from my fairly limited painting experience, i would have used 2k clear (especially one marked as UV resistant) and only polish on the final. When me and my friend did headlights we sanded to 5000 grit, clear coated, sanded that down to smooth to eliminate orange peel and then polished that. Clear as glass and has lasted about 3 years now with minimal hazing
You're absolutely right about using 2k. In my experience 1k clear starts to lose its finish within just a few weeks. I'm also a bit worried about his decision to polish before clearcoating, because as you know paint doesn't stick well on a polished surface.
everybody who will be using this method need to know, that there is a chance that new clear coat might start breaking apart, cracking because of protective coat on headlights!!! this method is not 100% guaranteed...to make it 100 it is required for those plastic protective coat to be removed completely!! just keep this in mind
I just have a few things that worry me, since I'm painting a car myself and learned a few things about it. First, shouldn't you sand the headlight (very fine of course) and then immediately spray clear on it? Paint doesn't stick well on a glossy surface, it needs something to grab onto. Second, I'd be hesitant to call a 1k rattle can clear permanent. In my experience they start to lose their finish within weeks, or a month max if you're careful. It's FAR better to remove the lights and put proper automotive 2k clear on (removal is just to make overspray more manageable, they can also be done on the car but that means much more masking work). And last, shouldn't you have waited longer before sealing the clearcoat? I know the ceramic will help prevent the second point, but fresh paint needs time to gas out (for 2k it's generally accepted as 2-3 months before you can put any kind of coating on). And even though it's 1k, I just feel that a day isn't enough.
I agree Johann, I tried a 1k clear coat on my car years ago, was back to looking like crap again in a month. 2k in a rattle can is defiantly the way to go if you don't have air/gun to shoot it on.
@@ThisMeHandle I'd say go through the sanding and polishing, and then ceramic without clear. Or sand it up to a very fine grit, and then 2k clear. There are people who put clearcoat on head/taillight lenses and it looks amazing, but personally I don't like it. Even automotive 2k clearcoat only has a few years expected life before it starts to delaminate. As for the "coating" on the lens fading. I don't know if the lenses have some kind of UV coating on from the factory (they probably do), but that yellowing is the plastic itself (polycarbonate if I'm not mistaken). That's why if you sand/polish the "oxidised coating" off, it just fades again. But ceramic should protect the plastic from UV. I've actually just given the headlights on my one car its first coat of ceramic (the other one has glass headlights, so no oxidizing issue there). I didn't do the sanding (should have, but I'm a bit lazy and it's a VERY cheap ceramic that I bought so it won't last that long anyway). Simply polished them by hand to remove any hazyness, wiped with alcohol to clean off any contaminants that might interfere, and then put the first coat of ceramic on.
I've seen a few of these videos covering all sorts of different methods.... I like yours the best....Pleased to see you protect your hard work at the end with a clearcoat :-)
I used a headlight restoration kit on my Jeep JKU last summer. It turned out pretty good, but it didn't last too long. All that work. ☹️ It was also very difficult because our headlights are round and recessed a bit. I had so much tape! 😂 Thanks for the video! You've had me hooked since the Jeep you washed and detailed. ❤️
Might be worthwhile looking at removing the front grill on your jeep. Search on youtube and I bet it is only a couple bolts... or pull the headlights! Either one has to be easy enough and then you can work on them with more room.
Looks good but clear coat shouldn’t be sprayed over polished or glossy lens, it needs to stick to at least 800-1200 grit plus a plastic primer or adhesion promoter, it’s gonna flake off after a couple rock chips or the sun itself is gonna do the damage
I really want to do this myself. I have taken my Escape to a couple different people for detailing...and no one knows how to do a good job. You know the saying. If you want something done right do it yourself. 🤦🏽♀️
I did this to my corollas headlights a year ago but i used a $6-7 clear coat from walmart ("UV resistant, non yellowing") and it worked wonders, theyre still lookong like the first day🙌🏽🙌🏽 do it girl!!!
He did a pretty good job with out hitting the pain, I could understand masking the car, be he just details I'm sure he's new to some stuff and recently found out on how to do headlights :3 give him a break
@@monstergirl3040 Just being Devil's advocate. If his business, is to detail cars, & when doing said detailing, he either: • Charges the customer for his professional expertise & work. &/or • Receives remuneration for a video, of his work. Have his "Hey, I'm new to this, don't give me a hard time, if I damage your car" / "newbie pass" ships not, kinda sailed? If you hired a painter & they got paint on your carpet & furniture. Would you be OK, if they said, it wasn't *their* fault, they hadn't learned, how to *not* damage property, yet. So, give them a BREAK?
I've sanded and buffed mine down on my 2006 Jetta only to have it start looking hazy again a few months later. I didn't put a clear coat on them however so I'll clean them up again and give that a try.
Really nice just! I have experience doing this love that small polisher. When I worked in autobody shops we always cut with air driven DA with Trizack paper on it. Worked awesome
do you have a video on repairing 'oxidized' paint, like on a bumper? on my expedition, looks like someone sanded a patch of paint away, but that isn't the case. would love to see how to spot fix that without having the whole bumper repainted. also, the hood seems like it has a dull finish compared to the rest of the truck. thanks, love your content.
Awesome to see Stauffer Garage do a video with a specific part of the car. Its a good break from detailing videos. Great job and keep up the good work.
Two comments: 1. I'm amazed you did this ON the car, without even opening the hood to guard against sanding the car's PAINT ! 2. Before spending $200 on a polisher and 4 or 5 different compounds...wouldn't it be wise to check the cost of replacement lenses?
Good walkthrough, although after all that work I probably would have gone with a better clearcoat. Also curious to see how well the clearcoat sticks to the lights since they were polished out so smooth, as opposed to applying clear over 1000-1500 grit sanded.
Idk how it is in other countries but in Germany this is actually not legal. As with sanding the headlights the plastic gets thinner and even if it is only by 0.0000001mm its 'Registration License' is not active anymore. On the other side: There is no way any inspector is going to clearly measure it and if you don't mention nobody is going to know if it's restored or just still in that good condition.
Great video. Why didn't you remove the light housing from the car? then work easily and without ANY fear of effing up on the car surface, no masking, no overspray etc.
Wouldn't it make more sense to only do the polishing after clear coat? The paint would fill in any scratches at around 600 grit making it smooth. All the polishing for nothing
At a guess, I would say you'd end up with a very rough/not very smooth finish as how do you apply extra paint into scratches and not to the smoother surrounding surface? Therefore you'd still end up with a rough finish.
PJ: Not an expert, but seems to me if the clear coat is applied evenly, you are just transferring the microscopic pits to the paint layer, as clear coat is not self-leveling. Think of pitted metal that needs repainted. One starts with primer followed by wet sanding to level the surface before painting.
This gives me bad memories. Back when I was young and didn't know what a scam direct marketing was, I worked for a company that did free samples of things in Sam's Club. We weren't the free food people, though. Our goal was to get people to buy our products. One day, the boss told us we were going to be selling FastWax, which they swore could clean any stain off any car. So many failed stains.. So many failed pitches.. One thing it was good for was cleaning stains off headlights. We would only do one headlight, though. So many bad jokes about doing both.. 😨
Make these weekdays videos more often. It's quite exciting building up to the weekend Detailing. And please do a complete interior and exterior detail. It's more satisfying and refreshing.. if you get what I'm saying. LOL and I wanna see the exterior detailing process
Hi so a few days ago I had a wax melt from yankee candle, I being stupid put it on top of the dash where the air vents are, it was a very hot afternoon when I left it, you know I didn’t think anything of it. Next day I go to my car and only the packaging remained, it all melted into the air vents! So I just need someone to tell me how bad did I mess up and is there a way to actually fix it myself without going to a mechanic? Please help! Thanks
The before and after is INSANE!! I'm often looking at headlights in parking lots and I cringe when I see them looking so shabby and foggy. It ruins the whole look of the car
I'd love to see what your recommendation is for how to clear up foggy headlights as best as possible for under $50! Mainly because I'm a broke college student and I don't have all these fancy tools and compounds nor do I have the money to buy them.
You can gets kits at Walmart and the like. I did - looks great, and didn't cost too much. Could likely do another set with the same kit, so go in with a friend.
The only problem with polishing at home for a DIYer.. is that by the time you have purchased a polisher, some pads, some compounds, sanding papers and some sealants you already looking at an amount much greater than replacement Depo or any other decent after market replacement headlight! 🤭 Not worth it for DIY, worth it if you already own a polisher!
I had someone clear coat my headlights after they were restored and they eventually degraded due to the heat experienced by the headlamp itself. Any thoughts on this?
Apparently you didn’t look at the headlight beforehand. It was starting to yellow. Much easier to do it now than wait until the headlight is in really bad condition.
Fun fact: In Germany your car looses the approval because you have changed the dimensions of the headlight after grinding the headlights. And yes, it’s true.....
from my fairly limited painting experience, i would have used 2k clear (especially one marked as UV resistant) and only polish on the final. When me and my friend did headlights we sanded to 5000 grit, clear coated, sanded that down to smooth to eliminate orange peel and then polished that. Clear as glass and has lasted about 3 years now with minimal hazing
You're absolutely right about using 2k. In my experience 1k clear starts to lose its finish within just a few weeks.
I'm also a bit worried about his decision to polish before clearcoating, because as you know paint doesn't stick well on a polished surface.
Cringing because you didn't even mask the body work while doing the sanding part! 🤦🏽♂️
Uhh he taped around the headlight duh 5 yr old kid
Exactly, just came to comment on that.
Or a sanding block to keep the pressure uniform.
Michael Warbux yeah your right also thank goodness there is someone who knows everything here :)
@@CL4SSiCS duhhh... after he sanded he did
Thought this was Chrisfix’s video about it from the thumbnail 😂
Me too 😁
everythingcarsishere how the headlights aren’t the same shape at all
Perfect match clear coat is trash should of spent the extra 7$ for a 2k clear tbh
everybody who will be using this method need to know, that there is a chance that new clear coat might start breaking apart, cracking because of protective coat on headlights!!! this method is not 100% guaranteed...to make it 100 it is required for those plastic protective coat to be removed completely!! just keep this in mind
Well I mean it seemed to do the job in this video
I just have a few things that worry me, since I'm painting a car myself and learned a few things about it.
First, shouldn't you sand the headlight (very fine of course) and then immediately spray clear on it? Paint doesn't stick well on a glossy surface, it needs something to grab onto.
Second, I'd be hesitant to call a 1k rattle can clear permanent. In my experience they start to lose their finish within weeks, or a month max if you're careful. It's FAR better to remove the lights and put proper automotive 2k clear on (removal is just to make overspray more manageable, they can also be done on the car but that means much more masking work).
And last, shouldn't you have waited longer before sealing the clearcoat? I know the ceramic will help prevent the second point, but fresh paint needs time to gas out (for 2k it's generally accepted as 2-3 months before you can put any kind of coating on). And even though it's 1k, I just feel that a day isn't enough.
I totally agree with you!
I agree Johann, I tried a 1k clear coat on my car years ago, was back to looking like crap again in a month. 2k in a rattle can is defiantly the way to go if you don't have air/gun to shoot it on.
you don't spray clear coat on your headlights
What do you suggest should be the process to clean and polish the headlights if you would do it?
@@ThisMeHandle I'd say go through the sanding and polishing, and then ceramic without clear.
Or sand it up to a very fine grit, and then 2k clear. There are people who put clearcoat on head/taillight lenses and it looks amazing, but personally I don't like it. Even automotive 2k clearcoat only has a few years expected life before it starts to delaminate.
As for the "coating" on the lens fading. I don't know if the lenses have some kind of UV coating on from the factory (they probably do), but that yellowing is the plastic itself (polycarbonate if I'm not mistaken). That's why if you sand/polish the "oxidised coating" off, it just fades again. But ceramic should protect the plastic from UV.
I've actually just given the headlights on my one car its first coat of ceramic (the other one has glass headlights, so no oxidizing issue there). I didn't do the sanding (should have, but I'm a bit lazy and it's a VERY cheap ceramic that I bought so it won't last that long anyway). Simply polished them by hand to remove any hazyness, wiped with alcohol to clean off any contaminants that might interfere, and then put the first coat of ceramic on.
Your video is the best than any other headlight restoration video.
Thanks for posting this and showing how simple it was. Did it in under an hour on our oldest car, and it looks fantastic!
I’m loving this new series of DIY auto fixes.
I've seen a few of these videos covering all sorts of different methods.... I like yours the best....Pleased to see you protect your hard work at the end with a clearcoat :-)
I appreciate that Davy!
I used a headlight restoration kit on my Jeep JKU last summer. It turned out pretty good, but it didn't last too long. All that work. ☹️ It was also very difficult because our headlights are round and recessed a bit. I had so much tape! 😂
Thanks for the video! You've had me hooked since the Jeep you washed and detailed. ❤️
Might be worthwhile looking at removing the front grill on your jeep. Search on youtube and I bet it is only a couple bolts... or pull the headlights! Either one has to be easy enough and then you can work on them with more room.
Looks good but clear coat shouldn’t be sprayed over polished or glossy lens, it needs to stick to at least 800-1200 grit plus a plastic primer or adhesion promoter, it’s gonna flake off after a couple rock chips or the sun itself is gonna do the damage
I really want to do this myself. I have taken my Escape to a couple different people for detailing...and no one knows how to do a good job. You know the saying. If you want something done right do it yourself. 🤦🏽♀️
I did this to my corollas headlights a year ago but i used a $6-7 clear coat from walmart ("UV resistant, non yellowing") and it worked wonders, theyre still lookong like the first day🙌🏽🙌🏽 do it girl!!!
Great Video!! I Just Did My Headlights Yesterday And They Came Out Amazing!! I Used Meguiars plasti X And A UV Sealant.
Same here - also great results. My husband was very impressed - he knows I love detailing vids. Now he knows I'm making use of the info!
Duuuuude, this is painfull as f**k ... no masking tape on the body when sanding? AUCH!!!
He did a pretty good job with out hitting the pain, I could understand masking the car, be he just details I'm sure he's new to some stuff and recently found out on how to do headlights :3 give him a break
@@monstergirl3040 Just being Devil's advocate.
If his business, is to detail cars, & when doing said detailing, he either:
• Charges the customer for his professional expertise & work.
&/or
• Receives remuneration for a video, of his work.
Have his "Hey, I'm new to this, don't give me a hard time, if I damage your car" / "newbie pass" ships not, kinda sailed?
If you hired a painter & they got paint on your carpet & furniture. Would you be OK, if they said, it wasn't *their* fault, they hadn't learned, how to *not* damage property, yet. So, give them a BREAK?
I've sanded and buffed mine down on my 2006 Jetta only to have it start looking hazy again a few months later. I didn't put a clear coat on them however so I'll clean them up again and give that a try.
Thanks ...but I cannot do all that to much products I do not understand ..I will just order new light instead...but enjoyed watching this 👍
Really nice just! I have experience doing this love that small polisher. When I worked in autobody shops we always cut with air driven DA with Trizack paper on it. Worked awesome
do you have a video on repairing 'oxidized' paint, like on a bumper? on my expedition, looks like someone sanded a patch of paint away, but that isn't the case. would love to see how to spot fix that without having the whole bumper repainted. also, the hood seems like it has a dull finish compared to the rest of the truck. thanks, love your content.
I've had pretty good luck with Meguiar's restoration kit but I'm wondering how long does your restoration method last?
Awesome to see Stauffer Garage do a video with a specific part of the car. Its a good break from detailing videos. Great job and keep up the good work.
Terrific automotive tip Stauffer Garage I'm definitely doing this when see my headlights get cloudy & dingy
You detail cars the same way I do which is very thoroughly and I think we both stay in the same state lol
I would love to see a video on headliners. Mine is dirty but I'm afraid to touch it 😅
Chris fix has a video on that I believe
Two comments:
1. I'm amazed you did this ON the car, without even opening the hood to guard against sanding the car's PAINT !
2. Before spending $200 on a polisher and 4 or 5 different compounds...wouldn't it be wise to check the cost of replacement lenses?
i just love your videos !! so satisfying
Thank you so much!! Glad you like them!
Good walkthrough, although after all that work I probably would have gone with a better clearcoat. Also curious to see how well the clearcoat sticks to the lights since they were polished out so smooth, as opposed to applying clear over 1000-1500 grit sanded.
Amazing video! Definitely a 👍🏻
I prefer a 2K clearcoat, but still it is an amazing result and best recommendations. Big fan from PR 😉
yo soy se pr igual bro.. te dedicas al detailing?
Idk how it is in other countries but in Germany this is actually not legal. As with sanding the headlights the plastic gets thinner and even if it is only by 0.0000001mm its 'Registration License' is not active anymore. On the other side: There is no way any inspector is going to clearly measure it and if you don't mention nobody is going to know if it's restored or just still in that good condition.
Whoo hoo!! I love Wednesdays and Saturdays 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
How professional! Most tutorials use tooth past 🤣
Good video thanks !
I think I would have done this tutorial on a car that needed it to show how effective it is.
Excellent training video hands down you are one of the best on RUclips 👍🏿😺
Going to show my hubby , looks good.
Thank you James 😊👍🏻
Great video. Why didn't you remove the light housing from the car? then work easily and without ANY fear of effing up on the car surface, no masking, no overspray etc.
Wouldn't it make more sense to only do the polishing after clear coat? The paint would fill in any scratches at around 600 grit making it smooth. All the polishing for nothing
At a guess, I would say you'd end up with a very rough/not very smooth finish as how do you apply extra paint into scratches and not to the smoother surrounding surface? Therefore you'd still end up with a rough finish.
PJ: Not an expert, but seems to me if the clear coat is applied evenly, you are just transferring the microscopic pits to the paint layer, as clear coat is not self-leveling. Think of pitted metal that needs repainted. One starts with primer followed by wet sanding to level the surface before painting.
I need these products in South Africa
This gives me bad memories.
Back when I was young and didn't know what a scam direct marketing was, I worked for a company that did free samples of things in Sam's Club. We weren't the free food people, though. Our goal was to get people to buy our products.
One day, the boss told us we were going to be selling FastWax, which they swore could clean any stain off any car.
So many failed stains.. So many failed pitches.. One thing it was good for was cleaning stains off headlights. We would only do one headlight, though.
So many bad jokes about doing both.. 😨
came here to check if you would apply a clear coat. You do. Great. never ever skip that stage - they will fade in no time if yoiu leave them exposed.
Do you have any recommendations or videos on how to clean out the hvac system of odor?
Thank you for the quick mid-week video! Well done. Cheers, John
Should of put tape prior to sanding so you don't scratch the paint work open the bonnet makes it easier champ 1 less panel to worry about scratching
Wow. Nice. And informative
Glad you liked it
Make these weekdays videos more often. It's quite exciting building up to the weekend Detailing. And please do a complete interior and exterior detail. It's more satisfying and refreshing.. if you get what I'm saying. LOL and I wanna see the exterior detailing process
That's interesting. Looks good.
Hi so a few days ago I had a wax melt from yankee candle, I being stupid put it on top of the dash where the air vents are, it was a very hot afternoon when I left it, you know I didn’t think anything of it. Next day I go to my car and only the packaging remained, it all melted into the air vents! So I just need someone to tell me how bad did I mess up and is there a way to actually fix it myself without going to a mechanic? Please help! Thanks
Your videos have gotten so professional! Keep it up 🤙🏻☀️
Great job but just could not get around NO TAPE and sanding so close to the panel.😱 👍🏼
Need this
Rocking the 70’s jive music lol
Can’t wait to do my headlights
The before and after is INSANE!! I'm often looking at headlights in parking lots and I cringe when I see them looking so shabby and foggy. It ruins the whole look of the car
Impressive results bro. And i love the content of this channel 👍🏾
I'd love to see what your recommendation is for how to clear up foggy headlights as best as possible for under $50! Mainly because I'm a broke college student and I don't have all these fancy tools and compounds nor do I have the money to buy them.
You can gets kits at Walmart and the like. I did - looks great, and didn't cost too much. Could likely do another set with the same kit, so go in with a friend.
The clearcoat is an incredibly important part that is often overlooked. The headphones will go right back to being dull within 6 months without it.
I dont usually keeps cars long enough for this to happen to the headlights but i should save this video for when I have to buy a used vehicle again.
I’ve seen a video where clear coats sprayed on after actually mess with the light output and make the light spread unevenly.
Anyone know hat ceramic top coat he used, I haven't been able to find it in the description.
The only problem with polishing at home for a DIYer.. is that by the time you have purchased a polisher, some pads, some compounds, sanding papers and some sealants you already looking at an amount much greater than replacement Depo or any other decent after market replacement headlight! 🤭
Not worth it for DIY, worth it if you already own a polisher!
BRAND NEW VID ON A WEDNESDAY LET'S GO. AT LEAST I HAVE SOME SORT OF ENTERTAINMENT 😊😊
And another this Saturday!
Good job! I like your demo!!
Why not just lift the hood. Less tape ,less prone to scratch the hood
Nice
Hi
Hi
question is it possible to do it without a drill or machine? and if so can you do a video showing how?
Very good
Thanks!
Excelente trabajo
Meguirs color restorer on a cotton pad is all that is needed.
Well done 👍🏾👌🏾
Lots of items to take care of one car. Seems to make sense if I was in business.
I had someone clear coat my headlights after they were restored and they eventually degraded due to the heat experienced by the headlamp itself. Any thoughts on this?
Where are the products you used and tools? Please list.
You should cover your panels with something like tape before sanding your headlights
Only time will tell how permanent it is lol personally i sand, clean and 2k clear,with any polishing if necessary after curing.
Thnxx for the good info👌👌🔥
Bro ,VERY good the video,I liked so much ,how are you ? How's going ?
what liquid are you using to spray on the headlight to wet sand it?
What was in the spray bottle when you were wet sanding?
Music was Bomb!
iam not an expert, but isnt a bad idea to apply clearcoat on perfectly polished surface??
crazi, oh my god
spta machine keeps rpm under load?
What would be the best way to keep your headlights looking new to prevent this?
Most vehicles these days use plastic headlights, and that clear coat will tend to crack being applied ontop of that plastic
True, best protection for it will be ceramic coating or ppf
Could have used a headlight that actually needed restoring!
Apparently you didn’t look at the headlight beforehand. It was starting to yellow. Much easier to do it now than wait until the headlight is in really bad condition.
Why would you polish then paint, shouldn't you have put the clear coat after sanding?
One other type use small sanding block or palm of your hands
800 sand paper???? The car es New!!!!😱
Please mask your paint surrounding the headlight next time
Well I hope you used some thinner or at least a mineral spirit to clean the headlight after polishing .
Big 😃MEGA LIKE 👍 support with love and sending you our positive vibes froM THE MEGA FAMILY TIME 🤪🤠😬
I wonder what would happen if you Retrobrite* the headlights.
Lit
Hey Carlos!
im doing this also .. only use sand paper and clear spray can .. you all feel free to see my videos restore my car
You can also order new ones and half the work for a couple hundred bucks .
Fun fact: In Germany your car looses the approval because you have changed the dimensions of the headlight after grinding the headlights. And yes, it’s true.....
Hi, British guy in Germany here, is there a website (in German is fine) that I can read through that will tell me what I can and can't do to my car?
Zaebis,Pizdato Poly4ilos👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Yo
Hey Kenney!
👏👏👏👏👏❤
👍👍
4 to 5 feet away lol
Laz BASE
Tor lase
Tor win