What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Cleaned headlights, started with 600 grit, then 800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 15 micron, 5 micron, 1 micron, then hand glaze, which probably doesn't make much difference after the fine papers. All wet sand. Probably not "like new" but a lot better than they were. I suspect some hazing may be inside... new ones aren't that expensive, but right now can't afford new parts, still haven't put in all the parts I have. before/after pics:
View attachment 69076View attachment 69077

How long did that take per side?

 

[James Morse]

Well it doesn't take very long, I'd say at the most an hour in total so half hour a side?
There are kits and formulas for it you can buy, I think; I have all grits of papers on hand already because I use them in sharpening planes and chisels for woodworking, and I also use them when I finish alkyd paint onto wood. If you bought them all it would be some dollars.
I just take a little piece maybe a couple inches square, wet it, do both sides, go on to the next. I wipe off the debris after each. I guess the slowest part is going close to the little nibs but no need to go nuts about it. I always go -vertical- up and down with the sanding versus circular, it works better, for this.
Because you are progressing through grits gradually you just need to spend a short time with each. You'll see the debris in the water.
When I get to the last glaze I am going circular but the rest I stay vertical.
There are formulations like PlasticX I think it is but I believe they are actually some kind of solvents anyway I can't vouch for them I didn't use them.
The main thing is if you work with the 600 first pretty well, you will have removed the outer surface haze/discoloration, from then on it's just removing scratches left by the 600 by going successively finer.
Normally all these fine papers are wet-sand papers. The key to the water is it's a lubricant of sorts and importantly it floats sanding debris (and any grit that might detach from the papers, but, normally that doesn't happen) away from the work. I just have a bowl of water, dip the paper in it, and sand gently up and down covering all the surface, wipe with a paper towel, do the other side, and go to the next paper, it's not hard.
I suspect it's not too different than any sanding task where you generally use the coarsest paper you can to start out and then work finer, but the finer grades are to sand out the scratches left by the previous-coarser paper as opposed to really removing much material. When you are done it should feel really smooth to your fingers and it should look better. I confess at the end I rubbed in some Armorall, since they are plastic, but I doubt that actually does much of anything. Good luck and I hope that helps a little, and of course there's always the option to just spring for new lights but I think you can get a big improvement with the sanding.

 

[superj]

my dad said bug spray made his yellow lights turn clear again. like off or one of those types of bug sprays

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

my dad said bug spray made his yellow lights turn clear again. like off or one of those types of bug sprays

Yes, the deet, or the other liquid carrying the deet, is a solvent. I looked into that but havent tried it. I had a bottle of mosquito repellent on my dash that had a leak, it definitely acts as a solvent....

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I’ve used “Off”on my headlights. It works great. I’ll never go through all the trouble of sanding and polishing lights.

 

[scotts90ranger]

When I did mine last weekend I just used some soapy water (was handy...) and some 0000 steel wool which left it pretty good, but I went through the trouble of finding the headlight polishing kit I had so I went to use it and found it missing the 3000 grit paper so I said screw it and just used the polishing compound it came with on the foam pad in the drill, bet I took 15 minutes to do both headlights, sure it's not as smooth and fancy but it's way clearer...

 

[89Twincharge]

Put driver side explorer bucket seat in and just set the exp. Center console in for now to have some cupholders finally,, no more hot coffee crotch!

 

[sgtsandman]

The down side to those headlight polishing kits is they don’t last more than a year.

The problem is the protective coating that originally came on the headlight lens fails and oxidizes.

The kit removes the failed coating and protects the lens for a little while but you will need to keep up on them from then on.

In the long run, it might be easier and cheaper to just get new housings. Pick your poison.

 

[racsan]

When we got the escape I was impressed with how good it looked and how new the light lenses looked, about 3 months after buying it I put all the accessories on it, when I went to do the trailer light harness I pulled the lenses out to tap into the wires I needed, low and behold it does have new light lens assemblies. china crap but new and better looking than the original 9 year old ones I assume. I suppose its a trick dealers use.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, I know it doesn't last, my time is worth more as I get older so I take some shortcuts but take my time on other stupid projects

 

[rubydist]

If you want it to last, buy some good clear paint that has UV resistance. Polish the headlights with no finer than 800 grit so you leave enough roughness for the paint to adhere, make sure you clean all the dirt/grease/etc. off the light and spray it clear. If you put decent paint on, it will last 5+ years.

 

[bobbywalter]

When you use the off.....do the bugs stay away instead of getting smashed all over hell....

 

[superj]

i had to do the wife's pt cruiser ever year. i think her mini cooper was the same way. since then she just trades her car every two to three years so i don't have to do that anymore but i can see my trucks will need it since i keep them longer

 

[sgtsandman]

It’s getting about time to start thinking about doing something with the head lights on the 2011. They are still clear but one can see where the coating is failing.

 

[bobbywalter]

Yeah....I just stick to gen one for night driving .. and the rotary cell