_ethrty-Andy_ 2132 Report post Posted February 1, 2012 Okay so both of my taillights on the boot are spidered out with age so i sourced some replacements, one second hand and the other brand new from the stealer (seriously... you dont want to know what i paid...). So now that i have them side by side the second hand one obviously looks slightly duller.... anyone know what I can do to make the plastic clearer again? wet sand prehaps? ill test anything i try on the older spidered ones first, but there must be some way i can even them up? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huff3r 347 Report post Posted February 1, 2012 Meguirs Plastic Polish or similar? Apparently Autosol also works... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Palazzo 477 Report post Posted February 1, 2012 I've used Mothers plastic polish on headlights and very windows, works well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neal 545 Report post Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Used Brasso on restoring my 40 year plus taillights on the Mk1 Mini and many of the old plastic parts. Takes a while but the results where worth it. Edited February 1, 2012 by Neal Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
my_e36 43 Report post Posted February 4, 2012 Brasso works well on plastics, although takes longer. But as Neal said, it's worth it. Get a power-drill attachment and a foam pad then polish away. (Use a cordless drill though, mains power drill spins WAY too fast). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yng_750 247 Report post Posted February 11, 2012 another idea borrowing this off a friend Works for headlights, tail lights and pretty much any solid plastic that needs revival. I picked the dirtiest shittiest scratched up POS light I could find for this. There's like a million ways to do this, this method uses clearcoat, you can at the end just polish the plastic instead unlike I did if you want. I think there may of been a thread on this once before anyway. Start with 400 grit wet sanding, it burns through oxidation and sh*t really fast, make sure to get all the crap off. Don't worry about hitting bits of black trim around it or whatever cause it'll just land up shined as well. If you let the water dry it will be hazy, that's normal Move to either 600 or 800, keep doing this making sure to get rid of all the scratches till you get to about 1500 grit if you are just going to clearcoat or if you want to polish it go to 2000 grit. It will look hazy, even 2000 grit has a haze to it till you give it a final buff. Ok so it's my racecar so I just stopped at a good 1200 which left pretty much no scratches but a white haze over the whole light. The paint still has something to stick to at this point and when you shoot some good clear on them the haze goes away and they go crystal clear again. This isn't wet with water, this is after the paint dried; it's how the lights look now, you can see the clouds in the reflection. Obviously if you're going to clearcoat make sure there are no scratches and you clean the surface. The haze goes away but deeper visible scratches will not. Total time if I exclude when I wandered off to let it dry to show the haze 20 or 30 minutes. Both lights would probably take about 45 minutes and less if they are not as ****ed as mine were. I still have the headlights to do if anyone wants to see headlights made clear again OR me polish the plastic rather than clearcoat it and the headlights are truly rooted. They are really bad so it will be quite the test of this method Did one of the headlights, polished it rather than clearcoat. A good clearcoat is better cause it provides some protection but then again finished with a plastic protector and anti swirl/polishing type product does as well only it wears off. Same as before only go to 2000 grit then polish, I just used a holts cutter polish then threw some stuff made to protect boat hulls over the top. Shines like new. These lights were scratched, yellowed, had remains of either cheap clearcoat or plastic protector stick on over them which someone had then tried to get off and landed up just leaving patches of different shades. And to top it off the yellow sh*t is builders adhesive that had got on it and been smeared over the surface trying to wipe it off. I dare you to find a light that is worse Pretty much proof no light is too far gone as long as the plastic isn't crazy cracked. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_ethrty-Andy_ 2132 Report post Posted February 11, 2012 thats a fantastic top notch write up! Pics tell 1000 words too. thanks for posting!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vendt 1 Report post Posted February 11, 2012 Okay so both of my taillights on the boot are spidered out with age so i sourced some replacements, one second hand and the other brand new from the stealer (seriously... you dont want to know what i paid...). So now that i have them side by side the second hand one obviously looks slightly duller.... anyone know what I can do to make the plastic clearer again? wet sand prehaps? ill test anything i try on the older spidered ones first, but there must be some way i can even them up? get 1500p wet sand paper,sand them back them polish them the same as you do on ya clear coat,using cutting compound,ave a look u tube.itll make then clear again dont no about spiders dow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vendt 1 Report post Posted February 11, 2012 another idea borrowing this off a friend aye dem no bmw parts dirty old honda bits Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_ethrty-Andy_ 2132 Report post Posted February 11, 2012 you think cutting compund will work as good as sand paper? i have to get some of that tomorrow to finish doing my E30 so would save an expence if i dont need it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vendt 1 Report post Posted February 11, 2012 you think cutting compund will work as good as sand paper? i have to get some of that tomorrow to finish doing my E30 so would save an expence if i dont need itno get the sand paper it will give you a cleaner finish.compound just means your polishing crap on the surface you need to remove it for a better finish.the better the start the better the finish aye, Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yng_750 247 Report post Posted February 12, 2012 ideally finish with plastic polish rather than cut and polish, will make for a better finish Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
