 substitute but it didn't work out quite so well. Will I run into any problem skipping the polishing step? Thank again for the write up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winesalot Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 For the M105 and M205 steps I assume you are using an orbital buffet, correct? How would I take these steps if I do not have a buffer available to me? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny5280 Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 For the M105 and M205 steps I assume you are using an orbital buffet, correct? How would I take these steps if I do not have a buffer available to me? I hand polished my headlights. No need for a buffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadvw Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 So, Thomistopheles - do you offer light restoration as a service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winesalot Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/25/d2063d4558648f61386c0dae9f7fa13d.jpg Turned out great!!! I used 500/800/1200/1500 grit followed by toothpaste and then the helmans-mineral spirits applied with a blue paper towel. They are not new perfect but I am thrilled. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flinkly Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 yeah, i need to do this. as for getting it perfect, while i am a perfectionist, ANYTHING would be better than my foggy lights. yours look great. * Build Thread * 26.53 MPG - 12 month Average * Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brokentv Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I will definitely be doing this. My headlights are not doing so good. And my fog lights only have a faint glow lol. http://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?pictureid=9865&albumid=2065&dl=1413569970&thumb=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96legacyls Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 i use bug spray, i spray it on a paper towel wipe lens clean and dry it with clean paper tower. try it if u dont believe me its bot perfect but it works great and takes 1 min Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 yup, its the DEET in the sprays that does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96legacyls Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 i found out on accident one day mountain biking sprayed myself and got some on the headlight and bumper on accident wiped it off and i had a part clear headlight to i finished and was amazed lol ive spent countless hours restoring headlights wish i had known long time ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenva Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 How long does the UV protection in the spar urethane last. I noticed that the OP was done over a year & a half ago. I just recently used a kit by a company called Dvelup. Clarity is remarkable. Unsure of the longevity. Update: 5 1/2 months and still perfect RIP 96 Legacy 2.2 4EAT lost reverse @ 374,000 miles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96legacyls Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 they will always fog back up unless u maintain them on a normal basis. some lasts longer then others. this another reason i use bug spray its cheap and lasts awhile. i do it every oil change just so i dont have to worry bout em fogging back up its kinda overkill doing it every oil change but so is cleaning the engine bay and evrything else i do every oil change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 How long does the UV protection in the spar urethane last. I noticed that the OP was done over a year & a half ago. I just recently used a kit by a company called Dvelup. Clarity is remarkable. Unsure of the longevity. I did a guy's mini van and I'd say in 2 years it's back to full cloudy again, the uspar DOES last longer then the ready made stuff you find in stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunny5280 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 How long does the UV protection in the spar urethane last. I noticed that the OP was done over a year & a half ago. I just recently used a kit by a company called Dvelup. Clarity is remarkable. Unsure of the longevity. 15 months and the ones I did still look new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhitter Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 anything against wetsanding them and then spraying the lenses with a UV clear coat? My OBXT build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dispatch20 Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I did 400/800/1000/1500/2000 followed by 105 and 205 polish tonight and some coats of cut down Valspar UV clear urethane. It came out great! Not too hard of a job. I did it manually with sandpaper in my hand and 2 hand polish pads. One thing I learned was that the lenses will still look really hazy and scratchy after the 205 polish. I thought I did something wrong. However, the Valspar clear coats over with a nice gloss and removes the haze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanchitosonria Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Necrobumping the thread to say thanks to Thomistopheles and show off my results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PingPong Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 To add information about the longevity of this repair, I did 5 coats with the headlights removed from the car when I tried this, best case scenario. The coating lasted about 2 years before peeling off. This is facing the winters in the frigid north, and the hot summers adventuring through the back roads of the prairies. When it peals off, it leaves no residue and only needs a clean before it is ready to re-coat. Although this is nowhere near as robust as the factory UV protection, the end results look nice and well worth the maintenance of a re-coat every 2-3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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