Mustang Club of Maryland

Home of the Mustang club of Maryland
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 3:29 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:37 pm 
Treasurer
Treasurer
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 9:56 pm
Posts: 2960
Location: Reisterstown, MD
After sitting around the house for nearly a month since my back surgery I was anxious to do something to my car. It has not been washed for over a month and we've had a number of strong thunderstorms over that period. This is why I love to use Griot's Paint Sealant to protect my car's finish and give me lasting paint protection.

My Projector Headlights which were purchased in 2008 were losing their clarity as a layer of film was causing the headlights to become cloudy. In the past I was able to clear this up by hand but now I needed to use additonal tools to really clean up my lights.

Using the Meguiars Headlight Restoration Kit I first taped off the headlights to prevent touching the painted surfaces of my car. I then used a spray bottle of water to wet the headlights. Because of the extreme film buildup on the lenses I used a 1000 grit sanding disc with the Meguiars hand held sanding pad and wet sanded the headlight lens with a 1000 grit sanding disk. After this was done I wiped off the lens with a microfiber towel and then redid the whole process again with a 3000 grit
sanding disk.

The next step involved my Griot's 3" Polisher where I applied Meguiars Plastic X with an orange polishing disk. The orange pad and the Plastic X literally cut through the film and discoloration to give me a like new appearing headlight lens. The final step for me was to use the Meguiars Sealant with a red waxing pad and really worked the sealant into the headlight. I then repeated this step again until the headlight lens was crystal clear!

The before and after photos really tell the story of how this came out. Meguairs recommends using a corded electric drill with their own polishing pad but I prefer to use the Griot's Garage 3" orbital polisher.

The next few pages will show the preparation and the products used during this cleaning session.

Midnight Blue
MCOM Historian


Attachments:
DSC_4954 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4954 (640x428).jpg [ 197.73 KiB | Viewed 3932 times ]
DSC_4955 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4955 (640x428).jpg [ 220.48 KiB | Viewed 3932 times ]
DSC_4956 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4956 (640x428).jpg [ 256.76 KiB | Viewed 3932 times ]

_________________
The Red Baron
Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:39 pm 
Treasurer
Treasurer
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 9:56 pm
Posts: 2960
Location: Reisterstown, MD
More pics of the headlight restoration!

Midnight Blue
MCOM Historian


Attachments:
DSC_4961 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4961 (640x428).jpg [ 241.82 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4962 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4962 (640x428).jpg [ 191.6 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4963 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4963 (640x428).jpg [ 209.67 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]

_________________
The Red Baron
Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:41 pm 
Treasurer
Treasurer
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 9:56 pm
Posts: 2960
Location: Reisterstown, MD
More Pics!


Attachments:
DSC_4964 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4964 (640x428).jpg [ 242.8 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4965 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4965 (640x428).jpg [ 241.97 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4966 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4966 (640x428).jpg [ 295.91 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]

_________________
The Red Baron
Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:43 pm 
Treasurer
Treasurer
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 9:56 pm
Posts: 2960
Location: Reisterstown, MD
More pics!


Attachments:
DSC_4967 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4967 (640x428).jpg [ 270.91 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4968 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4968 (640x428).jpg [ 229.99 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4969 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4969 (640x428).jpg [ 249.42 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]

_________________
The Red Baron
Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:46 pm 
Treasurer
Treasurer
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 9:56 pm
Posts: 2960
Location: Reisterstown, MD
More pics!


Attachments:
DSC_4970 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4970 (640x428).jpg [ 267.6 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4972 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4972 (640x428).jpg [ 241.14 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4973 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4973 (640x428).jpg [ 242.08 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]

_________________
The Red Baron
Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:49 pm 
Treasurer
Treasurer
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 9:56 pm
Posts: 2960
Location: Reisterstown, MD
Last three pics!

Not too bad for an hours work!

Midnight Blue
MCOM Historian


Attachments:
DSC_4974 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4974 (640x428).jpg [ 241.84 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4975 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4975 (640x428).jpg [ 215.19 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]
DSC_4976 (640x428).jpg
DSC_4976 (640x428).jpg [ 199.3 KiB | Viewed 3931 times ]

_________________
The Red Baron
Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 11:17 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:12 pm
Posts: 71
Sgnificantly better!! Good job.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 11:21 pm 

Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:03 pm
Posts: 427
Location: Elkridge, MD
Looks great! Feels good to get out and finally do something don't it?

_________________
-Eric
2010 GT Premium
85 SVO 1C
95 Ranger Splash


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Headlight Restoration with Meguiars Restoration Kit
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:47 am 
Treasurer
Treasurer
User avatar

Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 9:56 pm
Posts: 2960
Location: Reisterstown, MD
Thanks for the kind words! It was just nice getting to do something after sitting around the house following my surgery!

For awhile I was able to clean off the film by hand but as time went on it became harder and harder to do so. Eventually I had to use mechanical help to really erase the damages caused by the sun, pollution and road grime.

It didn't take too long although it felt like hours to me as the temperature was rising and the sun took over the morning shade. By the way I used my "new" Nikon D60 DSLR camera to snap these photos. My old Nikon D40 was permanently ruined when I inadvertantly fell into a swimming pool while taking photos of my neighbors wedding reception. Long story but with a happy ending! :banana:

Midnight Blue
MCOM Historian

_________________
The Red Baron


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group