Clear coating headlights

This is good information

 

This is good information

 

For the time being, I got the Osram NB Lasers... I've nearly doubled my purchase price of the vehicle with upgrades and I'm trying to slow down... Damn you TacomaWorld!

 

I wetsanded it with 1000 grit. Give it a good crosshatch. It should look cloudy

I deleted the process pics like an idiot because they were on my Facebook and I deleted it. Clear ones are the original, red are painted

 

Ok, we're not sticky worthy but we're getting closer to that realm with some valuable info. I get it that I went too fine and that's why the clear spider webbed. But to me, 1000 grit seems too fine to make a lens perfectly clear without further sanding. Please continue.

 

Rather, 1000 grit is too coarse. Going from 1000 grit to compounding is a stretch.

 

And applying clear on top of a 1000 grit sanding seems implausible

 

I’ve done multiple lights like this. Never had an issue seeing the crosshatch. Something you have to think about, is that the paint/clear fills in those marks. Do one light your way and one light mine and post results. IF you get the paint to stick, with a good thick clear my way will be just as clear and you won’t be able to peel it off with your fingernail

What you use anything finer than 1000 grit for is paint correction. Like removing orange peel or little imperfections in the paint.

 

Understood.. remember, I'm talking about headlights. You gave a pic of tail lights... different animal

 

I’ve used the same process on headlights as well. They are both plastic and both clear.

I worked at a paint shop for a summer doing high end paint jobs. I used to do the same thing and go too fine. You can do it, but it’s just not necessary and you run into issues like the spiderwebbing (that could have also happened if you had something on them and didn’t clean the properly)

I use 1500-2000 for paint corrections on my cars followed by a finer compound, then polish and seal. Nothing crazy but it works. I’ve used it on anything from white, to red, to black cars

 

Hmm.. Totally makes sense that I was spider webbing because of too smooth of a surface. Just so you know, I did clean with acetone before applying anything.

I'm still having a hard time understanding how the headlights can become super clear with 1000 grit as a final.

 

Go to the junk yard and grab a set of headlights and try it out. Few good coats of clear and then polish them out if any bubbles get in the clear (I had a few in the tail lights that I used 2000 to knock down). If you are doing it at home, let the clear sit a week before you sand, but it’ll work . Good luck

 

So let me get this straight... 1000 grit. Apply a few light coats. Knock down with 2000. Presto?

 

Not quite. Wet sand with 1000 grit and crosshatch your sanding. Run your hands over the light with water to get the dust from the lenses off and the lights will go 100% clear as the water fills the hatch (or should of you did it correctly just like clear will) and then haze up as they dry. You want to put thicker coats of clear on because you want to have something to sand if you get imperfections in it (you most likely will, even the high end job we did on the Mach 1 had them. Not many but a couple). Then knock those down and polish out the lights with a fine compound to clear them back up again. If you are doing it with spray cans, you are probably going to get a good amount of orange peel that you will need to clean up by wetsanding anyway.

Another option is to sand them down and have them ready and drop them at a body shop for a better clear. The lights should come back perfectly. The problem with this rout is that it is a super small job and most body shops won’t waste their time with it

 

If only I would have had this info 24 hours ago... I get it. I wish there was a way to really explain it to a total newbie. Not that easy... I think you have to go through some things first. I do understand what you're saying tho Suave, and it's definitely gonna help me out down the road.

 

I’m old and i’ve made a million mistakes that I have had to redo! Power for the course and then you will be able to pass the information off. Only reason why I know what happened is I did the same thing you did with my first set of lights. I stopped at 2500 and it was still too much.

Seriously buy a cheap light, just one (it doesn’t even have to be a Tacoma light) and practice. Paint is cheap. Take your time and make sure it is done right and see how it turns out.

First time I messed with paint it was on a friends brand new black BMW. I put swirls throughout the hood! Let me tell you how fun that was to fix. Just a learning experience .

Get after it and post pics when you are done

 

Thank you very much sir.

 

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For anyone attempting to clear headlights just use a automotive 2 part clear coat or a 2k spray can. Not sure if op was using this or a single part clear.

 

I had the same happen on my lights when I took them through the 3M headlight kit (wet sanding multiple grits, rubbing compound, clear top coat). Pissed me off. I did a super light top coat as I saw what was happening with the top coat. I may knock the spiderwebs down later. All in all the lights look a lot better but I did the process very carefully and expected perfect results.