I would like to do my taillights over this winter,any suggestions on the way they get sanded and polished or coated,what grits do I use etc.
I've read a lot of threads but it seems like their are multiple ways of doing this,is there a proper way of doing them.?
Well I read a thread that says use Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish, I did,I think they came out nice but not enough.I have these surface scratches I'm having trouble with.

I guess this is where the sanding comes in.

 

Hey Fran I used a fine grit 3m rubbing compound on my white GTA and it worked very well on the lights although i'm not sure how it would work on those scratches? I wonder if a headlight restoration kit would work for u??

 

I tried Meguiars PlastX repair kit on my 92 T/A tail lights but wasn't happy with the result as there was still a lot of blur and tiny scratches. I ended up wet sanding - starting with 800 grid, then 1200, then 1500 then 2000. Then I put on three coats of clear and that was basically it. No polishing, no waxing. Simple, maybe a little tedious, but mirror finish and looking factory new.

(Did I mention that I had to redo it twice? I clear coated them outdoors first time and in my dusty cellar second time and there were ugly dust particles all over. Third time with a friends dust-free room. All good things come in threes )

 

I picked up a headlight cleaner kit(waist of money,only used the compound out of it) and some wet sandpaper sheets(400,1500,2000,2500)started with the 400 and ended with the 2500.

Sanded them by hand,(pretty easy)just tried to make sure they were evenly sanded with full strokes from end to end with the different grits.Got the scratches out anyway.

then I used my palm 6" buffer to apply the 3M Compound,then I changed the pad to buff them up

I think they came out pretty good?nice and shinny anyway.I may give them a coat of clear if that makes them a little less maintenance wise,I don't want to keep removing these to do this(these are spares buy the way)I'll switch these out and do the other set over the winter.

 

Looking great!

 

 

Thank You,did you just buy Clear Coat off the shelf in a spray bomb?

Thanks John,it was easier than I thought it would be,I wasn't to sure about sanding plastic and getting it to ever shine again

 

Cant wait to see them in person!!

 

Exactly - I got a 2K spray can. It had this ring at the bottom of the bottle which had to be pulled to get the two components mixed together. It laid down nicely and is extremely scratch resistant.

 

Would you know the brand you used?never seen a can that you had to pull a ring.

 

Nice work sir!

 

Eastwood and SprayMax sell an aerosol 2k clear, about $20-$30 a can. I've used both and they're very easy to use, and the finish is absolutely dynamite. Worth the money for sure.

Sprayed the lights on my truck with it after tinting them. This is without any wet-sanding.

 

This one here?

http://www.eastwood.com/2k-aero-spray-matte-clear.html
or this one?
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-2...oss-clear.html

 

Wow,that looks great.

 

I used the high gloss clear

 

Thank You,I'm going to order a couple cans now(free shipping on $50 orders)
Thanks again

 

They only have a 48-hour shelf life once you activate them though, so line up a bunch of crap you wanna spray so you don't waste any.

Also, I'd go ahead and scuff the lights with 2000-2500 grit paper, just so the clear has a little more to bite into.

 

Thanks,I'm gonna do 2 sets,this set is a spare and I'll do the set that's on the car.Thanks for the heads up
PS,just ordered the paints.

 

Finish will lay down nicer, when surface isn't high gloss. I'd definitely scuff it first.

Just for amendment: Dupli-Color has a 2K clear coat - the one I used:
http://www.motipdupli.de/en/products...4/tm-1534.html

but I'm not sure it's available in the US

 

looks great

 

OK,I just put a coat of 2K Eastwood Clear Coat on.http://www.eastwood.com/2k-aerospray...oss-clear.html
Their is no directions on the can for timing between coats,do I let it dry between coats?do I sand between coats?
Thanks,mantaguy

 

I'd let it dry an hour or two with the weather were having today.I don't know if I would sand at all.

 

No sanding after clear coating!

I personally didn't wait an hour, just 5 to 10 min between coats. But I guess there is not really a big difference.

 

Thanks guys,I did one coat so far and the results look a little hazy.I'm turning on the heat in a garage and give them a few more coats.thanks a lot.
Cehbra,yours look fantastic,how long did you wait before buffing??

 

For what it's worth at this point, I use this 3M stuff I have a bottle off with a buffer head on my drill. I would never use a clear coat because I would be worrying about it turning yellow or peeling/cracking.

This 3M stuff works great for polishing nearly anything! A good coat of wax every now and then has kept my tail lights looking new and shiny for the past 14yrs.

 

TOO late now!!!I already started,That's the stuff that came in the headlight kit

 

I'm sure that's a good way to go! However I don't agree about the yellowing. Normally there is a UV protectant in those clear coats (at least on the more expensive ones) which prevents yellowing and cracking.

Not too late at all. If you're not happy with the results you can sand away again, see my earlier post. I did it 3 times until I was happy. You could even sand off the clear coat and go the polishing route.

BTW: I didn't buff at all after clear coating. Just sand n' coat, that's it. After clear coating, before you do anything at all let it cure for 24 hours.

 

Well I did about 3-4 more coats,I'm going to leave them sit over night and see how well they dried.I think I'm going to have to sand them a little,after I started to spray them I noticed some dust or lint on them,not much,just enough to P me off(was on the cardboard)hopefully,maybe another coat will work.

 

Yeah it's tough if you do it in a dusty room. I did mine outside. I used a tack cloth immediately before spraying, and then in between each subsequent coat.

 

Any news on the progress?

Dust free room is very important, had to redo it because of that.

 

Nice work! Those really polished up nicely. The clearcoat should help protect your work.

 

Yea,I lightly sanded the lenses to remove the dust,but I chickened out on another coat of clear.I buffed them down with the 3M Compound for the final finish.All the scratches are gone.

I'm going to teach myself how to apply clear coating on a spare set of tail lights I picked up awhile ago,apparently the spares had some kind of coating on them because their a SOB to sand down(working on them now).If they come out good I'll replace these,I really liked the way the clear coat shines.

 

Wow they turned out great cant wait to see them in person.....

 

Well,change of plans,I took a ride over to the body shop and I'm having them spray the clear coat on tomorrow(hopefully),all I had to do was prep them for the painter(already done)I'm having both sets done,1 set will be a spare or sell them.

 

Sorry to hear you had trouble with it. I've done several sets and never had an issue.

 

No problem!! I was just getting a little nervous about sanding and handling them

 

Span, or worse. Reported.

 

_____________[/quote]
Hay ********,stop posting this bullshit!!!
This member should be
It's not the 1st time he did this

 

Should turn out great - you have been busy Franny! They looked good when you cleared them.
BTW - when you paint you need to leave a scuffed surface for the paint to bit a bit. Did you paint them after you buffed them or did you scuff the surface again?

 

Hay ********,stop posting this bullshit!!!
This member should be
It's not the 1st time he did this
[/QUOTE]

what did I miss?

 

Yeah! I too thought those looked great but of course it's hard to tell from a picture...
Sometimes it's just small things. Maybe it was a bit too cold so the clear was not liquid enough? Anyways the tail lights will be really nice when they come back from the body shop

 

what did I miss?[/quote]

You didn't miss much. A virus spreading spammer. Mods have summarily whacked his ID.

Now, back to those beautiful, shiny tail lamps!

 

I tried a few ways, sanded then buff,sanded then coated clear,sanded between coats,I just couldn't get the clear to lay flat(orange peal)

what did I miss?[/quote]
A PERVERT!!!!!

It could have been the weather!,but I think it was my technique and surroundings(very crowded garage,people coming in & out)dust flying all over

You didn't miss much. A virus spreading spammer. Mods have summarily whacked his ID.

Now, back to those beautiful, shiny tail lamps![/quote]

 

Well I just got back my tail lights yesterday,installed them today.Very happy with the results.

 

Wow,they turned out great!!!!! Can't wait to see them in person when are club starts meeting again.

 

Hey thanks JohnWe got about 120 more days till we meet again.
I had two sets done,picking up the other set next week.

 

Yup,still got a ton of work to do on my car in the next 120 days!!!!

 

AAAhhwww my eyes!!!! SO shiny! Looking extremely nice

 

Thanks Cehbra,

 

I had the same issue I wound up using heavy grit plastic polish followed by fine grit and then some kleenmaste plastic and glass brillianizer. Worked great