MK5 Golf GTI
All Things Mk5 => How to Guides / Troubleshooting => Topic started by: bodger00 on March 11, 2011, 09:48:40 pm
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Why would you want to do such a thing?
Your headlights are subjected to a barrage of road muck, UV light, road grit and stones which can chip and damage the surface of your lights. Oxidized or faded lights can produce poor visibility. Likewise scratches to your lenses "can effect the performance of your lights by up to 50%" (Osram).
I figured that since I have spent a fair amount of money on gathering the bits to do a xenon retro fit, I was going to make sure that they are going to give me optimal performance.
So I set about getting the equipment needed to wet sand my plastic headlamps.
What you will need:
- Patience!
- Wet and dry sandpaper – Various grades depending on how severe your headlamps are damaged. If you want the best finish I would finish with at least 2500 grit.
Sandpaper grit depends on the severity of your lens damage. Which ever grit you choose to start with, you must also purchase 1 sheet of the higher number grit paper - up to what ever grit you are comfortable with to complete the restoration process. (I stopped at 2500.)
Example: If you start with 1000, you must also buy 1500 2000 and 2500.
If the headlamps have heavy damage you could go down to 800 or even 600 grit. However, remember that you should not skip more than one grade as you go through the grades of grit and the lower you go the longer the job. I am not recommending that you don’t go this low it’s just its going to take you longer.
I would use the following as a guide:
1 sheet of 1000 grit (to start with when working on severely oxidized and yellow lenses.)
1 sheet of 1500 grit (to start on not so yellow, but very cloudy / faded and or lightly swirled/scratched lenses.)
1 sheet of 2000 grit (starting with mostly clear, or barely cloudy lenses)
1 sheet of 2500 grit to finish off with (or continue on to 3000 if it makes you happy.) - 1 spray bottle (travel bottles with a spray head are ideal)
- If you are doing this whilst the headlamps are on the car then you will need 1 roll of your favourite masking tape, I would choose 3M blue 1" masking tape.
- 1 bucket - this needs to be large enough to soak your sheets of sand paper in. It doesn’t have to be big.
- A bottle of Meguiars Plastx or similar – This is used to finally finish the restoration and can be achieved with many low cut polishes. The more effective the product the easier it is going to be for you to finish the job. I have used Autosol in the past but it required more work than a machine polisher for example. For these lights I used Meguiars Speed Glaze with a machine polisher on a polishing pad.
- Microfibre cloths or similar for working the polish.
- A large pair of gonads – you will have to find these yourself!
:grin:
The Method:
1. First either take off the headlamps from the car or mask up the area around the headlamp. Remember you are going to use sandpaper near your paintwork here so use plenty of masking tape to protect your paint.
2. Fill your bucket of water. Tear up your pieces of wet and dry sandpaper (I tore mine into 4 from each sheet) and soak in the bucket of water to saturate the sheets (ONLY the grade you are going to be working with). This prevents some of the larger grits mixing with your other sheets. Leave them in the bucket of water for ten minutes (they will probably curl but don’t worry about this). I placed my headlamp off the floor on an upturned bowl to keep the water away from the inner parts of the headlight.
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fae235%2Fbodger00%2FIMAG0157.jpg&hash=2f000f837fa95999ee9c1a69a70dd3c217504e06)
3. Take your spray bottle and put a little bit of car shampoo/fairy liquid in it together with some water to make a solution. Next take your first piece of wet and dry sandpaper and start to sand in ONE direction whilst applying very slight pressure. Choose 1 direction to sand in to start with, vertically or horizontally. (I chose vertical to start.) do NOT sand in a circle. It’s wise to completely clean the headlight with your cloth and fresh water when you change direction.
It’s really important to keep the headlight wet whilst sanding. Once it goes dry you will be scratching your lights. To give you an idea I refilled my spray bottle around 3 times per grade of grit with clean water and car shampoo.
Try to keep dipping your sanding sheet and hand into the bucket of clean water, this removes the debris caused by your sanding. You should see the water on the lights turn white as the plastic comes away from the lights.
4. Once you have sanded in both directions vertically and horizontally (I took about 10-15 mins per direction) its time to inspect your work. Clean off the headlamp with your clean cloth. And remember to change the water in your bucket.
At this point you are probably staring at you pride and joy thinking what have I done!! :scared: :scared:
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fae235%2Fbodger00%2FIMAG0158.jpg&hash=e78ff9938eb7d96a87c438616a8c06ab9e181e10)
Don’t give up at this stage – You can’t go back! :surprised:
5. Now proceed to the next higher number grade and repeat the process. Keep doing this until you can feel very few imperfections and can see very little scratches on the lenses. The better you get this the less work it will be on the final polishing stage.
It’s hard to judge when to move to the final stage but time spent on the job is a better indicator. My headlamp restoration took me about 2 hours per headlight – did I mention at the start of this that you need patience!! :P
Now clean up the light and progress to the final stage.
The Final Stage
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fae235%2Fbodger00%2FIMAG0159.jpg&hash=07fa0cdb52517dc7801a0de146c2c55da80a718d)
6. Depending on your preference use a machine polisher and pad, or get your Plastx, Autosol or similar out and apply to the headlamp with your microfibre. You will need to really work at this to remove the fine scratches left from your final grade of wet and dry sandpaper. Again the more work you put into this, the better the results.
You should then be left with something like this:
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fae235%2Fbodger00%2FIMAG0160.jpg&hash=5bbd05be95a8cfa9eb00454d881fda91b364e326)
And after some more work the finished headlamp:
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fae235%2Fbodger00%2FIMAG0176.jpg&hash=4697f4e2965200dab9b9968a153d7c6b85118b4d)
7. It’s wise to now seal up your headlamp with a wax or sealant for protection. I used Collinite 476 but any polish/wax will do.
Now the disclaimer – if you embark on this task then as soon as you start with the first grit paper you will be adding scratches to your lights. It’s only through your hard work that you will keep reducing these to a level where you can no longer see the scratches and will have removed all the imperfections that you have started with. I used a machine polisher for the final stage. This radically reduced the time spent on the final stage.
Put aside a morning/afternoon to do each light then you will do a better job. Always keep the headlamp/sandpaper wet and keep your bucket of water clean.
I achieved the removal of some fairly deep scratches by taking my time. I am no expert or bodyshop specialist, just a normal bloke who likes to give things a go. I was really happy with the results.
Bodger :happy2:
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Good work there Bodger. :notworthy:
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Superb guide! :congrats:
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Very very good guide fella, Top job :notworthy:
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Great Guide, can you lend me your gonads though, its the only bit stopping me, my lights look awful and i know this is the only way there gonna look
good again
This is a great help though
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An excellent guide on wetsanding.
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Would you say there is any difference in clarity Bodger from before an after, as sanding can have impact on how clear the plastic is after being worked?
Mine are screaming for this....will have to do it when the weather warms up a little and ive got some time to spare
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Would you say there is any difference in clarity Bodger from before an after, as sanding can have impact on how clear the plastic is after being worked?
Mine are screaming for this....will have to do it when the weather warms up a little and ive got some time to spare
Thanks all for the kind comments :happy2:
Alex - The clarity is substancially effected! It's improved ten fold! :smiley: My lights were in a right mess as they had come from a breakers yard (one headlamp was made in 2004 and the other in 2010). As you can imagine the difference was like old and new. Now you can't tell the difference between the two.
To ensure I preserved the optical clarity, I took a torch and shone the torch through the back of the light where the projector was. This let me gauge my progress. Obviously this is far easier whilst on the car, you would just turn your lights on. :happy2:
Edit - Oh and one last thing (I sound like Columbo), make sure that if you use a machine polisher keep the speed to less than four as you dont want to get the plastic hot. This would effect the optical clarity. It's not a problem though, if you are hand polishing.
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That does it for me. Bring on wet sanding :signLOL:
Do you have any before shots?
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That does it for me. Bring on wet sanding :signLOL:
Do you have any before shots?
Go for it Alex you wont regret it in the long run. If you want to take it easy, start by just using a higher grit number to build your confidence in the method. That way the level of scratches you will create will be easier to get out.
I did not take any close up before shots that really show how much of a mess the headlamp was in, but it was quite bad.
The only other image I have is this one below. Forgive the quality of the image, but below you can see, in the left hand corner, three really deep scratches that were completely removed.
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fae235%2Fbodger00%2FIMAG0156.jpg&hash=50ef4283c141c1dbff86dfa53c695ee010a4b35c)
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Oh i Will :happy2: cheers bodger
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Great guide
And fantastic job! :congrats:
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Amazing work! It is a confidence tester though-when you start putting abrasive to clear and visible plastic......
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I bought some Brasso metal polish and a wash pad from The Range :happy2:
Got rid of a couple of scratches I thought I was stuck with.
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Brilliant! Thanks
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:congrats: Fantastic Guide
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Might give this a bash in the next few weeks as found my 3000 grit paper!
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Great guide,
Nice to know that the headlights can be saved with some serious elbow grease and balls.
Congrats.
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Superb guide, it`s just what my headlights need but do I have the balls to do it? Maybe. The patience, probably not :laugh:
Bodger do you want to do mine while they`re off the car? :wink:
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I could do mate :happy2: Depends on where your based. But it's really not that hard to do you just have to be patient with the results starting with the 3000 or 2500 grit. A machine polisher makes the final finish much easier though. :happy2:
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Ah that`s a lovely offer Bodger thanks, I`ll be brave and give it a go myself during the up and coming long weekend :happy2:
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Cheers for the guide :congrats:
Will be trying this on the weekend on the fogs...
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The fogs are glass on the golfs :happy2: not polycarbonate like the headlights
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Oh :sad1:
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Fantastic guide, something i will be doing in the future :happy2:
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LIKE :happy2:
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Cheers for the guide. I had a go at mine 2 weeks ago with 2000 grit but without enough of it and I ended up with an outer ring where the old plastic met the new plastic. This cannot be rushed. I then ordered a sheet of 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000 and had another go at fixing the light in the week.
It probably took almost 2 hours per light but the result blew me away, especially after i thought i'd wrecked the light. Initially i was just going to do the one, after i'd seen the difference you could actually see they were a different colour so had no choice but to continue and do the other today :laugh: Mine were pretty pitted and covered in scratches for some reason but everything was removed with this process.
I did try polishing the lights by hand with plast x as my neighbour had my machine polisher. After 3 hits i could see I was never going to get the sanding marks out. I then got my machine polisher and menzerna intensive polish and they were perfect in 2 hits. To anyone worried about attempting this, you just need patience! Well worth it in the end, and don't do it unless you have access to a machine polisher!!
Some iPhone pics so not perfect but you get the idea
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fe58%2Fwinrya%2Fffe6e54a.jpg&hash=0ff8156612de02b201744aa2bddb6a8907aecf07)
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdaz.co%2Fmedia%2Fe58%2Fwinrya%2Fbcfb5a10.jpg&hash=70fe24c70e16bc05a7bfebf848caaf53c801f9bd)
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They looked brilliant Winrya.
I want to do my xenons but im too scared :laugh:
Is there anyone in East Anglia fancy doing mine for some beers tokens?
Hell i will even travel 100 - 150 mile as its not something i fancy doing, for fear of messing them up :ashamed:
Plus i dont currently have access to a machine polisher.
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They looked brilliant Winrya.
I want to do my xenons but im too scared :laugh:
Is there anyone in East Anglia fancy doing mine for some beers tokens?
Hell i will even travel 100 - 150 mile as its not something i fancy doing, for fear of messing them up :ashamed:
Plus i dont currently have access to a machine polisher.
Cheers, it certainly wasn't an enjoyable process but the results are very satisfying :smiley: I do maintain as long as you have the correct grade papers, plenty of patience and a machine polisher, you can't really go wrong. My solution if it did go wrong was to replace them with xenons :laugh:
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Great work Winrya :happy2:
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Deffo gonna give this a go in the summer. My car is let down with some terrible swirls and scratches on the headlights. Hosepipe or airline has been dragged over them.
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:happy2: you've given me some confidence to do this myself! long overdue, thanks bud for a great write up!
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Great guide, and thanks for the tip on the Collinite 476 to seal. This is the crucial step I missed out when using the Megs 1 step kit. I'm gonna give this one more go and then seal this time :stupid: but if that doesn't work, I'll follow your guide.
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Is there any particular sandpaper thats best? Not sure where to get it. Is boggo Halfords paper good enough? Also is it best to use some kind of block to wrap the sandpaper in for the sanding? Just want to make sure I do it right!
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this is JUST what i need, Great write up :happy2:
I have some very strange marks on both headlights that need to go!
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Nice thred and loads of useful info :) going to be giving this a go myself :)
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I did it with the 3m kit. Its a doddle.
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Awesome guide mate
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Great guide mate.. Me and a friend just decided to start on mine about 30 minutes ago thinking it would only take a little while.. Wrong!! I now have a cloudy headlight hahaha. But will be getting back to it tomorrow after work..
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Has anyone done their rear lights like this?
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I've never seen the rears cloud over?? If you're just referring to scratches and swirls then a machine polish will bring them up a treat
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Yeah, just general marks on them, after being described as being in very good condition.... :fighting:
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Great guide!
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Great guide. I still don't have the guts to do it myself lol. Anyone in Somerset done it and want to earn some beer tokens doing mine as there getting worse :-(
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REALLY useful guide. Bought a pair of bare Xenon headlights for very little as the passenger side had some pretty horrendous scratches. I knew it was going to take some time but the results are well worth the effort. I started at 600 (i did say it was heavily scratched) moving on to 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 and finishing on 2000 grit. I still need to give them a once over with Plastix but even with a hand polish i and stunned by by the difference.
I do have wrists like a T-rex now thou!
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Results look brilliant in the pics - I think I just lost a Sunday :-)
Headless