headlight lens repair!

i took apart my headlights the other day and tried to clean and polish the inside however there was a clear coat on the inside that created a mess how can i clean this clear coat off easily without damaging the lens and what is the best polish to use. ive tried plastic x from meguires as well as micro polish from menzerna. should i just take it to a professional detailer or they wouldn't know what to do either?

wetsand with 2000 grit and the buff it out with some compound and a buffer if possible

ive tried wet sanding it works really well on the outside of the lens however i can't fit my polisher on the crevices of the inside.

polish by hand...sand to 2500 if you want the scratches to really come out easy...or use a mini buffer with a 3" buffing pad...

i have a mini buffer with three inch buffing pad what im gonna try is 2000 on the outside 3000 on the inside by hand. wish me luck! pics by the end of the week of the finished project! something no one has ever seen yet. one of those hated or love it type of gigs.

[QUOTE=mtbr64;324262]i have a mini buffer with three inch buffing pad what im gonna try is 2000 on the outside 3000 on the inside by hand. wish me luck! pics by the end of the week of the finished project! something no one has ever seen yet. one of those hated or love it type of gigs.[/QUOTE]

i hope you didnt do what i just did lol:)
was a freakn nightmare lol

tell me about it! i ended up taking it to a pro detailer and he spent hours on it and couldn't get them scratch free! oh well.... there crystal clear now only notice it when you look point blank.

[QUOTE=mtbr64;324687]tell me about it! i ended up taking it to a pro detailer and he spent hours on it and couldn't get them scratch free! oh well.... there crystal clear now only notice it when you look point blank.[/QUOTE]

yeah man, same here and i feel your pain
here is a pic comparing to stock headlight
[img]http://nounre.sweb.cz//2headlights.jpg[/img]
they appear to be cloudy on pics, but they actually not that bad...in direct sunlight you can only see very fine scratches...
i atacked it with 200grit mouse sander, and then then kept on adding on, and then did wet sand from 460 and up to 2000
then i got polishing compound, metal polisher, plastic X, scratch removal and then wax...i havent buffed anything yet tho...dont have  small enough pad to get on the inside...i will do the outside tomorrow and take em apart again and try to sort out the inside somehow, might just give it to my mate who can do a pro job.
but honestly i wouldnt recommend this kinda thing. it took me good 4 hrs or so with just a  mouse sander to get rid of the reflectors.nad then a few hrs with wet sand going backwards and forwards to get rid of all the scratches amd its still not perfect

[URL=http://img683.imageshack.us/i/img00020201006011648.jpg/][IMG]http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/9049/img00020201006011648.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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heres how mine turned out

Looks like it came out great :biggthumpup:
Thanks for sharin

Any closeups??

as a diyer i dig it, but as a detailer i see haziness in both lenses posted. should finish with 3000 on the inside then compound then polish.
and then use a cleaning polish such as plastx or plexall or an AIO polish to help the clarity.

honestly these drove me crazy! if they get worse im just gonna pick up some used headlights on ebay and use there lenses.

ALpha, I hope you are going to do a retro, if not, you made a bad light into a worse one lol...quick question though...how did you de-line glass?

[QUOTE=Caoboy;324935]ALpha, I hope you are going to do a retro, if not, you made a bad light into a worse one lol...quick question though...how did you de-line glass?[/QUOTE]

each to their own bro:)
i rather have it like this than standard.makes the front end look much newer/fresher.
i mean i couldve spent ridiculous $700 and got exactly same shiz from japan, but what do i have my hands for?:)
its plastic, just used mouse sander.
and yeah im planning on doing a retrofit at some stage, just gotta find a perfect donor projectors to make it work or possibly fitting reflector bowls from other car to make it legal...

Those are JDM headlights for a ucf10 right? I had some, and they were glass...this is tripping me out!

Make a bracket for the projectors, that will use your stock mounting locations (for the reflectors) so you can utilize the stock adjustment screws. That'd be the best way to do it, and you won't mess up the stock reflector bowls, if you need them for whatever reason.

[QUOTE=Caoboy;324961]Those are JDM headlights for a ucf10 right? I had some, and they were glass...this is tripping me out!

Make a bracket for the projectors, that will use your stock mounting locations (for the reflectors) so you can utilize the stock adjustment screws. That'd be the best way to do it, and you won't mess up the stock reflector bowls, if you need them for whatever reason.[/QUOTE]

dude its sentia headlight:)go check my build lol:)

mine actually dont have adjustment screws(weird).
i kinda have an idea what to do, but i need to find donor headlights and so new reflector bowls fit into my current one and that will fill that ugly space and will be a nice background for projectors.
thing is i have no clue about wiring.mine has H4 bulbs so do i have to match up projectors to it aswell?or i doesnt matter. someone expalin pls

Projector items to buy when doing a 'proper' retrofit.

Projectors. 

Aftermarket Ballasts

Wiring harness from said H4 to aftermarket ballasts, preferrably one that will be wired off the battery, and just use a relay and your stock H4 plug as a switch. 

D2S plugs for aftermarket ballasts. 

Phillips 85122 or equivalent 4300k bulbs (you don't need any higher kelvin, you just lose light output) 

Put it together, and you are good to go.

It is the mounting of the projector that is the hard part. Everything else is simple, now that aftermarket HID's have flooded the markets. If you need a custom wire harness for a bi-xenon projector, you'll need to go to HIDplanet.com for more info.

[QUOTE=Caoboy;325000]Projector items to buy when doing a 'proper' retrofit.

Projectors. 

Aftermarket Ballasts

Wiring harness from said H4 to aftermarket ballasts, preferrably one that will be wired off the battery, and just use a relay and your stock H4 plug as a switch. 

D2S plugs for aftermarket ballasts. 

Phillips 85122 or equivalent 4300k bulbs (you don't need any higher kelvin, you just lose light output) 

Put it together, and you are good to go.

It is the mounting of the projector that is the hard part. Everything else is simple, now that aftermarket HID's have flooded the markets. If you need a custom wire harness for a bi-xenon projector, you'll need to go to HIDplanet.com for more info.[/QUOTE]

thanks bro, yeah i already checked out hidplanet.pretty cool place.
dont mind loosing a little bit of light output as i barely drive my car anyway, its more of a looks department and i will be getting 6000k-6500k i guess...will see how i go.need to find projectors first
thanks