What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

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part-timer
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by part-timer »

pommy wrote:Oh no!

I should have said, sorry.

A thumb nail sized blob, spread onto it should be enough per side.

Re-misting the pad and the lens with water is important too.

I normally go hard over the whole lens - side handle slightly up, not at the normal right angle. I use my left leg to control the drill.

I'll wipe off after that and check for grey areas and hit them again if there are any.

In this case, slow and steady wins the race ;)

Cheers,

Pommy
Hi Pommy,
Kind of new to this set-up. So you sand off just the old peeling coating to a masked off line up to 1500. Then use this GT Glass compound to blend the sanded part to match the oem coating that is still good. Clean off all of the compound and coat the entire lens with Infinity? Or do you compound the whole lens prior to Infinity coating?
Sorry for the confusion. I'm just trying to wrap my brain around this. Right now I'm having to sand ALL of the oem coating off prior to coating.

Aj
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pommy
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by pommy »

Hey AJ,

You've pretty much got it ;)

But note - this is only to be used when there is enough of the OEM worth saving.

Referring back to the original photo (below) - the actual damage was to where the yellow line is - so I gave it another inch below the damage, into the OEM.

It doesn't have to be an inch - you can judge where it's still good ;)

Image

Tape off, sand back the damaged part and finish on a 1200, 1500 or even 3000 - depending on your own standards/coating.

Take the tape off and go over the whole lot with the GT compound (using the exact method previously described in this thread), clean off, dry off and apply your choice of coating to the whole lens.

Cheers,

Pommy
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by part-timer »

Pommy,

Awesome!! Thanks, I'm going to try this method out on some junk lights until I can see if I can make it work for me. I'd say about 80% of my work is that exact type of damage. The method I use now is very time consuming. Would it be possible for you to PM me a way to get the compound?

Thanks!
Aj
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by Old Blue 66 »

I think It have mastered Pommy's method of blending. I do it all the time now.

Now for the next question thats along the lines of the original post.

What about road rash?? Pits in the OEM clear from rocks and chips?? I pass on HL's all the time that have this issue which isn't as bad as damaged clear from the other challenges this plastic faces. Anyone know a way to fill the little tiny chips without having to refinish the lens? If it were a shorter fix Id be willing to charge less but it also gets more cars on my to do list.
Paul Weinstein
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by pommy »

Depending on the depth - use a razor blade.

You can remove "scores", "gouges" and other damage this way.

You just have to feather out around it a bit bigger to avoid dips in the lens.

You can feel before you are able to see, so it pretty easy ;)

Then fix the scraped parts only, like when you do the top of a lens.

It's not ideal, and only suited to certain cases. I use it when the corner of a headlight or indicator has been scuffed on a wall for example.

Cheers,

Pommy
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by Zukie »

That looks like a before/after rather than was asked ?? looks good
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pommy
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by pommy »

Zukie wrote:That looks like a before/after rather than was asked ?? looks good
Even Google couldn't translate...

:roll:
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by EMCAutoGlass »

Hello all. I know this is an older thread, but I thought I would follow up to see if anyone is still using a compound prior to applying Infinity. Some of you have posted some fantastic pics, which are making me interested in giving Infinity another try. For those compounding prior to applying Infinity...
1) Are you still using a compound? If so, what are you using?
2) Does the durability seem to be affected by using a compound?
3) Any other additions/changes to the standard Delta Kits recommendations that have been working well?

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Marty
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Brent Deines
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by Brent Deines »

You might give us a call on Monday. We have a new water based polish that puts that finishing touch on headlights that need to be "perfect". Most polishes contain silicone or wax that is not compatible with Infinity 4.1 but the right polish does have it's place. I'm not sure if anyone who attended our last training class is on the forum but we did a demo for that class to show them the benefit of using our new polish prior to applying 4.1. I think all who attended would agree with the following.

Is it a huge difference? No. Will every technician find it necessary? No. If you had a new headlight in one side and were polishing the other side to match would the polish be beneficial? Yes. Will some technicians want to use it on every car. Yes.
Brent Deines
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Re: What about when half of the lens is in great shape?

Post by Old Blue 66 »

Brent, Id like to know more about a new polish you have. Im using the GT Glass stuff (on every car) which works really well. But I always like to hear about new stuff!!! You gotta change things up once in a while to keep the excitement going. It would be really good to use one less vendor too.
Paul Weinstein
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