Refurbishing headlight lense...is it possible

[GrahamS]

Hope this is in the correct section but I am curious if anyone has attempted to sand and polish headlight covers to remove the damage from years of wear and tear rather than buy new headlights. I have had a go at cleaning and then polishing with Plast RX by Meguiars which did ok and have also had a go with wet and dry from grades 1200 through to 30000 (Alclad Micromesh polishing cloths) and am getting better results although lots of elbow grease. Any tricks of the trade or better solutions will be gladly received

Cheers
Graham

P.S Originally posted this electronics as it was lighting but in hindsight, sand and polish is probably more appropriate here. Pictures are in other section of forum if you are interested

 

[flat6buster]

have a look on the USA site I think there's a lot about it there:

E-Class (W210) - MBWorld.org Forums

probably been done on this forum too I would think

 

[flat6buster]

here you are, a bit closer to home

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/bodywork/34298-howto-refurbish-headlamps.html

 

[BillyW124]

Check the rust behind those lamps!

 

[lordlee]

The search function is your friend. Its actually very easy to do and the real key in my eyes is fastiduously masking the area around the headlight with double thickness of masking tape as I dont believe you need to remove the units to get the right finish. I would suggest soaking the wet and dry sheets in a bucket of water for 10mins before use. Also a neat trick if not mentioned in those guides is to go horizontally for a while then rinse and use vertical strokes on every grade. Scratch X is a good finishing polish but Autosol works just as well in my eyes. Dont expect results in seconds - i'd look to do at least 4-5 mins per grade of sandpaper. Also dont be alarmed when the lens goes cloudy as this is perfectly normal and will improve with grit level of paper. The final polish will sort everything out to a nice clear finish. Happy sanding/polishing!!

 

[lordlee]

Having looked at those pictures I am in one of two minds - which maybe you can clear one thing up. I think either a) the OSF lens is not the original or b) the NS lens needs to be seperated and the inside cleaned out as it looks milky. Milkiness (is that even a word?) is usually there from prolonged spells of moisture in the unit and is entirely different to the laquer problem that you will see on most Mercedes of this period. the laquer problem is caused by the clearcoat getting chipped and water getting behind it causing the horrible yellowing that many cars suffer from. Rather like most polished rim alloys Mercedes used to do.

 

[GrahamS]

In my pics I think the drivers side is new and the passenger is the original. I have polished out scratches in model making plastic and have been scared by the initial phases and surprised when it comes clear again. When we get the next clear day I'll have a closer look and see if the inside needs looking at aswell thanks for your replies

Cheers
Graham

 

[Ant-toe-knee]

Many sanded down and polished on detailingworld.

 

[Jandu E350]

Theres a detailed video on youtube how to use meguairs headlight restore kit- the way they do it brings them up like new

 

[adam87]

Yes it is possible. I've just done some using 2000 grit wet and dry by hand and 3M fast cut plus & 3M extra fine on a rotary polisher.



How one side looked before

After doing one of the lights. Main headlamp has not been sanded yet.

After sanding and onto polishing the main headlamp with Fast Cut plus first then Extra Fine after.

After

Adam

 

[redbaron]

they look really good... need to attack my car...

 

[nigel cross]

certainly look far better. Well done.

 

[Mobb]

Adam, that's a massive difference.. Nice work.

You have a PM

 

[GrahamS]

Very nice, I need a day off and some of that stuff and hopefully mine will clean up as well cheers

 

[billywhiz]

Adam - awesome work indeed.

 

[pudding]

Wow - very nice.

Think I'll pick a dull unit next time I am in the breakers, not sure I'd be brave enough to go right ahead without some practice.

 

[V12]

Wow

 

[removed]

Excellent work!
I need to look at mine, though they're nowhere near as bad as yours were, they could to with brightening up a bit. Is it possible to get similar results without rotary polisher, just by hand? Would that require different products?

 

[Dieselman]

Is it possible to get similar results without rotary polisher, just by hand? Would that require different products?

Yes, use one called Elbow grease.

 

[removed]

Yes, use one called Elbow grease.

The only one I got here is called Lazy Bugger :bannana: ... Will that work?