Foretravel Owners' Forum

Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Tech Talk => Topic started by: Old phart phred on April 30, 2020, 12:36:23 am

Title: Headlight polish
Post by: Old phart phred on April 30, 2020, 12:36:23 am
In December I decided I wanted another sports car. Bought a dirt cheap 15 year old Crossfire (aka 320slk Mercedes Benz with a different body) with nearly opaque and slightly yellowed plastic headlight lenses. Bought the $18 rainex drill powered 4 stage kit, that started at 1500 grit but I hand sanded an additional 2000 grit stage, before moving to  the other stages. I would highly recommend this kit. The final sealent protection coat takes 8 hours to cure.
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: Pierce & Gaylie Stewart on April 30, 2020, 10:04:55 am
Headlights look great. I hit our coach headlights with the body buffer and rubbing compound after wet or dry paper. Excellent job but you do need the sealant or they get cloudy in six months.

Pierce
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: "Irish" on April 30, 2020, 11:02:37 pm
Absolutely, a lot of the compounds do a great job cleaning the lenses, and give you enough compound to do multiple "cleanings"!
They do not give you enough of the sealant to do multiple coats, check that there is a good supply of sealant with the kit you buy. The sealant is necessary or the lenses will fog over within a few months.
Most kits can only get the light back up to about 80% of what the lenses were when new, so really good but not perfect, especially when you think about how much better the lights on new vehicles are.
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: Old phart phred on May 01, 2020, 01:03:06 am
The sealent appeared to be very strong in the rain-ex kit.and requires gloves and an 8 hour cure to melt into the plastic. In which time any streaks are supposed to disappear. they didn't. Hopefully the Best.
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: dans96u295ft on May 01, 2020, 09:25:04 am
I was Polyglowing my FT and happened to swipe the headlights which were modestly faded. Walla. 5 coats later and they look new. No sanding. I have always used mosquito spray in the past. Love the Polyglow product lineup. I had a problem with it streaking last fall and they said it needed to be in the sunlight to dry faster between coats. they sent my a new $125 kit for free. Love honest companies.
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: Mike Leary (RIP) on May 01, 2020, 10:00:55 am
I don't think you EVER get a brand new clear lens, but I've used this on all three of our coaches; works very well.  ^.^d
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: bbeane on May 01, 2020, 12:52:20 pm
I hit mine with the buffer and a little 3M One step.
Before I retired we buffed out  the headlights on our trucks when they came in for service. We tried all the commercial restoration products. I my observation once the plastic started clouding up its done, no matter what product we used. If one has time redo every few mos great. JMHO
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: rclark on May 01, 2020, 04:38:19 pm
I replaced my headlights and wondered if anyone knew what the light pattern should be? I remember when tire company had a target on the wall in front of the frontend aliment to adjust the lights? I tried to get them back as close to where they were before. Any help would be appreciated.
Ron
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: Keith and Joyce on May 01, 2020, 05:56:34 pm
Ron,

Just go to YouTube and search on "Adjusting Headlights".  It will show you how to mark on a wall (use masking tape) and aim them.  It's a good idea to aim the curb side lights a little higher to give you a good view of signage.

Keith
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: Jack Lewis on May 01, 2020, 06:00:04 pm
I replaced my headlights and wondered if anyone knew what the light pattern should be?
Ron

https://youtu.be/GWvSWBlAwnI
Title: Re: Headlight polish
Post by: TulsaTrent on May 02, 2020, 11:02:46 am
For those of you polishing or sanding your headlight lens:
 
Do you remove the little bumps that sit proud of the headlight surface first?
 
Thanks,
 
Trent