HOW-TO: Restore Headlights

[beandip]

So are your headlights in your S10/Sonoma yellow or dull? want to make them to shine but dont want to spend $$$ to get new ones? Well here is what you can do to bring life back into those dull headlights.

Difficulty: EASY

Time: 2-4+ hours (depending on condition of headlights) Total elapsed time for just one headlight in the making of this how-to.....2 Hours.

Items needed

Paper Towels
Microfiber cloth
Spray bottle with water
800 grit wet/dry sandpaper
1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
Blue Magic Metal Polish
Chair (optional)




STEP 1

Spray water over the headlight and get the entire surface wet.
(my headlights are not yellow/dull now but i decided to redo them just for this HOW-TO)



STEP 2

Wet sand the entire area with 800 grit while keeping the area wet with the spray bottle. Do not worry about sanding too much because the headlight lens is think and with 800 grit it would take you forever to sand through it.

*TIP* Turn the headlight on and use the light to see any imperfections in the lens before continuing to the next step. In some severe cases the lens will have small cracks through the plastic that cannot be removed. Use good judgment and you will be fine. Also if you want you can remove the headlight if its easier for you to work on it but for me i decided to keep it on the truck.



STEP 3

Wet sand the area again with 1000 grit after you are satisfied with the headlight appearance. This will make polishing the headlight easier since you have to remove 1000 grit scratches instead of 800. Not much wet sanding is needed here, just give it a general sanding.




STEP 4

Now its time for the polishing. Wipe the headlight with the paper towels to dry them off. Then get a clean microfiber cloth and apply some Blue Magic Polish to the headlight in a circular motion. I usually polish one area at a time.




A quick buff and you can see it starting to look better.




STEP 5

Continue polishing your area with a microfiber cloth. The polish will not change color but polish a minute or two then wipe away and repeat, apply as necessary.





After polishing awhile you can see that the polish is doing its job and the headlight is starting to look like new. The area is not done yet, it still looks a little dull but just keep polishing until you get it to really shine.




Fast forward a little bit and you can see i have the high and low beam area done. The low beam still needs to be touched up some but overall its looking good.

You can see im starting to work on the lower part of the headlight and the side.




Bottom of the headlight is almost done, expect to spend some time with polishing and DO NOT TRY TO USE A DREMEL, if you want you can try using MOTHERS Powerball but personally i have not tried it so i cant tell you how it works.




FINALLY! after all that work you should have this, a fully restored headlight you can be proud of.

So now after all that you work need to do the other side. Im sure after you do just one side you need to take a break and i bet your arm feels like its about to fall off. At least you saved your self some $$$ and restored your headlights to their former shine.

You may also be wondering if they will just turn dull again, the answer is yes but every 4 months just give them a quick buff with the Blue Magic polish, just a quick 5 minute buff to keep them looking like new. The second pic is how my headlights looked like a YEAR later. Just re-polish when necessary.








Now thats what im talking about and that is the low beams too
(Relay mod was done in the following pic. Individual results may vary.)



So if you have any questions feel free to give me a PM or just post them here. If any of the images do not work in the future PM me and i will send them to you. Mods, Please sticky this IF its sticky worthy.

Hope this how-to helps out.

-Jonathan

[lee-mill]

wouldnt it be easyer taking the light out? other then that great how to

[hamagc]

[bobditts]

Awesome write up!!!!! This is exactly what I need. Have you tried plasticX plastic polish instead of the metal polish? what about rubbing compound?

[sykominitrkr]

If you did that just, because they were yellow, you coulda just used a good degreaser, and some wax. If they were faded, then a buffer, and some compound works nicely as well, but at an intermediate speed, so you don't melt/burn the plasic... nice job though.

[hghtchtnr]

i did this with the mothers powerball and some rubbing compound worked pretty good still gotta finish them up awesome write up

[beandip]

Quote: Originally Posted by sykominitrkr

If you did that just, because they were yellow, you coulda just used a good degreaser, and some wax. If they were faded, then a buffer, and some compound works nicely as well, but at an intermediate speed, so you don't melt/burn the plasic... nice job though.

Not just because they were yellow, most of the time the headlights get oxidized and cloudy, if you look at the surface its cracked up and the only way to repair it is to sand off the layer. kind of like how you can wetsand a clear coat the buff it for a mirror smooth finish.

Quote: Originally Posted by bobditts

Awesome write up!!!!! This is exactly what I need. Have you tried plasticX plastic polish instead of the metal polish? what about rubbing compound?

I haven't used that before but blue magic removes oxidation from fiberglass, its not just for metal.

[sykominitrkr]

Ahh... yeah, definately the right choice then... good job!

[BlkS10Kid2002]

guess whos havin fun with their grand cherokee and mothers ball this weekend...

[wagonproject]

Nice write up. But damn only up to 1000 grit? I usually go to 2500 to 3000 on lights before I hit them with the rotary.

[beandip]

Quote: Originally Posted by wagonproject

Nice write up. But damn only up to 1000 grit? I usually go to 2500 to 3000 on lights before I hit them with the rotary.

well, yeah if i had 2500 grit i would but its alot better than polishing from 800 grit

[yz85608]

hey beandip, what are the nipples on the headlights for?
could those bet taken of with a cutoff wheel?
thanks

[beandip]

Quote: Originally Posted by yz85608

hey beandip, what are the nipples on the headlights for?
could those bet taken of with a cutoff wheel?
thanks

lol well i was wondering the same thing, maybe from the molding process . I was thinking about cutting mine off because it would make sanding the headlights easier and they would look better. i wasnt sure how thick the lens is after i cut them off so i just kept them.

[96Dropped-dime]

Quote: Originally Posted by yz85608

hey beandip, what are the nipples on the headlights for?
could those bet taken of with a cutoff wheel?
thanks

The pegs on the lights are for headlight aimers/aligning kits

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

[x98zq8x]

Nice thread im doing that today

[beandip]

Thanks

also referring to post #14 i finally got rid of those pegs on the headlight.

The thread can be found here ------->http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f72/ho...emoval-405959/

[Skully]

What is the relay mod,what does it do and can it be done to a 1st Gen.

[beandip]

yes the relay mod can be done to a 1st gen, here is the threads to show you how, same basic principles apply to first or second gens.

pic version
http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f62/he...o-98-a-375445/

written version
http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f199/h...rewire-195221/

[carolinaboy]

hey i know a much easier and faster way....its called mequiars plastx and its about 6 dollars and it looks 10 times better than what his looks

[beandip]

Quote: Originally Posted by carolinaboy

hey i know a much easier and faster way....its called mequiars plastx and its about 6 dollars and it looks 10 times better than what his looks

haha

mine look BRAND NEW. look at them in direct sunlight and you cant even tell they were faded at anytime so honestly i cant see how they can get better.

btw i say because i would love to see anyone spend hours and hours buffing (with a buffer or by hand) to get the layer of oxidation off which some cases can be soo bad it looked like dried up mud with all the little cracks. that must be some aggressive compound to get rid of that severe oxidation and able its able to polish to a perfect finish? The ONLY way that stuff (or any plastic polish) would work is with light oxidation but even then you still have the surface defects from the oxidation and not a "new" smooth layer of plastic (though it would be clear).

the easiest way is to sand the problem layer off then use your choice of plastic polish to polish them. i use blue magic because it works and other people have seen the results.


take this for example.

a friend of mines Nissan altima.

the headlights were soo bad she complained she couldnt see at night. you cant even see the bulbs!!

BEFORE


After


Comparison before/after


Honestly those are some badass results for what you call a "longer and harder" process. Its hard to believe you can get it looking 10x better than that, unless you compare the left from the right .

So lets see your headlight before and after with your "easier" way.

[tt85_GM]

nice work bean, dont listen to carolina boy, wet sanding works better. I wonder if it would look any better or last longer if you were to use 2000 grit, I got some sandpaper left over from polishing my ZQ8's, good time to use it up

[untchabl]

Thanks for the how-to. Did one light this weekend and hope to do the other one day this week. Works great and looks much better now.

[DrptS10]

mine didnt have any fading or that yellow film on them, so i didnt bother sanding them but i did polish them. They look better then they did but not as nice as yours. I couldnt find that blue magic so i used turtle wax polish compound.

[s10gmconversion]

Quote: Originally Posted by carolinaboy

hey i know a much easier and faster way....its called mequiars plastx and its about 6 dollars and it looks 10 times better than what his looks

hey.. i know someone thats been here alot longer than you and knows what he is doing (beandip). he was just giving an option he didnt say it was the only way. thanks for your input tho

[S10_QC]

does this work good??? its headlight lens restorer and its blue magic

[beandip]

probably would work just fine but personally i would stick to what i know works

if you want to you can give it a shot. im sure any (reputable brand) plastic polish would work just fine though.

[S-10_man66]

I work at a detail shop and we charge $25.00 dollars to do that but we to 800 to 2000 grit and use a wool pad on a buffer with some gritty compound and it comes out beautiful. You did a good job looks awesome

[dimedragin22s]

i strat with 320 and work up to 3000, buff with a highspeed and foam pad and they be new again just keep them waxed and the'll stay like that takes me about 15mins a pair, thats how i do them at my shop

[GeorgesBlazah]

You should probably add tape around the headlights so people dont accedently sand some of their paint. Nice write up though.