Good deeds and recommendations on headlight protectant 

"LeftOfTheDial" (leftofthedial) 08/31/2016 at 00:52 • Filed to: None

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Not my headlight but it might’ve been. Spent a very long time at a coffee shop and found some tape around my headlights and this.

Now it’s like this.

I’ve rebuilt engines, I’ve done 100% of all my cars work ever but I’ve never been able to get the plastic as clear as this person did.

Now that I have a legit clear cleaning job on the lenses any recommendations on clear coat for them?

*warning religious blurb*

I don’t go to church but when I have the chance things like !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! are great ways for gear heads to unite for good causes. They drink beer, talk cars, and help out people in need. Not all at the same time. Didn’t think I’d be on the receiving end but I appreciate it. Anyone in south KC want more info on that message me and I’ll let you know what’s up.

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 00:58

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Wait... did they do it without asking?

LeftOfTheDial > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch 08/31/2016 at 01:04

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Yes they did. At first I was a little angry, thinking it was like the people in Chicago, and other cities, who start cleaning your car at stops.

But then I saw they did a good job of taping around the light and to be fair the car did have some cataracts even though I tried to clean it half asses 2 months prior.

I'm ok with it

Nauraushaun > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 01:06

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So the idea was to not wash/wipe the light? then wax it? Really?

What if you drive in the rain? Does that count? What if the light is dirty? Still just start waxin’?

Ps. Did you just try to convert me to a church in Missouri?

LeftOfTheDial > Nauraushaun 08/31/2016 at 01:10

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1- I’m super confused on the instructions too

2- I’m not religious but I have seen how much fun these guys have using their skills to help out people. Btw its in Kansas

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 01:14

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If you’re okay with it then it’s fine. I’d be pissed, don’t touch my stuff.

(my car has pop-up headlights so it’s irrelevant)

Zachary Oberle > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 01:16

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There are a variety of solutions for this. Synthetic paint sealants like Klasse work well for short spans of time (3-6 months) but require consistent re-application.

From there you’ll find all sorts of different products that claim to keep plastic headlight lenses clear. Most of them are garbage in that they are no better than the paint sealants. Save your money.

The only true, long-term solution is impact-resistant film. 3M dominates this market and their products stand head and shoulders above the rest. Their “Scotchguard” protective film was originally developed for the military and will out-last all other solutions.

MotoIQ did a great write-up on this stuff as part of their Project Tundra. Here’s the relevant page:

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl…

3M’s automotive films are only available through authorized dealers and require professional installation. This makes them a high-end product, but if you have a dealer nearby they should be able to do a headlight-only job at a reasonable price. It will certainly be much cheaper than replacing the lenses themselves.

LeftOfTheDial > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch 08/31/2016 at 01:20

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I get its impossible to protect a commuter. It helps they did a good job and took the time to tape it off. If it turned out like this it'd be q different story.

Birddog > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 01:20

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I believe the instructions mean to not hit the “Soft Cloth” car wash and avoid abrasive rags for 10 days then wax.

I’m betting they scuffed the plastic and hit it with some kind of clear coat or possibly hit them with something like OFF! bug spray. It should work pretty well. I’ve had better luck with OFF! than almost any “Restoration kit” i’ve tried.

That’s a heck of a good deed!

LeftOfTheDial > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch 08/31/2016 at 01:21

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This

LeftOfTheDial > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 01:21

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KINJA!

Svend > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 01:47

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Headlight restoration kits are easy to use and easier still if you have access to a polisher.

First step is to clean the area and tape off the edges are surrounding areas in case you slip and cause the sand paper to catch an edge, on a Mercedes it’s easier to open and lift the bonnet out of the way, then using the lowest number wet’n’dry sand paper in the kit rub back and forward in one direct, now with the higher number grit wet’n’dry, use at a right angle to the previous grit, you will likely have a compound after the previous stage as again rub at a fight angle to the previous step. No No the finishing polish and you should now have a lovely clear lense again. Using panel wipe/isopropyl alcohol wipe off any polish residue and apply a sealant such as Gtechniq C4 or similar. You want something that’s highly durable and chemical resistant as you’ve removed any previous (damaged) UV coating. Gtechniq C1, 4 and 5 is great as it has a four to five year life, chemical resistant and offers a degree of scratch protection to the surface it’s applied to.

If you use the wax you’ve got to bare in mind wax has a short life and will need reapplied a few times a year more or less depending on atmospheric conditions such as bright sunny days, wet days, often usage of the headlights (bulbs heat up and cause the surrounding area namely the lense to heat up also, the heat will deteriorate the wax faster than not using the headlights as often).

yamahog > Zachary Oberle 08/31/2016 at 05:45

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What are your feelings on 3M vs XPel? My local clear auto bra shop uses both, and recommended XPel when we did the front fascia and “gills” on my Camaro.

Zachary Oberle > yamahog 08/31/2016 at 06:11

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XPel is a newer brand to the market and a lot of shops who offer both it and 3M tend to push XPel a lot harder than 3M.

Why is that? Money.

XPel has a better profit margin. Shops will charge similar prices for it as compared to 3M, portraying it as a “premium” product. In reality, the 3M stuff is better engineered and costs them a lot more to buy wholesale.

There is some confusion about this, mostly because 3M’s marketing isn’t very good. XPel performs better than 3M’s much older, value-priced “Scotchguard” film, but it pales in comparison to 3M’s top-shelf “Scotchguard Pro” film. This would be fine if XPel was priced as a mid-tier product, but I’ve always seen it at top-of-the-market pricing.

Maybe some shops themselves are confused over the whole “Scotchguard” vs “Scotchguard Pro” thing. I’m not really sure. All I know is when each company brings out their very best product, 3M comes out on top:

If you can find a shop that offers XPel at a significantly cheaper rate than 3M then it could be a good value. I’ve just never seen that happen. Given that labor on installation is actually your greatest cost factor here, I’ve always figured it best to go with the absolute highest quality film.

You’ll always get better relative value by selecting top-quality product in labor-intensive processes such as this. It’s the same with paint. Yea, high-end paint is expensive, but it’s the labor that really sets you back. Might as well spring for the good stuff.

yamahog > Zachary Oberle 08/31/2016 at 08:21

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Thanks for the feedback! I’m not sure which 3M film they were using, but it was the same charge for either brand. It’s been one year, I’m still happy with how it looks but they also have a 10 year warranty on the product and their work.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 08:47

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Instructions are that while the repair filler is curing, you shouldn’t hit it with a wash - it’s still soft. Then, they’re saying to hit that with wax when it’s cured to help it resist oxidizing again.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Svend 08/31/2016 at 08:52

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I had to do a headlight freshening on my brother in law’s Hyundai Tiburon (that’s Hyundai Coupe for your island), and the oxidation was in places seemingly several mils deep. I had to get the worst with fine steel wool before I could even polish out with the sanding block in the kit. I pulled the lights off the car, since I had a 10mm socket and speed handle handy...

Svend > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/31/2016 at 09:27

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Ye’, some can be a real ball-ache but they don’t look it till you get started.

The one thing many people do forget is the UV protection. It can be only a year later a repaired lense can start to dull again because the protection stage wasn’t done.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Svend 08/31/2016 at 09:39

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The kit I had had the refreshing compound/micropolishing compound, a sanding-out spray/lubricant, four grades of polish pad, a final filling/fusing wipe, and a seal/protection layer wipe. Since I don’t know if the seal layer included any UV protection, I’ll probably look up the GTechniq at some point. Still, not a bad kit (name brand even - TurtleWax) to be on sale for ~6 pounds.

I believe I don’t have a single car myself with plastic headlight covers. I think the ones on my US-spec W124 Benz are glass despite using replaceable elements, and the three others are 7" and 5" round sealed beam.

OCD-CO > LeftOfTheDial 08/31/2016 at 09:47

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Xpel and the others are ok. Do it right with some 40 mil protection. With those headlights I could do this in ten minutes. This stuff is amazing and the best out there for a DD.

Based on your pics I am thinking late 90's E Calss but not sure. That is what I searched for though.

http://www.weathertech.com/mercedes-benz/…

Svend > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/31/2016 at 10:51

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You only need a small amount of Gtechniq C1 (car body), C4 (plastic restorer) or C5 (wheel protectant). They are all essentially the same only people were treating it the same on the paint as they were wheels and plastic. On the paintwork you need to make sure the residue is properly buffed off.

It wipes in with a make up pad and buffs straight off with a microfibre.

Are you in the U.K.?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Svend 08/31/2016 at 10:59

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Nope, in the US - though I’ve visited the UK. I did a conversion for perspective, though I can’t say I really know why - not as if US dollars are that mysterious to anyone.

I’m presumably a distant relation of yours, as I share the Linton half of your hyphen, but my side of things has been in the States since the late 1700s at the latest. Still, I’m enough of a broad anglophile that with the Rover ownership people constantly think I’m a brit.

Still, there’s probably something identical to Gtechniq here - or maybe Paddock Spares or one of the other Landy places has it...

Svend > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/31/2016 at 11:10

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Gtechniq is available in the U.S., but as long as the coating is a highly durable coating it should do.

If you were in the U.K. I would of sent you some. I can still send you some if you wish? You only need about 1-2ml of the coating but the Gtechniq can also to used to restore the exterior plastics or used on the wheels.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Svend 08/31/2016 at 11:29

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What I really need will be to figure out what the aluminum-ish wheel coating Benz used on my wheels was (touch up or replacement available?) - or to go ahead and strip them to straight mag. I used a wheel cleaner that was a bit too strong, and now several wheels have tear-looking erosions of the wheel coating - and then I broke the edge of one wheel and got a replacement, so I have three wheels in various disarray and one bright and fresh. Combine this with the Rauchsilber paint being multiple layers of subtly different hue and being eroded differently in different areas, and the clearcoat being trashed, and there being some lightly browned scratches all over and fill area discoloration... I’m quite sure it would give you a stroke.

Svend > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/31/2016 at 11:48

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Sounds like they need sand blasted and started over.

Sounds like if the wheel cleaner did damage, there was already a weakness. Hydrochloric acid is even safe for short periods of time.

Try a fallout remover to remove the brake dust, it sounds like some of the brake dust was liquified during the previous wheel cleaning but not removed in time before it started to dry in place. Once the wheels are cleaned, fallout removed and dried. Try a little polish on a cloth wrapped around your finger and the yellowing should be all gone.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Svend 08/31/2016 at 11:51

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My other notes on paint were on the main body of the car - sorry I wasn’t clear. Trying to make the point that making the wheels right would be a bit rearranging-deck-chairs-on-Titanic, but still probably ought to be done.

Svend > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/31/2016 at 11:57

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Oh right sorry. I read it back through.

I’m multitasking (not very well). I’ve got MythBusters on the TV about two feet away from my computers.

If it’s worth doing I’ve every faith that you’ll get everything done.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Svend 08/31/2016 at 12:01

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I’ve refreshed enough things (suspension bits and bobs, some of the periphery engine compartment bits, interior workings) that if I rework the turbo it’ll be mechanically relatively fresh (at ~400,000 miles). At that point, I may be mad enough to repaint it.

Svend > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/31/2016 at 12:06

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If it’s mechanically sound and working, everything else is cosmetic.