Headlight day...
 

Before... :(

http://i67.tinypic.com/14neadv.jpg

After... :D

http://i63.tinypic.com/14lrezd.jpg

This took about three or fours hours for both headlights. There seemed to be a layer of lacquerer on the lens that was eroded at the top edge so I hand sanded them and then used a Rain-X headlight restoration kit.

Wet sand with 600 grit.
Wet sand with 1000 grit.
Wet sand with 1200 grit.
Polish with Rain-X kit pad #1 and Rain-X lube.
Polish with Rain-X kit pad #2 and Rain-X lube.
Polish with Rain-X kit pad #3 and Rain-X lube.
Wash and dry.
Polish with Rain-X kit polish and microfibre cloth.
Wash and dry.
Polish with CRC Headlight Doctor polish.
Wash and dry.
Seal with Rain-X Headlight Sealer from kit.

Knackered but pleased... :thumbup:

How many parts are involved in this job?

I had my control arm bushings and the related ball joints replaced along with an alignment. Car does drive better and felt a bit more solid.

I'm sure there's other parts of the front end that also had various bushings and ball joints, but haven't done them yet.

Can anyone else point out what those parts might be?

I know another big job is the rear subframe bushing. Watched a few videos of the job online.

That is a stellar headlight job. Did mine back in march. Doesn't look as good as yours, but you can't really tell from 3 feet. lol

That's probably the best DIY headlight restoration I've seen. Mine aren't as bad but could do for a "touch up." Great Job.

that layer of lacquer is actually a UV coating

while polishing them like that will make them look good again, it will be short lived.

you really just need to sand all the old stuff down and take it to about an 800-1000 grit and then clear them with a UV clear paint like this stuff.
2K Clear coat - SprayMax

its a 2 part epoxy with a high UV protection
I did mine about 3 yrs ago and still look like new

I figured the coating was UV protection - but it failed. :rolleyes:

I wanted to re-coat with another UV coating but cannot find anything suitable here in NZ. Still looking but in the meantime, I went with the Rain-X sealant as it is a UV protectant and there's tons in the bottle, allowing me to re-apply the sealant occasionally. We'll see how it goes... ;)

The spraymax is available on ebay and amazon.
The only drawback is that once you mix the 2part(puncture an internal chamber) you have about 24hrs of use of it. A single can should do 2 sets of headlights easy.....

Replaced lower control arms, front lower ball joints, Front tension strut arms, stabilizer bar links. Will have it aligned tomorrow along with tire balance.

Already looked there. Amazon (and it's suppliers) won't ship aerosols internationally.

Some eBay sellers will but the cost gets stupid...

I'll find something locally - this might work: -

https://db1736767dbd5e7094bb-d61bbc5...46acb1ef31.jpg

Product Detail

Too cold here now to use products like this. This project will have to go on hold until next summer... ;)

:iagree: Did mine the same way about 2 years ago. Still looks like when I did it.