spar eurethane headlight restore method

[alien_brain]

this was an amazing transformation. my headlights were the worst case i have ever seen and rather than pitch them i figured i would at least put that restore kit on them since ive done that before. it gets them sorta clear, if not a tad cloudy after you polish. then i heard about the spar urethane method whereby you simply mix 50/50 with mineral spirits and brush on after your highest grit sand paper (2500 in my case) and watch them transform into the headlights you wish they still were! watch your pocketbook breathe a sigh of relief.

im absolutely sure you could use this method to spruce up any plastics on the car to look absolutely new again. and it gives a layer of UV protection so the lights dont oxidize. killer idea and accessible to anybody.

here is an example of the worst oxidation i could find and mine were worse than this.



now my headlights look amazing:

[lambaudi]

Was the solution brushed on the outside of the lens?

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[alien_brain]

yes i used one of those sponge brushes

its very runny when diluted and you only need a single coat. you need a dust free place to let them dry.

[4rings2turbos]

We should make this the testimonials thread. I just did a set for Arsenal yesterday. I've done both of my allroads too. As well as my instrument clusters, the gloss trim on the B and C pillars and the base of my mirrors, Brian is right this method is killer.

6-speed allroad



Arsenal's side by side



My cluster

[alien_brain]

bro my name is not brian.

[4rings2turbos]

I've been calling you Brian for weeks

Haha, I'm not responding to you anymore Alien Brian.

No one is telling you not to buy the cheap one (we may recommend not buying crappy stuff but we won't tell you you can't buy it). I told you what the issue was and if you just don't get it then so be it. If I steal $20 is it okay because now I have 20 more dollars?

The shoddy molding is indicative of a lesser product. Not just visually but performance-wise. But I guess you can't "see" past that. (eh, eh?)

No one cares that you bought a chinese wiper. No ones cares that you saved money. And no one cares how long it lasts or that you do or don't mind plastic that looks bad. If anything we're all happy that you're satisfied.

I spoke my peace about you not raining on a forum supporter's thread. Jason is done, I'm done, and everyone now knows where to get a cheap wiper. Just don't spread around that they're the same quality.

The OEM aero is already shorter than factory C5 rear wiper, the chinese one being even shorter is another down vote.

Enjoy your communist wiper, Brian.

Get the XVs! They test higher lumens after break in! And they're cheaper ;)

Super happy customer here.

*ducks before Brian calls me a fan boi for not putting 40w edison bulbs in my headlights*

Doesn't fit allroad, Brian.

....PCV hose assembly (update R)
new hood strut
new front aero wiper arms (left and right) and blades
upgraded rear aero wiper arm and blade (much to Brian's dismay I recklessly went OEM here and supported a forum vendor
new headlight switch......

We should make this the testimonials thread. I just did a set for Arsenal yesterday. I've done both of my allroads too. As well as my instrument clusters, the gloss trim on the B and C pillars and the base of my mirrors, Brian is right this method is killer.

[alien_brain]

thats right asshole you have. i asked you to steer clear of me. whats all this shit?

[OGBULLYLOCDAWG]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...n-walk-through

[SteelyS6]

I need to redo my S6 headlights. This time around I will use this method after final wetsanding as everyone seems to have pretty good results!

[julex]

It works very well, jsut be aware that it "only" lasts about 2y, heavily depending on climate as well. Mine are at second peeling with each lasting about 2y.

[PaperToast]

where does one pick up this magic unicorn fluid? the depot, lowes, a paint supply store . . . ?

[alien_brain]

any place that sells spar urethane. i got mine from ace hardware. you dont need much.

[4rings2turbos]

Make sure you get clear gloss of course.

And helmsman does seem to work the best.

[a4kamila6]

Can you UV coat it after applying the eurethane? Or is it basically the same thing.


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[Black-Forest]

I still like the 3M kit. A little scary at first sanding your headlight lenses but if you follow the directions the results are great. Been using the 3M kit on customers cars for a while now.

[4rings2turbos]

Can you UV coat it after applying the eurethane? Or is it basically the same thing.


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The urethane is a UV protectant so that's all you need! It has a SUPER deep gloss as an added benefit.

[alien_brain]

its supposed to last longer than the 3m kit. and in fact you can use all the steps in the kit up until you apply the urethane. the last step in the sanding they give you gets you to 3000 i think. thats the level where you apply the urethane and it sits in the grooves created by the sand paper and makes the plastic absolutely clear, where the polishing paste that 3m gives you only gets your lights to at best a blurry clear. you really need to take em off the car however.

[Black-Forest]

Oh so there is a sanding component to this process. Good to here as I've seen the kits where you simply rub the stuff on. I will look into this. Thanks.

[frankwizzle]

I still like the 3M kit. A little scary at first sanding your headlight lenses but if you follow the directions the results are great. Been using the 3M kit on customers cars for a while now.

The 3m kit is okay, but you have to buy it EVERY time you want to do a set of headlights. That glaze in the kit is essentially the same thing. So for the same price of one kit you can do at least 50 cars with valspar/mineral spirits.

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[4rings2turbos]

Dude, you could do like a thousand cars with one can lol.

[lambaudi]

C'mon guys are you applying the solution to the inside or the outside of the lens

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[4rings2turbos]

Was the solution brushed on the outside of the lens?

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yes i used one of those sponge brushes

:) I'm sure you just missed this.

[lambaudi]

I did. Thank you for the patience lol

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[4rings2turbos]

Of course, I've done the same!

[alien_brain]

nothing was done to the inside of the lens so any traces of stuff in there was in there before.

[toms73novass]

I used KBS Diamond Finish Clear coat. It has been two years and it still looks like the day I applied it. Used the same methods as described above, however, I did not reduce it as much probably 75-25. We will see how much longer it will be before I will have to do it again, however, it has worked awesome.

[julex]

The funny part is that vast majority of magic headlight sealer kits simply contain spar urethane! So you pay $20 for something that costs (at wholesale) 1$ and you simply dilute and pour it into nicely labeled bottles.

[V1nny]

I saw urethane (year old) treated headlights, and 4 stages polished side by side. Polished looked better.

[4rings2turbos]

I saw urethane (year old) treated headlights, and 4 stages polished side by side. Polished looked better.

Was the restore performed by the same person? Service performer is a big variable. The urethane is a super high quality method and cheap as running down to the basement in many cases.

[Chris_s1]

Have you guys ever done the inside of the cover? I'm working on this now and it looks good but I can still see scratches that were there before I started. I'm starting w/ 400 grit and working up to 2000 before applying mixture. I'm thinking if I sand and coat the inside if thats where the scratches are (though I'm not sure how they would have gotten there), it'll clear up.

[4rings2turbos]

Chances are the scratches are all on the outside. If it was never opened up then I guarantee it. Were they super bad? 400 is pretty low grit and those scratches could take a lot of work to get out.

[PaperToast]

400 grit is a bit course to start, you might have put scratches in with that grit
i normally start with 1000 grit go to 3000, then hit it with the buffer and some medium cut compound

[Chris_s1]

I'll keep working on em, I'll start work on it for longer with a higher grit. I just did a quick pass with the 400 grit. As far as I know, they weren't opened up.. i'll work them over again and see what happens.

[4rings2turbos]

It helps to only go in back and forth motions, doing circular motions can create some extra deep scratches- in case you didn't already know that.

[mithril]

I still like the 3M kit. A little scary at first sanding your headlight lenses but if you follow the directions the results are great. Been using the 3M kit on customers cars for a while now.

The 3M kit removes the previously oxidized factory UV sealant or lens, however it doesn't provide any protection and the lens will re-oxidize very quickly without UV protection. Applying a UV sealant like the 50:50 spar urethane mix discussed here or a commercial product like Opti-lens will keep your headlights restored for years, or longer. Having done both spar-urethane and Opti-lens personally I now prefer Opti-Lens. There is more prep work involved as, unlike spar-urethane is will not self-level and therefore does not fill in sanding marks. You have to finish the sanding and polishing completely, however once you've got a good finish it's effectively sealed forever barring physical damage to the lens as Opti-lens bonds chemically to the lens unlike spar-urethane which cures on like a paint coat.

The longevity is much much much greater, spae-urethane will breakdown after a couple years (at the most) forcing you to re-sand and re-apply to bring your lenses back. Spar-urethane also not clear so, even heavily diluted, it still has a slightly yellowed appearance whereas Opti-len is optical clear. These pics are from this thread where a guy living in Hawaii cleared half a headlight with spar-urethane and the other half with Opti-lens then left them out in the elements on top of his shed for 6 months. Hawaii's UV Index is significantly higher than pretty much anywhere in North America so this simulates several years of exposure for most of us.

Spar-Urethane on the left, Opti-lens on the right


Spar-Urethane on the left, Opti-lens on the right


As you can see the spar-urethane broke down almost completely allowing the lens to re-oxidize while the half protected by Opti-lens is effectively untouched. Pretty much seals it from my perspective. I refinished the lenses on my lights when I swapped in the Evo-X projectors almost 3 years ago, other than some pitting from road debris my experience is exactly the same. Well worth the $30 for the tube, which will do about 10 sets of lights.

[glennda5id]

Where do you get the tubes for $30. Seems the price is twice that where I'm looking.

[ChicagosPhantom]

The longevity is much much much greater, spae-urethane will breakdown after a couple years (at the most) forcing you to re-sand and re-apply to bring your lenses back. Spar-urethane also not clear so, even heavily diluted, it still has a slightly yellowed appearance whereas Opti-len is optical clear. These pics are from this thread where a guy living in Hawaii cleared half a headlight with spar-urethane and the other half with Opti-lens then left them out in the elements on top of his shed for 6 months. Hawaii's UV Index is significantly higher than pretty much anywhere in North America so this simulates several years of exposure for most of us.

Spar-Urethane on the left, Opti-lens on the right


Spar-Urethane on the left, Opti-lens on the right

I did my headlights with Opti-Coat 2 and it holds still after about 2 years of Chicago weather.I'm satisfied with it.I planed to use Opti Lens and now I'm convinced...(up)

[mithril]

Where do you get the tubes for $30. Seems the price is twice that where I'm looking.

Wow, either the price has jumped a ton in 3yrs or my memory is really crappy. I bought it from Detailer's Domain and you're right that it's $59.95 per tube. They often have promos and coupon codes if you're not in a rush. Even at $60/tube it's still worth it in my mind, the spar method works well too but Opti-Lens is a set and forget solution.

[alien_brain]

heh, ill be wetsanding and redoing my headlights in 2 years. my spar urethane was... $5 i think

not to mention that the headlight in that pic-- the spar urethane side doesnt look as good as mine do and i wonder at the execution, and even the motivation behind the test. i mean, if you were attempting to debunk something and wanted to make a show of it to your potential customers, wouldnt you misrepresent your 'foe'? arent those the rules of engagement?

[V1nny]

i wrote earlier, that I had a chance to compare allroad headlight treated with urethane (about a year old) and another headlight from a same set that I polished using 3M kit. Results were very similar to mithril pictures.