Need help on headlights restoration

CLS78

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Aug 24, 2016
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As you may have already know that i owned a 2008 Mercedes Benz CLS 350 and been driving & taken a good care of it for almost 8 years now...I always keeps the car look cleaned, shinning or shall i say look like brand new...this involved some touch-ups on the detailing and the last work i did was last year where i re-sprayed the entire car with the same original diamond black colour....

However...one final part of my car i still have a problem with...that is both my headlights which now became very hazy...however i don't intend to send it to a polish shop to get them to restore my hazy headlights...i planned to try do it myself first and if i fail...only then i will send it to the specialized shop....you guys surely understand whenni say.....we get a maximum satisfaction if we do it ourselves and get an amazing result...the feeling is just phenomenal right?....so i'm gonna try it myself...

But before i do...i would like to seek your advice & suggestion on how do i restore my headlights..the steps & procedure....all the car care solutions that i need....if possible the brands of this solutions....and finally some pointers on how do i start....say i know nothing about how to do it....your help & advice are very much appreciated...thanks

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fazidk

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Cool ride bro..anyway I'm x sure if ur willing to try this method on an expensive ride such s urs but I did it on my ex-wira (b4 I sold it off) n it worked just fine..a bit time consuming tho n requires lots of sanding wiz sand paper (like I said I'm x sure if ur willing this method on ur merc) n a can of lacquer spray..
 

vr2turbo

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Have to use sandpaper to remove the haze. Depending on the depth of the haze damaged you may need to start with rougher sandpaper then finer ones to smoothen out. Meaning like using 800 grade then 1000, 1500, 2000.
Final finish you can spray lacquer of like bro. fazidk mentioned or what bro. cvkit did by painting wood lacquer.
I did for friend but I finish off with plastic polish using a rotary polisher then wax it only.

Cannot find my post in ZTH, try reading some of my post in Autoworld
http://autoworld.com.my/forum/index.php?/topic/106508-diy-headlamp-sanding-and-polishing/
From another member
http://autoworld.com.my/forum/index.php?/topic/108564-headlight-restoration/
 

CLS78

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Aug 24, 2016
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Cool ride bro..anyway I'm x sure if ur willing to try this method on an expensive ride such s urs but I did it on my ex-wira (b4 I sold it off) n it worked just fine..a bit time consuming tho n requires lots of sanding wiz sand paper (like I said I'm x sure if ur willing this method on ur merc) n a can of lacquer spray..
Thanks for the advice bro...actually i wouldn't mind trying your method on my car...i was told to mainly use sand paper with 1500, 1200 & 1000 grid and lots of soap water spray...the polish it with a maguire headlight UV protection...will try it and let u know the result...thanks again bro


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CLS78

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Aug 24, 2016
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Have to use sandpaper to remove the haze. Depending on the depth of the haze damaged you may need to start with rougher sandpaper then finer ones to smoothen out. Meaning like using 800 grade then 1000, 1500, 2000.
Final finish you can spray lacquer of like bro. fazidk mentioned or what bro. cvkit did by painting wood lacquer.
I did for friend but I finish off with plastic polish using a rotary polisher then wax it only.

Cannot find my post in ZTH, try reading some of my post in Autoworld
http://autoworld.com.my/forum/index.php?/topic/106508-diy-headlamp-sanding-and-polishing/
From another member
http://autoworld.com.my/forum/index.php?/topic/108564-headlight-restoration/
Thank you for your reply bro...i will definitely give these solutions a try bro....also a friend of mine had demonstrated to me on his car using Autosol: metal polisher after the sanding and then finished it with a UV protection Polish and it worked amazingly....will also try the solutions you mentioned to see which gives the best result...thank you very much again...will let u know the result...

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lsm1991

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hmm... mines also super hazy.. polish it with toothpaste and wax~ helps but gets yellowish again very quickly after that.

is there any type of lacquer in specific that is needed?? dont wana spray the wrong type on da car....
 

lsm1991

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hmm... mines also super hazy.. polish it with toothpaste and wax~ helps but gets yellowish again very quickly after that.

is there any type of lacquer in specific that is needed?? dont wana spray the wrong type on da car....
 

vr2turbo

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Thank you for your reply bro...i will definitely give these solutions a try bro....also a friend of mine had demonstrated to me on his car using Autosol: metal polisher after the sanding and then finished it with a UV protection Polish and it worked amazingly....will also try the solutions you mentioned to see which gives the best result...thank you very much again...will let u know the result...

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If doing it on the car, meaning not removing the headlamps, better line the surrounding area (car body) with masking tape, in case the sandpaper scratch that part...

Found the pic, Like this...


After picture...This was another car that I did for a friend
 
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CLS78

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Bro vr2turbo....that was some amazing job you did on your friends headlight!...from very bad condition to like brand new....just curious...how many rounds of sandpaper you did on that headlight?

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CLS78

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Aug 24, 2016
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If doing it on the car, meaning not removing the headlamps, better line the surrounding area (car body) with masking tape, in case the sandpaper scratch that part...

Found the pic, Like this...


After picture...This was another car that I did for a friend
Again another excellent job you did on the headlights bro! Yes...i prefer not to remove the headlight....you know lah....mercedes headlights are hell to remove them....its lot easier to remove a girl's dress than this Benz's headlights! Hahahaha.....anyway bro....thank you so much on the tips! Appreciated it....

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vr2turbo

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Bro vr2turbo....that was some amazing job you did on your friends headlight!...from very bad condition to like brand new....just curious...how many rounds of sandpaper you did on that headlight?

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The first one where my friend took out and send the headlamp to me was in very very bad condition. He actually send to accessory shop but after a few tries they gave up, that is why he called me if I could help. Since in very bad condition and will take some time he remove it and let me have it for the week. It was so bad that I require 100 grit sand paper to start with, then 500, 800 to 1500 and 2000 before finally with plastic polish with rotary.
Cannot remember how many rounds but really a lot to sand until smooth.....lol