Puttster

I sanded off the remnants of the factory clear film and sanded off the yellow oxidization on the other areas, all using wet 220 grit. Sanded all over with 220, 400, 600, 1000 and 1200. Cleaned with alcohol and grabbed my can of Rustoleum Clear Coat for Plastic.
For method I sprayed a light coat (about 6 passes) from about 10". Then sprayed another light coat after one minute, while the first coat was still kind of foggy. Then one more. Waited 4-5 min then sprayed a heavy coat, closer. Close enough to get some runs. Now, two hours later, it still seems foggy, kind of a matte look.

Should I sand it some and apply another coat? Should I try rubbing compound, or polish? Or just wait longer? I have one more headlight, I want to do a better job on that one. What recommendations can I get from those who have done this before?

bob2200

I haven't seen evidence of a factory coating on my headlights (2002 RX300). I have used a 2-stage plastic headlight treatment, where the first stage is a special rubbing compound and the 2nd stage is some kind of plastic sealer. I reapply every year or so and it works well for me.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

i would finish it with a rubbing compound like Plastix after the sandpaper.. maybe add a 2000 grit after the 1200.

carguy07

Puttster

On the second headlight I added a 2000 grit level, and waited longer between clear coats . Also did not spray so heavily on the last coat and only got one run. I wonder how long you are supposed to sand with each grit? After the initial sanding, I only spent a minute or two on each subsequent sanding. 2nd headlight came out better than the first one but in no way is it like new. I laid some polish on and then waxed, not much improvement. They look way better than it was, though!

SVRX300

I tried couple of kits bought from auto parts store. I tried really hard on my 2000 RX and found most 'fog' is inside the housing.
I give up for now.

b2884987

Used to do my headlights with wet sanding with 600, 1000, and 2000 grit paper, followed by painting it with clearcoat. The headlights came out as brand new, but I didn't like the orange peel.

What I did is after a month passed, I decided I wanted the orange peel to be gone. I did the wet sanding process again to remove all the clearcoat. Now, instead of applying clearcoat paint, I used a DA polisher with an orange & white pad with detailing compound & polish and it came out like new headlights. Finally, I used wax to protect the lens. All I need to do now is just maintain it by washing and waxing it every couple of months.