Gerson

iTrader: (1)

Nice job. Need to do that on my ES300 as well, when I get done rebuilding my engine and resealing the transmission.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

I'm kinda confused about something ?

1.Before you put on the Dupli-Color Acrylic Enamel, did you have the clear finish that you wanted ?

2. Did you put the Dupli-Color Acrylic Enamel, on to help polish/clear the lens, or to seal them from going yellow again ?

rgeyer

After wet sanding I was left with a white clouded surface, you could not see through it. This is because the surface was still too rough to see through clearly.

Conventional wisdom is that you would use a plastic polish to buff everything down to the same height to get the clear finish. Instead I sprayed the clear coat on to fill in the "scratches" left by the wet sanding, and to protect the lens a bit. This still left a slightly wavy finish, which is why I did the second wet sanding, then buffing to make it mirror smooth. :-)

DallasSC

iTrader: (1)

Great job with the headlight resto! I just bought a sc400 with yellowing headlights and this is a great thread if I choose to go the DIY route.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^^ there's also the same thread in the detailing forum, at the top.

fatboypup

I used the turtle wax headlight kit from walmart for like 8 bucks it came with the sanding pads the wax and a silicone sealant wipe.

intermec

I used the same thing from the same store on my in-laws car.
I didn't use the sand paper and after a few months, it started to oxidate again but I just reuse the kit to keep it up

schan1w

Do any of these restorations improve lighting conditions or are they all just cosmetic? Thanks!

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^^ Yes & no. While you sand the headlight, it actually reduces the coating that comes on them from the factory [mind you the sun does this itself over the years, hence yellowing out]... Anyways, it's like teeth you remove a little enamel then you have to be that much more agressive with the cleaning.

In teh case of headlights, once you sand them and 'restore' them it's a temporary fix. you will find yourself having to restore them [example] 6 mos. down the road -> then 3 mos, etc.

The best way to do this is do the full restoration and get something like clear lamin-x or a similar vinyl to provide the protection you had just 'removed' per say.

While the kits remove the yellow which improves light output and it becomes clear and not with a hint of yellow, to they're beneficial in that sense.

fatboypup

yeah there is enough stuff to do like 50 cars lol

12340987

Is that the clear coat that says "UV protection" somewhere on it? I was thinking of using it on mine but wasn't sure if it would cure nice and clear, but you have excellent results.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

As long as you apply it in the recommended settings on the can, it'll dry clear. If it is wavy then there is orange peel and that can be fixed with a light wetsand and polish

rgeyer

I didn't have a lot of choices for clear coats in aerosol cans locally. I did want one with UV protection, but if I recall correctly the clear I got doesn't claim to have UV protection. I just used what I could find.

Like eyezack87 said though, any clear (if applied according to the instructions) will dry nice and clear. I did have to wet sand and polish to get the "glass smooth" finish, it was "foggier" after I applied it initially.

bbunES300

great write up! those headlights look brand new. will give this a try.

qwikrex

Just a quick update..

While the initial result was amazing, my headlights did eventually yellow again. You can see some recent photos of it in this Google Plus post.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/11135396...ts/3zFuRrH1SWD

As pointed out by a few folks in the thread, I could have, and should have used a better UV resistant clearcoat. I'm going to re-do this process with a higher quality clearcoat. I intend to do this with a kit sold by Griots Garage, where I buy most of my car care and detailing supplies. I'll post details here when I've completed it.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...ortby=ourPicks