Have you noticed that your headlights and tail lights oxidiez or even become yellow over time. When your headlights and tail lights were new they were coated with a ultraviolet protection layer of plastic or clearcoat paint. Over time, after being exposed to the sun and frontal rock chips as you drive this protective layer breaks down. That bare plastic will haze and even become yellow with exposure to the air and to sunlight.
To correct this problem you will need sandpaper in the following grips: 600, 800, 1200, at 1500. Place them in a bucket of warm water for at least five minutes. Use masking tape to mask off the area around your headlights and tail lights. Now in a circular motion use the 600 grit sandpaper to sand away the outer oxidized layer of plastic. Next do the same with the 800 grit sandpaper. Next wet sand again with the 1200 grit sandpaper. And finally, wet sand with the 1500 grit sandpaper.
You will now use of electric buffer with a wool pad and some compound that is rated to remove scratches created by 1500 grit sandpaper. You can buy an electric buffer and the compound you need from a local auto parts store. Apply some of the compound to each lens of about the size of a quarter. Set your buffer to about 1200 RPM and buff out the lenses being sure not to buff too long in one place. Now change the pad on your buffer to a foam pad and grab some polish. Preferably, use a polish that is rated for plastic. Apply a bead of polish to the lens then use your foam pad at about 2000 RPM. Buff every square inch of the lens that you are working on.
Now clean the lens with a detailers spray. Once the lenses clean is aclean use a high quality automotive paint sealant to lock in your headlight’s newly refinished surface. You should be reapplying the sealant at the same intervals that you wax your car.
Do this on all of your lenses and you can save a significant amount of money versus replacing your lenses because of fading and oxidation. There is one final option to permanently lock in your headlights’ new finish. You can hire a local window tinting shop to apply a clear laminate to your headlights which is rock chip proof and will require no further maintenance.
Robert Keppel founded Ace Car Reconditioning in Beaverton, OR in 2004. He is a marketing consultant to Peach State Detail, an Atlanta car detailing business.
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