Headlight Reconditioning

[aliengotpsi]

2000 Ford Taurus 92,125 Miles
Dealer Car

[aliengotpsi]

Passenger Side

[DrifterExtreme]

Wow great job. how much you charge for this?

[Joel]

good plan switching to air powered tools kevin :thumbs up:

[aliengotpsi]

Yeah we have switched over to air after doing up to 40 sets a month..

We usually charge $50.00 (dealer price) We don't advertise it so we don't get many retail clients wanting this.
$60.00 retail

That set was not very bad but you get the idea..

[DrifterExtreme]

Well i have a set of lights i need done, there not bad at all, but i want them blingin. haha

[amicheze]

I was actually just wondering about getting that done a couple days ago.

[weshole]

Looks like the same kit we use here Kevin. Shit works awesome.

[aliengotpsi]

Wes its, sand paper, Air DA sander, Dewalt buffer, mini polisher, UV clear coat..

How much do you charge ? How many do you guys do?

[svxAL]

do you 1500 then 3 or do u cut a little deeper seem to do alot of these at school

[aliengotpsi]

Most cars get sanded W/

240
400
600
1000
1500
Then buffed
Cleared w/ uv clear

[weshole]

aliengotpsi;293799 wrote:
Wes its, sand paper, Air DA sander, Dewalt buffer, mini polisher, UV clear coat..

How much do you charge ? How many do you guys do?

Here's the kit we use.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3MAutomotive/Aftermarket/Products/Featured_Products/Headlight/

We charge $50/pair to do the job. Unfortunately, we have not been doing the u/v clear afterward. That is something we have not had the resources to get ahold of. Is what you use in aerosol can or applied using a gun?

[svxAL]

[QUOTE=aliengotpsi;293832]Most cars get sanded W/

240
400
600
1000
1500
Then buffed
Cleared w/ uv clear[/QUOTE
really 240 lol holy shit ive took headlights out of the junkyard and 1000 was the most coarse I got and they looked brand new i mean they were bad you couldn't even see inside to the reflector. dont you think its a little over board to do clear or does it just help so they dont get crapped up within the next couple years

[bubba]

svxAL;293850 wrote:
[QUOTE=aliengotpsi;293832]Most cars get sanded W/

240
400
600
1000
1500
Then buffed
Cleared w/ uv clear[/QUOTE
really 240 lol holy shit ive took headlights out of the junkyard and 1000 was the most coarse I got and they looked brand new i mean they were bad you couldn't even see inside to the reflector. dont you think its a little over board to do clear or does it just help so they dont get crapped up within the next couple years

this is what i was thinking too...

[aliengotpsi]

svxAL;293850 wrote:
[QUOTE=aliengotpsi;293832]Most cars get sanded W/

240
400
600
1000
1500
Then buffed
Cleared w/ uv clear[/QUOTE
really 240 lol holy shit ive took headlights out of the junkyard and 1000 was the most coarse I got and they looked brand new i mean they were bad you couldn't even see inside to the reflector. dont you think its a little over board to do clear or does it just help so they dont get crapped up within the next couple years

Would you buff and polish a car and not protect it? What you are doing when you sand the headlights you are removing a OEM coating that had been broken down by the UV- Rays/Bugs/etc.

On some car 240 is over board but then if you have some like cadillacs they have a much harder coating on the headlight and takes longer using higher than 240.

The coating we have been currently using is a wipe on on. but others we have are spray on and have to be cured with a UV LIGHT.

[aliengotpsi]

weshole;293834 wrote:
Here's the kit we use.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3MAutomotive/Aftermarket/Products/Featured_Products/Headlight/

We charge $50/pair to do the job. Unfortunately, we have not been doing the u/v clear afterward. That is something we have not had the resources to get ahold of. Is what you use in aerosol can or applied using a gun?

Wes thats a good kit.. You may want to jump up to a full size buffer to make polishing out the sanding marks faster and use the small DA polisher for the hard to reach areas..

[weshole]

What clear are you using Kevin?

[svxAL]

aliengotpsi;293868 wrote:
[quote=svxAL;293850]

Would you buff and polish a car and not protect it?.
i geuss im confused at this ussaully after i pull a car outta the booth i cut it then buff it then polish then run it out the door thats how i was taught and how most body shops do it :icon_scratch:

[aliengotpsi]

svxAL;293871 wrote:
[quote=aliengotpsi;293868]
i geuss im confused at this ussaully after i pull a car outta the booth i cut it then buff it then polish then run it out the door thats how i was taught and how most body shops do it :icon_scratch:

After you polish a car you need to wax or seal it , unless its fresh paint. But I do love fixing body shop buff jobs... Newbs Leaving swirls, holograms,fish-tails, sanding marks, compund in the cracks... If you work at a body shop you should know what I mean. Very few do a decent job. im sure the reason is that it may take days to wet sand and buff , polish to make a car perfect..

[svxAL]

aliengotpsi;293872 wrote:
[quote=svxAL;293871]

After you polish a car you need to wax or seal it , unless its fresh paint. But I do love fixing body shop buff jobs... Newbs Leaving swirls, holograms,fish-tails, sanding marks, compund in the cracks... If you work at a body shop you should know what I mean. Very few do a decent job. im sure the reason is that it may take days to wet sand and buff , polish to make a car perfect..

well i guess ive only done freshly painted vehicles and a few scratches on friends cars. and well I geuss I wet sanded with 3000 my whole car the buffed and polished it and it looks really good took out almost all imperfections. and as for the compound getting all over that's what the detail/recon place is for cleaning the vehicle we fix. It then goes to them to clean and make it look good. And as for swirls and some LITTLE sanding marks/dull spots sometimes u miss them when u have half a car that needs to be cutt buffed, polished and throw back together than to recon to be detailed and back to the owner that day lol.