Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning)

[eric96ser]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

Nice work! It's the things like that that really separate "true" detailer's (I think) Lastly, Why is your buffer all wrapped in painters tape?

I'm guessing that was to protect the paint on the bumper from the buffer hitting it.

[G Force]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

The UV coating I am referring to is an integral coating on the light and not a film overlay. It is invisible but becomes visible as patches form due to wear over time or if someone sands the lights. The patches will produce a white powder as this layer is being removed.

If you had a film on your lights, there probably was a coating on the lights below this film. So when you removed the film and sanded the lights, if your lights had the coating, it will be gone.

Again, it is not a visible film like the 3M film often used. It is a coating on the plastic itself.

As for the effects of UV, from my understanding, UV penetrates into the plastic rather than just on the surface.

Tim

Thanks ,true i had a coating under the genuine damaged dark film,it took about 10hours to get 1 head light clean all by hand,i notice that all make of vehicles are affected .(i was wrong to think that the dark film was the uv protector)

[G Force]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

The headlights look clearer nice improvement .

However, if automakers would go back to (glass lenses) instead of that cheap plastic. We wouldn't have to take drastic measures like sanding away the UV protection, keep those lenses protected now more than ever ...Joe

[scuderiavw]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

real good job

[Kman]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

Awesome job! Where did you get the sand paper from?

[stealth]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

Outstanding work & write up. Thanx 4 sharing.

[MDetail]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

mmmm, those headlights look sexy!

[andyp]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

I would also like to be kept posted on whether your headlights now deteriorate because of the work you have done.

They look as good as new from here.

[Justin Murphy]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

I've done 100's of headlights like this and have never had them come back to me worse than before I fixed them. I'm sure there's always the potential though. I was just not that concerned about removing a coating that didn't work to begin with.

Excellent write up and results.

[G Force]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

I would also like to be kept posted on whether your headlights now deteriorate because of the work you have done.

They look as good as new from here.

The most time consuming part of the recon is to wet sand the head lights,nice and smooth .On my car i do a quick wet sand with 2000 grit each three or four months to renew the product that makes them transparent and shiny. PlastX is not available where i live.I first wet sanded the head lights about one year ago,still going strong in the tropics.

[Motodevil]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

Hello all,
I'm new to the forums, and this subject is of particular interest to me...
Thought I would throw out a couple of things about this method and possible consequence. I have used this method on my lights and those of friends and family, and would like to get a small business going doing this in my area. Mine are doing fine after a couple of months driving in the sandy winter conditions of Colorado. I did some for a friend last summer and they too still look good. Using PlastX as a final protective step.
I fully agree that of course you should always use the least aggressive yet effective method when restoring headlights. After some research and thought, I have some things to offer up, perhaps to educate some of you, or perhaps you will educate me.
The UV protection concern.
According to some of the above comments, this does not seem to be something applied to ALL headlights, I would assume the older and less pricey the vehicle, the less likely it has such protection.
Like paint, your plastic headlights suffer the ills of the environment they are exposed to, and therefore need upkeep and protection. If this is not done, they will deteriorate.The harsher the environs, the quicker the deterioration. Within a few years, this UV protection is likely to wear off with heavily damaged lights as well (statistically most americans only keep their cars for about 5 years, but what about those of us with used cars?). If your lights are damaged enough to require sanding, you may not have much, if any UV protection left anyway. Obviously, the Audi lights in the pictures were not such an example, to me it looked like mostly a cosmetic issue due to minor pitting. By the way, they did look absolutely fantastic when done!!! Phenomenal job!!!

*The damage I am referring to is the corrosion and oxidization that causes heavy fogging and serious loss of light output and light pattern at night...
The only product I am aware of that will prevent pitting and rock chips to your lights would be some sort of protective film.*

Restoring the UV protection?
There are products out there that claim to use polymers that also have UV inhibitors specifically designed for plastic. If you do need to sand your lights, these products used 4 or 3 times a year should keep your lights looking new indefinitely. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, please let me know!!! Worth your 5 minutes a few times a year?
Weakening the headlight...A concern not mentioned, perhaps for a reason?
Some claim, mostly those selling some sort of acrylic coating to cover up damage, that when you sand down lights, you are terminally weakening them. Not likely. The polycarbonate used to make your headlights is chosen for its strength and resiliency especially regarding impact resistance, if something hits your lights hard enough to break them, a few hundredths is unlikely to have made much difference. (Unfortunately, polycarbonate is not know for it's resistance to environmental and chemical damage)

Obviously the best solution would be to keep your lights well maintained from the beginning, but if you didn't, and don't want to drop several hundred dollars on new ones, resurfacing and a regimen of upkeep (which you should have been doing the whole time, along with the rest of your car) should do the trick to keep oxidization and heavy corrosion at bay.

Any further comments and information would be appreciated, obviously I would like to give my current and future clients the best service and advice possible.

I am about to do a friends lights that are in horrible condition, I will try to post before and after pictures here within a week or so. Hopefully some including the difference at night. I will also try to let you know how they hold up over time. (with a little upkeep, of course!!)
Cheers,
Erik

[rebelde33]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

Great results!

[Hemin8r]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

Great write up and pictures. Is the UV protection outside of the headlamp or on the inside?

[cafemoc]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

How can you figure out how much(thickness) UV protective coatings are on your headlight?
How long coating would protect your lights from becoming yellow?

Headlight looks fantastic, and write up is really nice!

[CherryGTI]

Re: Audi headlight reconditioning by wetsanding and Rotary (pics inside!! 56K warning

all i can say is - Brand New