Polishing Tailights:
03-04-2004, 10:28 PM
#11
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Chi-Town
Posts: 39
I posted this on the other forum:
If it is just faded, I would sand it with 2000 grit sandpaper and then polish with automotive style polishes. You need to start with a cutting polish and work your way up to a hand glaze. This will work the best, I am sure that those other polishes will work, but there are essentially the same thing as the polish for your paint. The body shop should know how to take care of it.
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If it is just faded, I would sand it with 2000 grit sandpaper and then polish with automotive style polishes. You need to start with a cutting polish and work your way up to a hand glaze. This will work the best, I am sure that those other polishes will work, but there are essentially the same thing as the polish for your paint. The body shop should know how to take care of it.
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03-04-2004, 10:31 PM
#12
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Location: Chi-Town
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Originally Posted by Rob x-7' date='Mar 4 2004, 07:40 PM
i wouldnt use compound on plastic lenses, no need and you
run the risk of burning them, use a polish
run the risk of burning them, use a polish
03-05-2004, 12:27 AM
#13
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Location: Delaware
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Originally Posted by Rob x-7' date='Mar 4 2004, 07:40 PM
i wouldnt use compound on plastic lenses, no need and you
run the risk of burning them, use a polish
run the risk of burning them, use a polish
actually, i used a light compound called BC-2 by Auto-Magic (good quality detailing products) and it pulled the tailights out quite nice...
it was Wraith FD .. but he hasn't been on lately.. if he ever is.. ask him.. i did a full detail on his car.. looked brand new..
and you will not burn them with a FOAM pad.. its almost impossible.. and if you know how to use a buffer properly with WOOL pads and more abrasive compounds, you will get even better results.
03-05-2004, 12:31 AM
#14
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Originally Posted by wickedrx7' date='Mar 4 2004, 08:28 PM
I posted this on the other forum:
If it is just faded, I would sand it with 2000 grit sandpaper and then polish with automotive style polishes. You need to start with a cutting polish and work your way up to a hand glaze. This will work the best, I am sure that those other polishes will work, but there are essentially the same thing as the polish for your paint. The body shop should know how to take care of it.
__________________
If it is just faded, I would sand it with 2000 grit sandpaper and then polish with automotive style polishes. You need to start with a cutting polish and work your way up to a hand glaze. This will work the best, I am sure that those other polishes will work, but there are essentially the same thing as the polish for your paint. The body shop should know how to take care of it.
__________________
alot of it has to do with skill, past experience, and knowing what your working with
hope some of this helped
03-05-2004, 06:02 AM
#15
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Location: Amityville, New York
Posts: 12,288
BC 2 isnt a compound, its a cleaner, Basecoat/Clearcoat Cleaner,
hence the BC 2, thats a good product for polishing plastic.
Really light will compounds work, but not to my satisfaction, then
again I have high standards, I dont like to see any scratches
at all, either from age or from compound.
Obviously someone who knows what they are doing can polish the
lights, however- telling people who have not done it before
to sand and compound thier plastic lenses sounds like a bad
idea to me. I know people want to learn, but its best to have
someone show you what to do and what not to do then to recieve
instructions over the internet.
And it is very possible to burn with foam pads, give the machine to
someone who never used it before, I gurantee it will happen.
I also used to think it was impossible, until I seen someone do it
in person.
hence the BC 2, thats a good product for polishing plastic.
Really light will compounds work, but not to my satisfaction, then
again I have high standards, I dont like to see any scratches
at all, either from age or from compound.
Obviously someone who knows what they are doing can polish the
lights, however- telling people who have not done it before
to sand and compound thier plastic lenses sounds like a bad
idea to me. I know people want to learn, but its best to have
someone show you what to do and what not to do then to recieve
instructions over the internet.
And it is very possible to burn with foam pads, give the machine to
someone who never used it before, I gurantee it will happen.
I also used to think it was impossible, until I seen someone do it
in person.
03-05-2004, 06:03 AM
#16
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Amityville, New York
Posts: 12,288
Originally Posted by wickedrx7' date='Mar 4 2004, 11:31 PM
??? Polish=Cmpound,same thing. The tail lights will polish up just like paint. You can use a machine compound or a hand compound.
compund is a abrasive cleaning.
03-05-2004, 10:30 AM
#17
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Delaware
Posts: 682
Originally Posted by Rob x-7' date='Mar 5 2004, 04:02 AM
BC 2 isnt a compound, its a cleaner, Basecoat/Clearcoat Cleaner,
hence the BC 2, thats a good product for polishing plastic.
Obviously someone who knows what they are doing can polish the lights, however- telling people who have not done it before to sand and compound thier plastic lenses sounds like a bad idea to me.
And it is very possible to burn with foam pads, give the machine to
someone who never used it before, I gurantee it will happen.
I also used to think it was impossible, until I seen someone do it
in person.
hence the BC 2, thats a good product for polishing plastic.
Obviously someone who knows what they are doing can polish the lights, however- telling people who have not done it before to sand and compound thier plastic lenses sounds like a bad idea to me.
And it is very possible to burn with foam pads, give the machine to
someone who never used it before, I gurantee it will happen.
I also used to think it was impossible, until I seen someone do it
in person.
I guess it is possible to burn something with a foam pad, but you have to be pretty damn stupid/uncoordinated.. notice i said its "almost" impossible... but I guess if you are an absolute retard.. yes, maybe it is possible
I completely agree with rob on this one.. Using highly abrasive stuff like sandpaper and heavy compounds is a terrible idea for someone with no experience especially when there are easier alternatives out there...
In all due honesty.. i don' t know who in their right mind would take sandpaper to plastic... just doesn't make sense, unless you are God like with compounds and buffing pads, pulling out sandpaper scratches from plastic would take all day to make it look perfect..
Have someone do this in real life, or have someone with experience help you before risking the destruction of your tail lenses.
Try a light cleaner/wax first and see how far you get.
03-05-2004, 06:05 PM
#18
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Amityville, New York
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I take sandpaper to plexiglass all the time to remove scratches.
LOTS of fucked up plexiglass on boats-HOWEVER, I really
wouldnt recommend someone doing it as a first timer
unless you can afford to lose the part your messing with.
detailers consider BC2 a mild compound because on a light
colored car, or even a dark one, it does remove minor scratches.
I have plenty of expierence with BC2, I remember getting
a sample of it way back when it first came out well over
10 years ago, I have quite a arsenal of tricks up my sleeve, lol
LOTS of fucked up plexiglass on boats-HOWEVER, I really
wouldnt recommend someone doing it as a first timer
unless you can afford to lose the part your messing with.
detailers consider BC2 a mild compound because on a light
colored car, or even a dark one, it does remove minor scratches.
I have plenty of expierence with BC2, I remember getting
a sample of it way back when it first came out well over
10 years ago, I have quite a arsenal of tricks up my sleeve, lol
03-07-2004, 02:02 PM
#19
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Chi-Town
Posts: 39
You guy's need to go back and read his question, he is asking what he should tell the body shop to do, not what he should do. This is why I told him to sand it and then polish it. I sanded with 2000 grit and then polished with 3M perfect (II I think), then I hand polished with a hand glaze. It really wasn't hard at all, took about ten minutes to buff out the sanding lines. There isn't one scratch in the plastic, it looks better than new. Here are a couple of pics, although they don't do it any justice.