what grit for headlights?

[joaks]

So I used the Rain-X headlight kit on my headlights and had a nice improvement but I think I need to go through the process again. I still have all of the ingredients but I completely killed the sandpaper that comes in the kit. Does anyone know what grit to use as a replacement? I might benefit from starting with one that is slightly more coarse than came with the kit originally.
Thanks!

[Chris Thompson]

Re: what grit for headlights?

3m makes an excellent kit for restoring headlights. As long as you have a power drill, that is probably your best route. It starts with a 500 grit sanding disc and goes up to 2000 grit. The final step is a 3000 grit sanding pad. It's very user friendly and as long as you tape off your headlights, you wont ruin anything.

[Megafast13]

Re: what grit for headlights?

Go to your local walmart and go to the automotive/DIY Painting section.

Look for the 3M sandpaper. You want to get 2000Grit, 3000Grit and/or 2500Grit.

After going through the sanding process use Meguiars M105 (or Ultimate Compound) and PlastX

[Michael Stoops]

Re: what grit for headlights?

What we've done during Thursday Night Open Garage sessions is to use our new 3" sanding/finishing discs and then finish off with the wool pad from the consumer headlight kit and some PlastX. We use 1000 grit finishing disc to start, then follow with 3000 grit finishing, and then finish off with the wool pad on a drill and some PlastX.

On extremely oxidized and damaged lenses our Professional Headlight and Spot Repair Kit offers grit as coarse as 320 (dry) for initial sanding and then progressively finer from there. It is amazing what can be done to bring truly horrible lenses back to life.

[mis3]

Re: what grit for headlights?

I have used PlastX with little success on my headlights.

Should I use SwirlX (or water) with 200-grit sandpapers? Using sandpaper scares me a bit, it sounds aggressive. I don't have a rotary so I will be using it by hand.

[Fly Bye]

Re: what grit for headlights?

200-grit sandpaper?

200 grit is pretty coarse.

[mis3]

Re: what grit for headlights?

You're right.

I meant 2000 grit.

[skipper1]

Re: what grit for headlights?

Is it possible to use your G110v2 with the S3BP backing plate and S3FIS interface and sanding discs to do a headlight restoration? Also, what speed would you use? I guess on the final step you would want to use a W8204 and Plastix?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: what grit for headlights?

I have used PlastX with little success on my headlights.

Should I use SwirlX (or water) with 200-grit sandpapers? Using sandpaper scares me a bit, it sounds aggressive. I don't have a rotary so I will be using it by hand.

Now that we've established you actually meant 2000 grit, let's continue with the rest of your question/concerns. You want to use water as the lube, not SwirlX or any other paint cleaner. Using sandpaper might sound aggressive, and it certainly can be if you go with a very coarse grit paper, but even 1000 grit isn't terribly aggressive - if used correctly. One thing you never want to do is use sandpaper literally "by hand". You should always have an interface pad of some sort otherwise you end up with pressure points from your fingers and very uneven sanding. It's wise to tape off the surrounding body work, and then use a sanding pad with the paper wrapped around it. Our S3HP hand pad used with our 1000 grit and 3000 grit 3" finishing discs is a great combination for correcting even very badly yellowed and oxidized headlights. The first run of 1000 grit will make the lights look very frosted and dull, which sometimes does scare people () but the 3000 grit follow up starts to bring the shine back. Removal of the 3000 grit sanding marks is then a piece of cake with some PlastX and either the wool pad from the consumer headlight restoration kit or even a W8204 4" soft buff pad with some M105.

Is it possible to use your G110v2 with the S3BP backing plate and S3FIS interface and sanding discs to do a headlight restoration? Also, what speed would you use? I guess on the final step you would want to use a W8204 and Plastix?

This is another option and it works quite well, provided the adjacent body panels allow easy access to the headlight lens assembly. You definitely want the foam interface pad there, and use the same grits as mentioned above. You should run the D/A at speed 3 to 4 - slower becomes more aggressive as the abrasive disc can more easily cut into the surface, faster becomes less aggressive since the disc will actually start to hydroplane on the water you're using as a lube. Follow up with M105 on a W8204 pad, chase that with M205 on a W9204 finishing pad and you should be good to go.

[skipper1]

Re: what grit for headlights?

Michael, sorry but I now have more questions.
So I should use 1000 grit starting out dry then switch to the 3000 grit and wet sand with my da on speed 3 or 4, then wrap it up with M105 on an 8204 then M205 on a 9204.
The question is, what about Meguiar's Unigrit 1000 & 3000 finishing foam pads. Couldn't the foam pads be used several times where the sand paper is history after one use? No one ever talks about the foam sanding pads and I just wanted your thoughts. Sand paper vs the foam.

[1970judge]

Re: what grit for headlights?

Here is what I did.

1) fill bucket with water and set my 2000/2500/300 paper int here to soak all day.
2) Sand with 2000 evenly, then 2500, then 3000.

3) M105

4) M205

Probably overkill but it was my first time.

[KidDetailer]

Re: what grit for headlights?

Sorry by reviving old thread. I was reading on the heavy duty restoration kit that instructed to use 1000 grit with side to side motion then the 3000 grit with up and down motion. Is there a reason why I can't just use both up and down with side to side with both sand grits?

[BillE]

Re: what grit for headlights?

By going different directions and then compounding, you can then (hopefully) see if the surface has the same 'finish'.

If you notice that you see sanding marks that going a different direction, you can then re-sand to be sure it is ll even.

OT: Why is this so hard for me to write and make sense...old age? LOL!

Bill

[Michael Stoops]

Re: what grit for headlights?

Sorry by reviving old thread. I was reading on the heavy duty restoration kit that instructed to use 1000 grit with side to side motion then the 3000 grit with up and down motion. Is there a reason why I can't just use both up and down with side to side with both sand grits?

Proper wet sanding technique will always be that a subsequent, finer grit sand paper be used in a cross cut motion. Doing so accomplishes a couple of things: 1) it takes the tops off of the previous, more aggressive sanding scratches in order to minimize material removal, and 2) if you don't do the second step properly you'll still have sanding scratches from the previous step remaining, which means you've still got the heavier scratches to buff out - cross cutting gives you a visual clue as to which sanding marks remain if you don't do it properly.

Remember, with multiple sanding steps using multiple grits of paper, the objective of every step is to totally eliminate any trace of the previous step. For example, if we're wet sanding paint and we do 1000/2000/3000 and then compound, each step is there to refine the previous step. So if your 2000 and 3000 grit sanding steps are done poorly, you're stuck trying to buff out some old 1000 grit marks. While doable, it shouldn't happen, and it just makes the process more difficult than it needs to be. We're just carrying over this "best practices" approach to the HD Headlight Kit.