Polished the Sport's Headlights & swapped to black grille bezels

[redraif]

So I worked on the rig again this weekend. This time it was to tackle the headlights and Chrome headlight and grille bezel.

The headlights were all oxidized & foggy

and the chrome grille surround was peeling.

A few months back I got replacement headlight and grille bezel in solid black. I'm not a big chrome person.
The replacement black grille was not perfect, so I opted to semi gloss paint the new junkyard version I got. That helped immensely.

So now it was on to pull off the old bezels and fix the headlights

I opted to separate the lens from the backing in order to be sure I got them as crystal clear as possible. So into the oven…

Now pulling the lens from the backing... If folks are interested I will do I write up on what steps this took to accomplish on a sport. I have all the pictures, I just have to upload them all.

Now here are the lenses… you can see how aweful they are…

 

[redraif]

On to the fixes

I figure since I had things apart I might as well paint the guts semi-gloss black and remove the amber lens cover. Wish there was a clear replacement…

Now on to the polishing… 800 grit wet dry, 1000, and finally 2000. I then used the four step 3M system: Rubbing compound, Machine glaze, Finishing glaze and finally Hand glaze. I did not use any buffers I did all by hand. About 3 hours a lens, but I really took my time. By the end I had 99% of even the fine swirl marks removed. More pics of the process if folks want to see.

Focusing through it..

Focusing on the surface.

Here is the first one fully polished with the other untouched next to it…

Now both done…

 

[redraif]

On the rig

Reassembling…

Lights before

and after

Front shot before

After

 

[Clem]

Reassembling…

]

That looks amazing! Great job! What adhesive did you use (if any) to reattach the lens?

Thanks,

Clem

 

[redraif]

I just stuck with what was already there.

Factory used a buytl tape type of adhesive. I have found it reseals itself quite well with heat. When opening I was careful to pull even and keep the buytl where it was. I did not cut anything away. Anything I trimmed off to get the inner bezel out I reattached to the headlight body. Once cool It remained a bit sticky but was the pretty hard.

To reassemble I rebaked and then reinstalled the lens. It re-softened perfect and resealed like it was never open. If you don't bake to reassemble it won't work.

 

[Clem]

Got it, thanks...I was replacing a marker bulb on my DD this weekend and the lens fell off in my hand. I already "glued" it so I think I'm stuck. Good to know the right way to get the lens to go back together, though.

Thanks,

Clem

 

[redraif]

If what you have is messed up.... take it out of the truck and bake the assembly to loosen it up and reattach. If it does not work you can bake and remove all the old sealant and reseal with real buytl tape.

 

[Clem]

If what you have is messed up.... take it out of the truck and bake the assembly to loosen it up and reattach. If it does not work you can bake and remove all the old sealant and reseal with real buytl tape.

Good to know...Thank you!

 

[JordanM/S]

Excellent Work, It Looks Great! :wings:

 

[mapper]

beautiful. Where does one find the "glaze" you used after polishing with the sand paper?

 

[redraif]

I got the set from a friend who ran body shop. He was getting rid of old inventory. I'm sure any place that mixes paint would have it as well. Maybe even amazon. Let me get the part numbers. ..

 

[JamesW]

You've really transformed the look of that sport from tatty and neglected to pristine and pampered,and what is the beat part is that it was done on a pretty small budget!
I must get you over to do mine some time :sombrero:

 

[redraif]

Lol.... thank you! I'm trying... still got a bit to go. I would be able to spend some more cash on it if I could get the mechanicals right. That you can't skimp on...

funny that's a similar comment I get a car shows.... hey when your done there come over and work on mine! That and if you polish it any more you are going to rub the paint off.... lol

 

[TheMole]

Good job man looks like brand new!

 

[BOPOH]

You did an amazing job!