practicing

[mobilejay]

Hello all, thanks Korey for getting me this kit.
I went today to buy a junk lens to try out the infinity kit. Now mind you, my 3" orbital died so I had to use my PC and a god awful backing plate I have. The good backing plate crapped out on me as well so I had to use one that has no flex to it that was not liking this process. The other thing is that I did not have a vise or anything to stabilize the light so I was trying to hold the light with my feet. Yes I know, it was a horrible experience but the goal was just to see how the process worked and to get an idea of what needed to be done and what questions I would have.
Few questions:
what speed are you using the orbital at and are you applying pressure? Do I need to vary the speed based on what pads I am using or same speed through each grit?

How would I adjust for bends? On the edge of the lens where it bends toward the blinker, I am not sure if I burned that area since it was a sharp bend or not. The backing plate was making the machine skip all over the place and I am not sure if it was caused by that and could have been sanded smooth or it I burned through it. If I burned through it, it happened really quick with the 320 grit. LOL

At the top of the light there looks like stress cracks, can anything be done about those? They were there when I bought the lens

I know it still looks bad but I'm sure if I had the right set up, I could have done a much better job. There are still some light sanding marks when I look at it in the sun and because I couldn't hold the light properly I did not do anything to the right of the bend, mainly focused on the bigger flatter area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[candyman]

You need to keep a backup orbital sander. I prefer the Griot's, although I have others that I have used and still have. Without a vice , I would have worked on my own lens or one mounted in the junk yard. The speed should be a level 4 to 5 for the Griot's for all pads except the polishing, which should be about 6. The backing plate needs a cushion pad so it will give, when rounding angles and corners. Never hold sander in one spot or you will risk burn marks or burn through. Angle the orbital when doing curves and tight areas. It takes a little practice. You are on the right track, but you need the proper 3" Orbital . If you got the kit from Korey, you should have had the Griot's in your kit. If it failed contact DK. If you follow the instructions they included you will get great results. As you do more you will develop your own techniques and discover the reason the infinity is so good. Some surface niches or cracks may come out when sanding. You can not repair the lens. You are only sanding the oxidation off and restoring the UV coating. You are restoring the night illumination at a fraction of the cost of replacement. In the majority of the HLR cases the cloudy or yellowed coating is oxidation and confined to the outside of the lens. If the light has water inside, cracked or broken they should be replaced. I hope this answered your question.

[Kgobin]

mobilejay it's good to hear you finally got the sanding discs and the samples of the 4.1 and C2P headlight restoration coatings. May I ask what kind of orbital your using? Candyman made some good points especially the one about using an interface pad.

[mobilejay]

Candyman, thank you that was very informative. I did not buy a kit, just a sample to try. I tried to use one mounted at the salvage yard but the one I went to, they remove the lights and sell them on a shelf. I have a few orbitals but they are for polishing paint and are not small. I never bought the griots because so many detailers complain about them failing constantly. I guess we put them through more when polishing a car then just using for HLR. I want to get a Rupes 3" since I have their LHR21 and love it. For now then PC (porter cable 7424xp) is what I have with a 3" bp. The bp I used before was soft and pliable so it would have been fine, it just fell apart after years of use so I was forced to use the very hard one I had. I will look into the interface pad when I purchase the kit. Thank you Again Korey for the sample I will be contacting you shortly.

[candyman]

The Griot's is normally about $95. I get between 80 to about 130 HLR out of it . Then I have to clean the dust from the vent and add the spare contact that comes with it. So $95 isnt much compared to what you can make. I've got a $225 sander that I use for hard-to-do headlights and I use a different pad and a paste. It only take a couple of minutes to clear a set compared to about an hour. Once it is cleared of the heavy oxidation , I go back to my regular orbital and finish the job. You will learn after you've done a few hundred what to use and when. The headlight you showed is easy to do with the Griot's and DK method. A vast majority on here, regardless of sanding techniques, still use the DK 4.1. I havent found anything better and the customers are satisfied. Sometimes prior to application the customer's think Iam finished and they comment on how nice the lenses look. I apply the 4.1 and they get that Wow sensation or experience. The product sells itself to the customer and that generates repeat and referral business. Have a great week.

[mobilejay]

Once again, thank you very much. I will be contacting Korey for the kit once I settle down a bit. I've had a bunch of expenses this month. Looking forward to offering this to my clients.

[Dr.Chipster]

Griots D/A polishers also come with a lifetime warranty regardless of where you purchase it. You just go online a print their return label and send it in. They will fix it or replace it.