FTO AUSTRALIA

I though I might add this DIY guide on how to do this your self.

Some detailed instructions on how to fix your headlights. Now this applies to both scratches on the headlight, and actual delamination of the thin film that our headlights are covered by.

For the best result these items are essential:

>> 1 Sheet of Very Fine Wet & Dry Sandpaper ( 2000+ Grit )
>>1 Sheet of Slightly Coarser Wet & Dry Sandpaper ( 1200 Grit )
>>Water ( In a bucket, or a hose )
>> Polishing Product, I used “Scratch Xâ€

Great stuff Boris!

that post was great! worthy of being made "sticky" for future users to find quickly perhaps?

simon

I've done the steps. The headlights look clear but after i leave it to dry (after the scratch x) for about 5 mins, they get cloudy again! What am i doing wrong?

The first time i did it the light was cloudy, but i was polishing it by hand for like 1.5 hours.

It sounds like you need to polish/buff more, make sure that your spinny lambs wool spins fast enough too, and apply quite a bit of pressure down onto the headligh once polishing. Also don't try to conserve the Scratch X stuff. Apply, Start slowly, and buf with a bit of pressure for a minute or two... I thinks that's all the advise i can give you.

Also, it may be so that if you were cleaning up the delaminating film, it could be that you didn't enough of the film off....

But first i would defenetly buff more...

I've noticed that when i place the lambs wool on the lights, it cannot spin properly and instead shakes.... Its rated at 3200rpm..too slow?

hmm... I did notice that at the start initially when you start to buff, but with more scratch X, and more down pressure, and also me holding the drill as stable as I could I got rid of the shaking...

Maybe your drill is too fast... try doing it at half the speed, mine isn't that fast

Initialy a while ago I tried to fix my lights, but I polished and polished without a buffer, and the result was that they were smoother, better but slightly cloudy. Cloudyness just means that it needs more polishing, so don't stress, it's nothing un-fixable. Try another couple times.

ellusion wrote:I've noticed that when i place the lambs wool on the lights, it cannot spin properly and instead shakes.... Its rated at 3200rpm..too slow?

it happens with all buffers if you don't apply enough downward pressure or the pad is only partly touching the surface you are buffing.

Well with the buffer, when i press hard, it won't spin but shakes...when i press softly, it will spin...

I found that i didnt need the 2000grit and 1200 worked fine
i didnt even use the lambs wool and ended up getting a refund...
and i used regular paint polish was about $7.50 instead of scratch x which is $19.50

it took me about 1hour all up and i spent less than $10
with a lot of paint polish left over

Yes I have done this and the possible cause of condensation is due to the fact sometimes water can drip down behind the back of the light and find it's way in ....
Also just a tip on polishes if you go to somewhere they sell Perspex sheeting you can get a brillant polish which I used that is fantastic in polishing very small scratches out of pastic it works a lot better than most of the polishes on the market, as they are specifically designed for polishing out scratches on plastic and fibreglass.

E-plas in Tullamarine stock this and Im sure they would be helpful in supplying it too you.

so everyone is doing it now??

i like being the Guinee pig and take a risk which i dont know if it would work or not. Just like the lifter clean

Also its a lot easier to remove the headlight first as its hard to polish the edges of the headlight as the body is in the way.

ONe question, once you polish it, does it need to be redone every so often like car paint? will it fade and become dull again?

Mike

Did mine in early September. Still looking good. Haven't had the need to polish it again yet...

I saw a similar article in the UK forum site. They advised using T -cut as the polishing medium

mrsdj remembered using brasso in highschool to polish plastics - we've just tried it out today .. nothing else to say but GOLD!!
polished up a treat from a rough milky white after sanding with 1200grit.

better than new i reckon!

big thanks to boris for posting the original DIY - it gave me the motivation to try it myself.

photos soon - otherwise the vic guys can check em out on the hanging rock cruise

mrdj1234 wrote:mrsdj remembered using brasso in highschool to polish plastics - we've just tried it out today .. nothing else to say but GOLD!!
polished up a treat from a rough milky white after sanding with 1200grit.

better than new i reckon!

big thanks to boris for posting the original DIY - it gave me the motivation to try it myself.

photos soon - otherwise the vic guys can check em out on the hanging rock cruise

This is what I will try, used Brasso on my iPod screen the other year.
And was able to remove every scratch

I want to paint my rear lights so will do this first to get them to come up nice. Nice post!

went to bunnings and got the lambs wool ($4) and rubber backing disc ($6) .. but they were out of stock in wet n dry, as was automotive store nearby.. guess everyones doing this

will have to look around for some other places hehe

Supercheap auto usually has some

there is an alternative a guy at my work suggested to me today (he has a big hobby of restoring cars and stuff).. if you get burnishing cream (available from paint stores like dulux) you can just throw it straight on the lambs wool drill attachment and it should have the same effect. no sanding or anything required. don't get it on your paint though

should be a good alternative for those afraid to sand their headlights