Headlights Restoration
 

I restored my headlights this weekend with 3M 39008 Headlight Lens Restoration System and the results was amazing and super easy .
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...76da52e124.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...571fb881b6.jpg

Wow, that's impressive! It doesn't look like your lights had the peeling clear issue beforehand, correct?

Looks good, make sure to keep some sort of protection on them, sealant, ceramic coating or respray clear so they hold up more than a few months.

Looks great. What did you seal them with? Last time I used a 3M kit, I only used the kit contents and the lenses yellowed back up in about 9 months.

Great work!

From the pics looks like your lights had some stone chips and marks especially in the right?

Were you able to successfully sand and polish them out?

I used Laminx film, has worked great so far, about 1 year.

I only used what was in the kit, and all stone chips and scratches came out , but did pick up Meguiar's G12310 PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish to maintain them after every wash.

If the kit didn't come with it (IMO, any kit that doesn't have it is severely lacking), you should also add a UV clear coat. That will do more to protect it than just cleaning and polishing.

My 2cents
 

A few years ago, I, too, cleared up my 996's headlights with the 3M kit...and it worked great. (Rather then removing the headlights, I simply taped around them with masking tape just in case I slipped with the drill buffer.) I then applied XPel overlays to protect them from UV rays. That worked out perfectly, too. (FWIW, I have since used this same approach on my BMW, M-B E-class, and sons' Mustang MACH 1, and it worked great in all cases. Some years later, there has been no lens discoloration.

relinuca

With the cost of these lights, XPEL or other overlays seems to be the best insurance policy you could have.

I currently use Opti-seal for my UC protection. (And as a LSP for the rest of the car) EXPEL doesn't appear to have a precut kit for our eggs. :(

Looks amazing!! Agree with others that it's good to coat it to protect the restoration.


Opti-seal walks on water in my opinion (in general, no experience specifically with headlight protection).

Have you been using it over freshly restored headlights and how long has it been protecting them successfully? I'm about to do the headlights on my sister's car and would like to use Opti-seal to protect them if that works.

How long did it take?

Gyeon Q2 Trim lasts now already 3 years on my lights. The car is always outside. Now i notice some slight discoloration. If I had reconditioned them every year with a new coat of Q2 Trim they would have probably lasted even longer.

Wow, what an improvement! Nice job. This would be a great time to replace your HID headlight bulbs too. HID bulbs lose intensity and the color temperature changes with time and use. If you’re still running your original bulbs from the factory, then they’re probably performing worse than they did when they were new.