Headlight Restoration

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kenb81
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Posts: 112
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Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: London Ontario Canada

Re: General Liability Insurance

Post by kenb81 »

Repare-Brise:

I was just wondering since you do plastic restoration;What system do you use?

Created new thread with this post. Originally posted at windshield-repair/2104-general-liability-insurance.html
repare-brise

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by repare-brise »

For headlight restoration I currently use Meguires Plastix polish with a random orbital sander driving a foam polishing pad. The systems that are sold by various companies, while good are too costly for the return on investment. Just about any plastic polish(Mother's, 3M 2 part system(3910 & 39017), Flitz, and many others) will work using either a conventional rotary polisher, a random orbit sander, or hand polishing. If the damage is deep a light wet sanding with 800 then 1500 paper will remove scratches and deep dammage, followed by polishing. The key is providing a professional service at a reasonable price, looking professional while doing it(I tape off the area surrounding the light, check my work often as I go, and assure a complete clean up of the area when done), keeping your product choices to yourself(the secret is in the sauce?) and coat the polished surface with uv protection when done. The last step is in fact the most important to customer satisfaction in the long run. If you don't provide some sort of UV protection the light will yellow in less than 6 months. For dealers I use a polymer wax (again the brand is of no importance). For fleets and retail customers I do the same, but also instruct them to wax there lights once a month with a polymer wax, this will keep the lights bright for a long time, and referals from your customer will be forthcomming. If you chose to invest in a "system" be advised that all the ones I have tried work, all are expensive for what you are getting, but most come with detailed instructions, some sort of tech help, and are fully assembled and ready to work. The do-it yourself system is less expensive, has no instructions, will require some testing(most junk-yards will gladly let you practice on there lights, you will bring them back in a more saleable condition), and in the end will do the same work.

Thank You
kenb81
Member
Posts: 112
Joined: November 18th, 2005, 6:45 am
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: London Ontario Canada

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by kenb81 »

Thanks for the information. Have you been doing restoration for long?
repare-brise

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by repare-brise »

As a test market for about 2 years, and as a service to customers for close to 1 year. Response is good, cost's about $1 per set of lights, and I charge $40-50 per set depending on type of customer, average job is 10-15 mins.

Enjoy
crkdupinga

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by crkdupinga »

I have been doing headlights for over a year. I’ve used Janvil, Bright Solutions, GT PolyHog DIY Kits and have created some processes of my own. All of them have given me some success in various situations, but I hadn’t found any one that could handle it all, to my satisfaction.

I have one trucking company that asked me to do 7 of their Volvo trucks at the end of August. I had to do all of them twice and some three times and they still became cloudy again after a short time. Very frustrating and embarrassing! These headlights had become my test for the effectiveness of any system.

I had seen Innovative Polishing Systems mentioned on this forum. A couple of months ago I contacted them and spoke with Dave Gittins. I went to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday and was able to spend an entire day at IPS working with their products and processes for both glass and plastics. I was very pleased with what a saw and learned.

At the end of the day I ordered an acrylic restoration kit and had it shipped. The kit was a little pricey, but I had come to the place that I either needed to be able do the jobs consistently well or get out of it entirely. I think I’ve found what I was looking for.

I have been using the system for about two weeks and I’m having good results. I have redone all of the Volvo trucks and my customer is pleased with the outcome. His comment was, “They look like new.” I am especially happy because now I can bill him for the work ($300+).

By the way, I mentioned to IPS that some of you expressed an interest in seeing them at the Mobile Tech Expo. I gave them the MTE contact info and I spoke with Dave today and he has reserved a booth. So, if you have headlights you’d like to test IPS products on, bring them with you.

Dean
Griffin, GA
glassdoctor
Senior Member
Posts: 733
Joined: November 13th, 2003, 9:24 am

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by glassdoctor »

What happens when the Volvo lights cloud up again soon? Did they not come out "like new" with the other process?
crkdupinga

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by crkdupinga »

They looked good when I left, but in a few days to a week they deteriorated and clouded up again. I guess they were only “like” “like new”. These tractors are ’99s & 2000s. Their later model Volvos don’t seem to have the same deterioration issues.

My suspicion is that something with the particular type of plastic they used those years did not react well with the surface coatings on the lights. I have observed notable clouding on the older Volvo cars, too. Perhaps Yvan, Man of Many Volvos, may have some helpful insights for us here.

I've checked back and the new sealer coat is holding up well. I’m going to wait till nearer the end of the month to take him the bill. That’ll make it about 3 weeks from the time I redid them…just to make sure.
repare-brise

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by repare-brise »

One can never have too many old swede's in the barn is my motto!!

Yes Volvo trucks have the same problem as Volvo 240 series cars(87-94), the HL's yellow deeply(much the same as Neon's or Tempo/Topaz's). Just about any product will bring them back to clean and clear, but keeping them that way is the trick. To better understand what is happening we must take a microscope to the plastic(figurativly), When we polish the plastic we are leaving behind scratches, these scratches multiply the surface area of the plastic, leaving more open to uv damage and enviromental dammage(Volvo lights are especially sensitive to the latter, hence there quick degredation). Our goal is to reduce this surface, and provide UV protection to the plastic

I have used many ways, but found 2 that work well. First, and not for the faint of heart, is flame polishing. This is used in the aviation industry for "polishing" plastic(polycarbonates such as Lexan) after it has been polished buy mechanical meens. It consists of melting a thin layer of the plastic, I use a propane torch with the light removed from the vehicule in an area with-out wind. It takes much practice not to melt or bubble the plastic, but once the technique is perfected the results are spectacular, and long lasting, Effectivly you are re-moulding the plastic, giving it a watersmooth surface and restoring it,s natural anti-uv properties.In this process all microscopic surface scratches are removed, making it the longest lasting alternative But I must warn, practice is a must, and don't do it on a customers light woithout feeling absolutly certain as to what you are doing.

The second is mechanical polishing followed by a top-coat, the polishing is as above, but the polish becomes of more importance. Use a polish that is of the finest particles(the 3M and IPS products work well here) possible, so that microscopic scratches are reduced to a minimum. Next is a top-coat that fills these remaining scratches and provides UV protection. I use a cream polymere wax, letting it dry completely, then polishing with a foam pad to create heat. I repaet this step twice.

The last step is common to both but optional depending on how often you want to see your customers, and how happy they will be. I instruct car owners to " wax" the lights once a month, truckers every 2 weeks. This may sound frequent, but they might do it the first month, then the enthusiasm wears away and maintenance becomes more dispersed Once every 3 months is usualy ok, but if we tell them that it will end up once a year.

Hope it helps
glassdoctor
Senior Member
Posts: 733
Joined: November 13th, 2003, 9:24 am

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by glassdoctor »

I've done the same thing telling customers to wax the lights, etc... but the flame polishing is not something I have tried. I have got to play with that one. It sounds like too much fun. :)

crk
Did you use a topcoat the last time you did the trucks? If so what did you use?

I did a lot of searching for topcoat products a couple years ago but never did much with it. I have some stuff I haven't even tried yet.
sunshine wr
Senior Member
Posts: 626
Joined: August 13th, 2003, 5:53 am

Re: Headlight Restoration

Post by sunshine wr »

Has anyone here used or heard of the NicSand headlight and windshield polishes? If so, how good / bad did they work?
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