PlastX -vs- Tail lights

[Superior Shine]

I recently bought a beat up 88 ford f250 pick up truck. The tail light were in super bad condition as you can well see. They are scratched, faded and have white (paint transfer )scuff marks from who knows what.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_179-med.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_180-med.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_182-med.jpg

[Superior Shine]

I first washed them then started sanding the deep scratches out with 400 grit wet/dry sand paper.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_187-med.jpg

I followed the 400 grit with 1500 grit and sanded the entire lens.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_185-med.jpg

Here you can see a pretty smooth surface with very few defects.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_190-med.jpg

[Superior Shine]

I have polished out hundreds of smaal parts over the years and I find the easiest way to do it is to mount the buffer in a bench vise and run the part on the pad as you see me doing in this pic.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_191-med.jpg

[Superior Shine]

I used plastX only to polish out the lens. It took about 10 minutes to do. I followed with a coat of #20. The lens isn't perfect but it is more than acceptable.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_194-med.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_195.jpg

[Tim Lingor]

WOW!!!! Awesome job Joe!!!!!! :bow :bow :bow

The lights look fantastic!!! :xyxthumbs

From this.... :eek:

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_180-med.jpg

To this.....Awesome!!! :bigups

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184Pictures_1_194-med.jpg

Cheers!

Tim

[Mike Phillips]

Nice work as always Joe!

Thanks for sharing your tip for working with small parts with our forum too. Sometimes the little things, are the big things, like your technique for using a vice to clamp and hold your rotary buffer.

:xyxthumbs :xyxthumbs :xyxthumbs

[travisdecpn]

Wow, what an outstanding improvement. Those look brand new, great work.

[Stepinfetch]

Great job! Thumbs up.

[Andy M.]

They look great!!!! Maybe I should try it on my Impala. They aren't as bad as yours were, but your tips should help. Thanks for the info.

Andy

[Buellwinkle]

If the tail lights look like that, I can imagine what the rest of the truck looks like. Let's see some before/after pics on the rest of truck when it's ready.

[jks79ta]

Killer job. Looks great :coolgleam

[flipper]

nice work

[gb387]

Looks great!

Like the little tip on mounting the buffer in a vise, great idea.

I am always surprised how well neglected plastic can look after a little work.

[2000]

WOW! Great job!:bow
just don't let go of the light while the buffers running:D

awsome improvement.

[vicvic]

Nice work man.. I will give that a try!

[TKDDAD]

Awesome results as usual....I have a nasty pair of headlights coming in on a friends car that I'm doing this weekend and will definitely be trying PlastX on them to see what it can do...not comfortable enough to start sanding away just yet...thanks for sharing

[roushstage2]

Great job. I think I'll be getting some PlastX. My taillights on my 86 F150 looks like what yours did after the wet sanding and was wandering if this stuff would do exactly what it did. :bow

[frustrateddetailer]

ddddaaaaaammmmmnnnnnn. . . . . that's real nice! ! ! :bow

[Five Star]

Joe,

You can always shoot a coat of clear over the lens.

It's a trick I learned from restoring headlights. seals everything up and prevents further oxidation