LovelyIdol

You can shine anything up, but like my pictures show, even though the cleaning and light hand polishing helped, the chips and pitting from sand, gravel, etc will never completely go away.

It just depends on what YOU want them to look like. If you want really really good condition ones, buy new ones from lexus. If you are okay with a little cut and buff look, then do that.

Side note: my hid's are brighter and project further after my 2 minute job I did on the headlights for reference

Lukas99GS

Can anyone speak for opti lens or anothe sealant, I want to wet sand mine but have heard after you do it once they yellow up faster than before, so I was thinking of putting some kind of sealant on

monkey92

iTrader: (3)

ive personally used opti lens on about 3 cars. so far so good, its doing what its advertising it does.

raytseng

Not true, read my post regarding applying a PPF on top.

SC4Paulo

iTrader: (2)

To clear up confusion about wetsanding etc... ill put my two cents in.
Is it true that wetsanding will make it faster to fade back to yellow? Yes.
Why? Because on factory headlights there is an Anti UV protection film/tint on top of the plastic keeping the lens from fading. Over time it fades away.
What wetsanding does is remove this UV Protecion film and makes it faster to fade back again.
When you wetsand you need to apply a sealant on the plastic that will protect it from fading again or as quick.
I have heard nothing but good things from opticoat. If you go the opticoat route, polish and buff your headlight as clean and spot free as possible to ensure a nice looking light and then seal it.

You can also get rid of most imperfections by sanding the heck out of it until all the scratches and pits are gone. then polish and seal.

i get people asking me why I havent polished my headlights yet, the reason in my case is my headlights arent that bad to the point where ill need to wetsand and polish them again. I am ok with a little fading at the top and having the original sealant on versue having to keep buffing and polishing every month. (Vegas is harsh) When my whole light is faded and oxidized, then ill break out the 1500-2k sand paper and the buffer. For now giving a little to keep a lot is worth it for me.

RamAirRckt

I use Brasso, works fantastic.

LovelyIdol

It is true, everything about it.


Like I said, you want perfect headlights, you need to buy new ones.

hcharlesc3

iTrader: (4)

Tried this last night using the non-acetone nail polish remover from wal-mart and the results were nowhere near what we saw in the video. I used the same cotton pads that he used in the video and it left streaks and haze. I ended up using mothers polish to get off the haze.

hcharlesc3

iTrader: (4)

Do you mind telling me the process you used with the brasso?

Lukas99GS

I also did it, same thing happened it completely fogged up til I polished it, but at least the yellow is gone now

pheonix72

iTrader: (6)

I did mine over the weekend and worked just like it shown on the video! I think you might have used too much Acetone; I lightly damp the cotton ***** and wiped fast (not allow the liquid to saturated the surface).
Now, let's see how long they will last.

hcharlesc3

iTrader: (4)

Did your polish remover have acetone?

Can you post come pictures of before and after?

LovelyIdol

The car has been sitting in the sun every single day, the headlights still look the same.

Keep in mind I did a very very very quick process and even with it being a hooker version of the process, they still look the same as they did a few weeks ago in the pictures.


I wouldn't necessarily suggest a wetsand and buff ever because of the coatings that are on the headlights, however I WOULD recommend a professional wet sanding and clear coating them if they are not too beat up.

Briand_OH

Um, my $0.02 on NOT reading this through:

Acetone is probably contraindicated on polycarbonate. Might show "crazing" later.

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vapor_polishing
And:

Sodium hypochlorite bleach and other alkali cleaners catalyze the release of the bisphenol A from polycarbonate containers.[20][21] A chemical compatibility chart shows that polycarbonate is incompatible with ammonia and acetone because it dissolves in their presence.[22] Alcohol is one recommended organic solvent for cleaning grease and oils from polycarbonate.