The Wise Crack

Windshield Repair Newsletter

The Wise Crack, published monthly, is the most widely circulated windshield repair newsletter available! It includes windshield repair tips, news, & marketing advice.

Can you restore headlights that have been clear coated?

Recently a headlight restoration/windshield repair technician in Colorado was restoring the headlights on a 2006 Chevrolet Impala. The technician noted that it appeared as if a clear coat had been applied directly over the original protective coating without first removing the layer of oxidation. The coating was very difficult to remove, but with extra time and sanding discs the technician was able to remove the coating and oxidation. Next the technician completed the remainder of the Delta Kits recommended sanding and polishing steps and applied a fresh coat of Delta Kits Coat2Protect. As you can see from the photos below, the result was a stunning transformation.

After talking with several headlight restoration technicians who have had similar experiences with late model Impala’s and Malibu’s, it is unclear if an aftermarket coating had been applied or if a harder coating was applied to the headlights at the factory in these particular vehicles. Delta Kits is in the process of trying to obtain late model Impala and Malibu headlights in various stages of deterioration for testing. Watch for updates on this topic in future editions of The Wise Crack. Regardless of the type of factory or after market clear coat that has been applied, it is important that you take the time to remove the entire clear coat as well as all of the oxidation and contaminates on the surface of the lens. This requires a bit of patience, but the Delta Kits Professional Headlight Restoration System contains everything you need to make even these difficult to restore headlights look like new.

In most cases, the initial coating removal should be done with 320 grit discs, however in this case a courser grit may have reduced the number of discs and amount of time required to complete the restoration. Should you choose to use a courser grit of sandpaper to remove a particularly stubborn coating, please use extreme caution to avoid accidental damage.

Finer 600 and 1500 grits are then used to sand the lens smooth and a 3000 grit polishing disc is used for the final step prior to applying the Coat2Protect. No polish is needed.

Our thanks to Reese Atkinson of Roo’s windshield repair for sharing his story and photos with us. For more headlight restoration and windshield repair tips from Reese, visit www.windshield-repair-forum.com, search for Roo in the members list, and click on the number of posts he has made. This will give you a searchable list of every post he has made on the windshield repair and headlight restoration forums.

 

Author: Brent Deines

06-24-2010

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