Headlight polishing

RetiredUSNChief

RetiredUSNChief

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Co-worker is doing some CNC routing for a Cub Scout Day Camp event my wife is Program Director for.

In the meantime, I'm trading headlight polishing on his truck for the CNC work.

Decided to buy a Kobalt orbital polisher...$139. It doesn't come with batteries, of course. Guy at Lowes shows me a double battery (4 A-hr)/charger set for $149...buy that and the polisher is free!

Guess I'm officially buying Kobalt now!

Out the door, after discounts like my military one (plus my credit card gives me cash back), I spent $120!

Anyway, a brother gave me some polishing compounds to do my own headlights with, so I did both vehicles.

Mine afterwards (no before):

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His headlights required a bit more work with some 600 and 1500 grit sandpaper.

When I was done, I sprayed two smooth coats of Meguiar's Headlight Coating (Walmart) to really bring out the clarity and provide UV protection.

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I did the same thing; I hope yours last better than mine did. A year later they looked as bad as before, and were getting water ingress to the inside too. I ended up replacing the headlight assemblies and though it wasn't cheap, it really brightened up the front end, not to mention the headlight coverage.
 
Can you post what buffer wheel your using?
I have a Milwaukee tool exactly like your kobalt. I have been doing headlights by hand using the 3m kit. Never occurred to use a buffer wheel.
 
The Headlight coating makes a difference. Before, I would polish the headlights, and they would look good for a few months and get hazy again. With the coating it seems to last 2+ years or so.
 
Red Marley said:
I did the same thing; I hope yours last better than mine did. A year later they looked as bad as before, and were getting water ingress to the inside too. I ended up replacing the headlight assemblies and though it wasn't cheap, it really brightened up the front end, not to mention the headlight coverage.
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I have some advise on this.

First of all, never let your headlight get in the condition my co-worker's got to. When they fog, it's time to fix them right then, when it only takes a little effort to do so. My vehicle (the red one) I did by hand, before I bought the polisher. It's problem was the protectant on the headlights had yellowed, and by the streaking was obviously put on by wipes and not spray. They didn't take me long, but if I had had the Kobalt handy then, it would have almost taken less time to buff them than to mask around the headlights with blue painter's tape.

Second, DON'T use those UV wipes. Buy a can of the UV spray protectant like what I showed above and use it per directions. And realize that there's a reason why it's the headlights/fog lights on vehicles that end up fogging over instead of tail lights, for a reason. Driving vehicles means dirt/dust/etc. tends to sear the protective coating down to expose the underlying plastic to UV. So be sure to clean and maintain the headlights with that in mind. And I say use the spray because you can get an even, streak-free application of the protectant very easily with it, as opposed to the wipes. It's only about $8 a can, give or take, at Walmart and after two vehicles mine feels like I've still got more than half a can left, easily.

Headlight assembly replacement is nice...but they run anywhere from $110 each (Rock Auto) to over $300 each, just on the vehicles we own that I've checked. For a minimum of $220 up to $750 for a pair of new headlight assemblies, I can put in a bit of periodic maintenance to clarify, and maintain the clarity, of our existing assemblies for a long time. And those new ones...they'll end up fogging, too, if you don't maintain them.

The polish in the picture above runs about $6 a container ($12 for one polish and one Rubbing and one Polishing each)...and you can do a TON of headlights at that price.
 
Slacker said:
Can you post what buffer wheel your using?
I have a Milwaukee tool exactly like your kobalt. I have been doing headlights by hand using the 3m kit. Never occurred to use a buffer wheel.
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These are the buffing pads that come with the Kobalt tool (Lowes link below). They are three different colors of foam, to be sued with different grades of rubbing/polishing compounds. They're velcro backed pads.

I'd like to find a cloth one, though I suppose I could wrap a microcloth on one of these and do fine.

 
RetiredUSNChief said:
Headlight assembly replacement is nice...but they run anywhere from $110 each (Rock Auto) to over $300 each, just on the vehicles we own that I've checked. For a minimum of $220 up to $750 for a pair of new headlight assemblies, I can put in a bit of periodic maintenance to clarify, and maintain the clarity, of our existing assemblies for a long time. And those new ones...they'll end up fogging, too, if you don't maintain them.
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FWIW…I paid ~$140 (total) to buy the four assemblies so I could replace them in our Ram and Pilot. Brand new off eBay. No issues with either pair.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
Great deal!
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Obviously the new ones will look as good as freshly polished ones.

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But sometimes the labor to swap them is dumb. On my Ram, it was just a couple screws/bolts without removing anything else. On the Pilot it was a different story. Three bolts on each on readily accessible. The fourth required this:

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I have a little 2.5” orbital sander for detailing, it works well, but requires real power. Keep meaning to try running it from a converter plugged into the car.

For a terrycloth or microfiber bonnet look for any car detailing place. Online amazon will have lots.
 
chiefjason said:
I added acrylic film over the Imprezza headlights. Just sanded and clear coated the Outback and going to put film over them here soon. Then on to the truck.
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PFF is the best way to protect headlights from yellowing, cracking and road debris damage.
 
Timfoilhat said:
Best you take care of them before they get bad. Painful to replace.

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One was replaced on the wifes M3 because it would not adjust when turning a corner. $3500+ but it was under warranty. They had to take the bumper off. I asked my service writer if they could clean out the intake area while they had the bumper off because it literally eats everything within its suction radius to feed and cool the engine. He said no problem.

 
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Timfoilhat said:
Best you take care of them before they get bad. Painful to replace.

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Yeah... I've seen anywhere from $110 to $350 each for our various vehicles, depending on the source. And that's not including dealer prices.

Definitely worth a little elbow grease.

Finished all three kid's cars, tomorrow will be my wife's, her sister's, and the pickup.

FYI: one can of Meguiar's Headlight Coating did 5 cars.
 
Just curious, but has anybody else tried the Cerakote kit? I used one earlier this Spring on my truck, but I think it might have been out of expiry, I bought it in 2020. The final step wipes weren't dry but they had some of the coating compound cytstalized out of the solvent in the foil pouch. Overall, I thought it was a very striaght forward all in one complete kit to use.

cerakoteceramics.com

Headlight

cerakoteceramics.com cerakoteceramics.com
 
I did the toothpaste trick on my daughter's car. Worked great, but only lasted a few months. Only took about ten minutes.
 
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