DISCLAMER: Mustangforums.com or myself is not responsible for any damages done to your vehicle, work at your own risk

Well, guys I've been seeing a lot of threads popping up about headlight oxidation and cloudiness. I decided to show you guys a proper way to fix your headlights to new or near new.[sm=smiley20.gif] Here it goes:

First what you want to do is take your headlights out of the car. On a new edge Mustang theres two clips behind the light that you just slide right out. I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure that most cars are similar to this. After you get the lights out (I preffer to work with one at a time) you need to take them to a table or work bench. You can clean them with a quick detailer or soap of your choice. After cleaning them it's a good idea to clay them so that way have a truely clean surface. Now, heres where the real correction takes place. Remember always work from the least aggressive method to the most.

Tools Required:
Porter Cable 7424
2000grit wetordry sandpaper
1500grit wetordry sandpaper
1000grit wetordry sandpaper
850grit wetordry sandpaper

Medium Cut Polish
Light Cut Polish
Light cut orange pad
Light cut what pad
Wax or sealant
a few micro fiber towels

alright guys, i personally used some sand paper i got from oreilly auto parts, PB ssr2.5 on the orange pad, OD light polish on the white pad and optimum opti-seal

Like I said earlier always start with the least abrasive method and work your way up, then you'll have to work back down to correct the damage you did. I knew theses lights were pretty bad so I went right to sanding. My process was as followed.

sanded with 2k grit, i used a mixture of about a drop of car wash soap diluted with 24.oz of distilled water as a lubricant for the sandpaper. spray the surface of the light with the solution as well as the sandpaper. carefully begin to sand the surface of the light, using a uniform back and fourth motion. theres no need to make circles or an up and down pattern, that would only make for a harder removal. after the 2k grit, polish that out with ssr2.5 on the orange pad via PC, then follow up with OD light polish on the white pad. i felt there was still some hazyness and oxidation left that could have been removed. i went back to the light with 1,500, 1,000, and 850. then after the light was nice and tore of from all the sanding marks, i began to remove them. the light now had marks in it from 850, to remove those marks i used the 1,000, then the 1,500 to remove those marks, and finally the 2,000 to remove those marks. after that the polishing began. again, ssr2.5 on the orange pad to remove the marks, and then OD light polish on white pad to remove the haze left from the more aggressive polish. after the wet sanding and polishing the lighs were finally ready to be sealed. my choice of sealant was optimum opti-seal. i chose this because of it's great durability and longevity. simply wipe on and walk away, no buffing needed. after the whole job is done and you put your lights back in, you'll need to "touch up" the wax or sealant about every three weeks. you need to do this because with all the wet sanding and polishing you've removed the factory protective coating from the lights. heres a few pictures

before:
you can see the oxidation in this picture real well because the sun is shining right on them

50/50

finished

close up



hope you enjoyed

 

you should actually start the other way around from the roughest to the finest grit. 850 , 1000, 1500, 2000 grit to fine it out.

 

no, you start from finest to roughest then work your way back down. you dont want to put really rough paper on the light if you don't have to.

 

clean lights on the 4x4, bill.

 

damn it bill you beat me to this write up i was about done with mine


i hate you










j/k

 

I'm gonna believe a body shop expert compared a 19 year old kid sry

 

why are you making a big deal out of it he did a good job and i looks alot better so just drop it

 

Actually the guy does have the right idea!!!!! But even better yet after you get off the oxidation, if you leave scratches on the headlight by using a grey scotch pad you can re clear coat the headlights with Clear of your choice, preffereably DuPont or PPG, you can actually add black paint to the clear and smoke your lenses too that will help hide some of the discoloration from the previous damage.....

If you sand the light with too fine of paper though the clear wont have anything to grab onto so make sure you put some bite inthere for it.....

Once you Clear your lights (front or rear) It will last longer that way and no need for touchups as often....

 

i have heard of people using a clear on them and they only get worse but i dont know if they scrached the surface any

 

everything bill said made sense, either the body shop is stupid for creating more work than they need to do, or you are completely misunderstanding what bill is saying, or you are relaying the information incorrectly.