Which clear coat for headlights

[376shovel]

I have a couple Grand Marquis headlights I opened up and "converted" to marauder headlights. They have some crazing on them and no polish has worked to remove it. I tried the Chris fix method to clear coat them with the Rust-Oleum 2x clear. I tried everything from painting them after a 500 grit sanding, drying them wet sanding with 3000.tried painting on a 2000 and a 3000 grit surface too. I just can't seem to get them clear. They look blurry/hazy after it dries. Anything other than a dust coat and it cracks after 10 min drying. Even going on wet, it doesn't give that clear look. I even tried sanding the back side of the light and that hasn't helped either. I'm thinking the paont itself is junk. Anyone have a recommendation dation on the paint to use for this type of job? I even called a local Maaco and they wouldn't take such a small job.

[Turbov6Bryan]

I use nason clear from the auto paint store, it's a 2 part 4:1 mix... pint might be $30.00
Also buy paint thinner to clean up your tools and spray to clean out the gun.
Install a orange prefilter right on the inlet airline right on the gun

Go to harbor freight and buy the $21.00 purple gravity feed gun, turn your compressor down to a constant 40 psi while spraying

Spray top, sides, bottom then front, let it sit about 2 minutes and start putting a few coat on, little more each time. 4 coats is about right, it should look new again right after your last coat. If not add more!

You can play around with water in the gun to get the idea of spray pattern, but dry it out and run thinner to get all the water out

If you paint well with cans, you will do fine.

I wet sand, then wipe the light with a new microfiber, set in sun to pull the moisture out. It's a little hot and humid for me to do them, I have no booty, 70 and low humidity is perfect

[Turbov6Bryan]

It should look wet when the last coat is on, key is enough, but not too much

[Turbov6Bryan]

Dhchvghvchb

[Comin' in Hot]

I’ve had great success with you U-Pol clear in a spray can. Use extremely light coats.

https://repaintsupply.com/images/products/48577.jpg

[2mercs]

+1 on the u-pol. Have a friend that restores OEM headlights and that's what they use.

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[376shovel]

What grit sandpaper are you ending on? What pattern are you sanding in for best results? Using a DA or by hand?

[justbob]

What grit sandpaper are you ending on? What pattern are you sanding in for best results? Using a DA or by hand?



I like the 3M Trizact 3000 grit 3” discs on a cheap 3” air buffer (with sturdy foam backing) Works awesome on paint correction as well.

Follow that with a quick cut of 3M Perfectit (blue top) and the proper waffle pad, and finally a hand coat of NXT 2.0 wax. This goes for lens’s, paint, chrome, whatever.

Almost a bullet proof way of not harming the work you put into it but not weak sauce with no benefits by no means.

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[376shovel]

I like the 3M Trizact 3000 grit 3” discs on a cheap 3” air buffer (with sturdy foam backing) Works awesome on paint correction as well.

Follow that with a quick cut of 3M Perfectit (blue top) and the proper waffle pad, and finally a hand coat of NXT 2.0 wax. This goes for lens’s, paint, chrome, whatever.

Almost a bullet proof way of not harming the work you put into it but not weak sauce with no benefits by no means.

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So you hit it with 3000 grit before painting?

I have sanded my light down to the plastic with 320 grit, after painting it 4 times already using 4 different processes. I needed to do that to get the paint off and get the cracks out. The paint will adhere to 3000 grit? I guess I can hit it with adhesion promoter first.

[justbob]

So you hit it with 3000 grit before painting?



I have sanded my light down to the plastic with 320 grit, after painting it 4 times already using 4 different processes. I needed to do that to get the paint off and get the cracks out. The paint will adhere to 3000 grit? I guess I can hit it with adhesion promoter first.



No. This is wetsanding the finished product.

For final lens sanding I would use 1000 or 1200 just like you would prior to repainting a panel.


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[sailsmen]

Check this thread for a detailed explanation;
https://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1223374&highlight=headlight#post122337 4

[Grimrepairman]

What is the ambient humidity?
Too much moisture in the air can get trapped in the clear and cause hazing that will not buff out.

[sailsmen]

Then you could never paint anything in South FL or South LA.
Read and follow the instructions on the can of paint.

[Lowndex]

Once your headlights are clear, I recommend:

http://www.xpel.com/headlight-protection-kits/XPEL_US_and_Canada/Passenger_Cars_and_Light_Truck s/2004/Mercury/Marauder

[376shovel]

All right boys here's an update:

I bought spraymax 2K Clear coat. I sanded my headlights progressively up to 1200 grit and shot 3 coats on them. I let them dry overnight and they were clear but very orange peeled. I then wet sanded 2000, 2500, 3000, 5000 and 7000. After that I used 105 compound followed by plastx with a polishing pad. The first set is done and in person they look great. I will be doing another set soon and I may sell them, or keep them as spares.

Behold.

[Turbov6Bryan]

$200.00 car
$8.00 in supplies

These were crusty yellow 20 minutes before... 320 to remove plastic, 600 to remove scratches,... 1200 to polish before clear
After I cleared these, I installed them and won't need to touch them

Automotive clear coat

[Turbov6Bryan]

It's soo easy to do