- 1). Wash the car as you normally would to get rid of any surface dirt on the headlights, then towel-dry the headlights and the area of your car's body around them. Tape all around the headlights and use a disposable plastic knife to fold the tape into the body seams. The polishing techniques used here will damage metal and chrome, so tape everything that isn't clear plastic.
- 2). Drop several sheets of 1500- and 3000-grit sandpaper into a bucket of soapy water -- about an ounce of soap to a gallon of water is sufficient. You may also opt to use straight water if you don't mind cleaning the paper more often.
- 3). Wet the headlight cover and sand it in light side-to-side strokes with the 1500-grit sandpaper. Sand only in the horizontal plane, and feel free to dry your headlight periodically to ensure that you've left a consistently hazy finish behind. Don't worry; it's supposed to look that way.
- 4). Repeat Step 3 with 3000-grit sandpaper, moving in vertical lines this time. If you're starting out with a deeply pitted headlight and are looking for a super-smooth finish, you might want to start with 1000-grit sandpaper and step up in 500-grit increments to 3000-grit. Remember to alternate your directions: side to side for 1000-grit, up and down for 1500-grit, side to side for 2000-grit and so on. However, a two-step from 1500 to 3000 will suffice for most headlights.
- 5). Hand- or machine-polish the lens with plastic-polishing compound. A machine-polisher and foam pad will provide a deeper shine than hand polishing, and will do so in far less time, but use caution. A power polisher can build up enough heat to damage or even melt your headlight cover, so keep it on its lowest setting -- under 1,000 rpm -- and maintain a light hand. Check your work often so you'll know when to stop.
- 6). Repeat on the other headlight, remove the tape, wash the thing off and enjoy your work. Don't terribly surprised if you need to go back and do some touch up polishing, especially if you used a polishing wheel.
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