so Im removing oxidation..

[Archer]

Im just ranting while taking a break, so the lounge seemed to be the place to rant..

I was looking at all these how tos on this site, camaro z28, LS1Tech, F-body, full Throttle.. all were pretty much the same.. use this, do that.. which I did:tdown:..

Nothing was working... I didnt have time to get this topical stuff, Car places didnt have the mothers that was described, I was running out of options...

When I thought i was going to be stuck with white headlights from all the sanding and polishing I was doing and using.. I decided to search google.. found a WIKI-HOW TO. Made more sense to me using a 600grit, 800 grit, 1000, 1500, 2000 then plastic polish, then a UV protect...

the lens I was working on were clear in some areas, but had some major micro cracks in them.. so typical light sanding and polishing wouldnt work for me. I wanted them CRYSTAL CLEAR... (tho they were not):rant:

So I got my sanding pad, 600 the lens again. It was a miracle. no more micro cracks or milky stuff falling off with the water. then i went to the 800, foggy water started rolling and the scratches from the 600 were starting to get thinner. 1000, and the water started to get more and more clear, as the lens was. I havent even started the 1500-2000 yet..

My fingers hurt, my arms are tired... I havent tried to clear out headlights in a LONG *** TIME.. Forgot how much hard work it was to get great results.

But if your going to do your own headlights. get a sanding pad. it takes alot of the HARD work out of the sanding and keeps everything even...

ugh, back to sanding..

Archer

[pace2006]

Re: so Im removing oxidation..

I loosely followed the write-up on LS1tech. But my headlights were considerably worse than most on there. From what I remember, I started with a 100 grit and moved all the way up to 3200. Polished it up with the Novus products (which really made the difference compared to the auto store products I tried beforehand). After that, I waxed them and installed them. They get a good polish with some PlastX then waxed whenever I detail the car. It's a lot of time and work, but I thought it was worth it in the end.

[Archer]

Re: so Im removing oxidation..

started out with 100? holy hell.. any plastic left? lol

I polished them up but they still have a slight haze to them. I guess i still have alot of work ahead of me.. whats Novus?

[pace2006]

Re: so Im removing oxidation..

started out with 100? holy hell.. any plastic left? lol

I polished them up but they still have a slight haze to them. I guess i still have alot of work ahead of me.. whats Novus?

Yep. Acidic rain around here caused them to form a really thick layer of oxidation. And the plastic is still pretty thick. It doesn't take a lot of time on the first part, just had to be sure to get all the crud off.

Novus is a plastic polishing kit. It's mentioned in the ls1tech write up and really makes the difference. I tried a few other brands beforehand; a 3M window polish kit, Meguiar's PlastX, and some other junk product from Autozone and the headlights were still hazy. Picked up the Novus kit from an avionics site for $20 shipped. Came with the 3 step bottles and some polishing napkins.

[Archer]

Re: so Im removing oxidation..

got a link?

[pace2006]

Re: so Im removing oxidation..

http://www.skygeek.com/novus-combo.html

Site looks kind of goofy, but the package was well wrapped and showed up a few days later. Think we got a few books from there too. lol.

[Tom Rs]

Re: so Im removing oxidation..

post pics