Chicken, hazy, pitted and crazed (cracked) headlight covers don't fair-minded adjust your automobile gander close a complete beater, they're again exposed. This danger is all the preferable in that the hazing happens over date, so you might not letter true how faint and diffused your headlights carry gotten until they're looking cross-eyed at a ring Perch. Restoration is quite effortless, and definitely reward the generation whether your van's developed a instance of cataracts.
Instructions
1. Wash the van as you usually would to receive rid of any surface dirt on the headlights, then towel-dry the headlights and the earth of your automobile's entity approximately them. Tape all all over the headlights and adoption a disposable plastic frog sticker to fold the tape into the reason seams. The polishing techniques used here Testament damage metal and chrome, so tape everything that isn't fair plastic.
2. Blop assorted sheets of 1500- and 3000-grit sandpaper into a bucket of soapy water -- about an ounce of soap to a gallon of water is sufficient. You may also opt to use straight water if you don't mind cleaning the paper more often.
3. Wet the headlight cover and sand it in light side-to-side strokes with the 1500-grit sandpaper. Sand only in the horizontal plane, and feel free to dry your headlight periodically to ensure that you've left a consistently hazy finish behind. Don't worry; it's supposed to look that way.
4. Repeat Step 3 with 3000-grit sandpaper, moving in vertical lines this time. If you're starting out with a deeply pitted headlight and are looking for a super-smooth finish, you might want to begin with 1000-grit sandpaper and step up in 500-grit increments to 3000-grit. A machine-polisher and foam pad will provide a deeper shine than hand polishing, and will do so in far less time, but use caution. A power polisher can build up enough heat to damage or even melt your headlight cover, so keep it on its lowest setting -- under 1,000 rpm -- and maintain a light hand. Check your work often so you'll know when to stop.6.
Remember to alternate your directions: side to side for 1000-grit, up and down for 1500-grit, side to side for 2000-grit and so on. However, a two-step from 1500 to 3000 will suffice for most headlights.5. Hand- or machine-polish the lens with plastic-polishing compound.
Repeat on the other headlight, remove the tape, wash the thing off and enjoy your work. Don't terribly surprised if you need to answer and do some touch up polishing, especially if you used a polishing wheel.
