Products for Headlight Protection

[Matt0351]

Hey Everyone,

 

I am interested in removing the very superficial scratches and protecting the headlights on my Charger and was wondering what were the best products to use?

 

I was thinking Glass Cleaner followed by glass sealant and glass boost since the headlights are obviously made of clear material but I have also seen people use paint sealant for headlight protection over the products used for glass protection. 

 

Thoughts?

[falcaineer]

Neither GC nor Glass Sealant or Boost will remove scratches, but they will clean and seal. Adam's sells a headlight restoration kit, https://adamspolishes.com/shop/kits/4-polishing-kits/adam-s-headlight-restoration-kit.html that could work for the scratches and any potential hazing/yellowing. To seal them, I prefer PS with HGG as maintenance. Obviously, the same applies for taillights, markers, etc.

 

The more I think, though, I'm wondering if the Glass Sealant and/or Boost has any filler properties like the BG that may help, if only for a bit, with the slight scratches. But for long term, polishing is your best bet. Can anyone weigh in?

Edited May 27, 2018 by falcaineer

[Nickfire20]

My wifes get really bad....12 yr old CRV.....i wet sand, compund, polish, paint sealant.

[BHarris23]

PS will seal it for a short period of time. You have to reapply every 3-4 months after restoring the headlights/taillights. If you want longer protection, you either want to go with a ceramic coating or a pre-cut clear bra for your headlight/taillights. 

[falcaineer]

Just now, BHarris23 said:

PS will seal it for a short period of time. You have to reapply every 3-4 months after restoring the headlights/taillights. If you want longer protection, you either want to go with a ceramic coating or a pre-cut clear bra for your headlight/taillights. 

 

Curious, where do you get "short period....3-4 months" from? Should last at least 6 months.

[Junior]

Ceramic coating gets my vote.

[BHarris23]

5 hours ago, falcaineer said:

 

Curious, where do you get "short period....3-4 months" from? Should last at least 6 months.

Most paint sealants I’ve seen and dealt with are about 3-4 months. Regular maintenance with HGG should prolong it. But as much abuse as headlights gets, I would reapply every 3-4 months to be safe. 

[falcaineer]

12 minutes ago, BHarris23 said:

Most paint sealants I’ve seen and dealt with are about 3-4 months. Regular maintenance with HGG should prolong it. But as much abuse as headlights gets, I would reapply every 3-4 months to be safe. 

 

Gotcha. You may not know, but Adam's PS is said to last at least 6 months. Agreed with maintaining with HGG.

[mc2hill]

22 hours ago, falcaineer said:

 

Curious, where do you get "short period....3-4 months" from? Should last at least 6 months.

 

17 hours ago, BHarris23 said:

Most paint sealants I’ve seen and dealt with are about 3-4 months. Regular maintenance with HGG should prolong it. But as much abuse as headlights gets, I would reapply every 3-4 months to be safe. 

 

16 hours ago, falcaineer said:

 

Gotcha. You may not know, but Adam's PS is said to last at least 6 months. Agreed with maintaining with HGG.

 

Adam's Paint Sealant will last for 6 months or more on the paint, but in my area (Central Florida) I only get 2-3 months of protection on the headlights before they begin so get some cloudiness. 

I have not tried Adam's Trim Coating on headlights, but have used another companies trim coating on headlights, and they are holding up well after a year.  There is some degradation, but they still look good.  If you go to a coating you will have to sand the headlights to remove all of the factory covering.   

[Matt0351]

Thanks Everyone, This helps a lot

[Matt0351]

On 5/27/2018 at 3:38 PM, falcaineer said:

Neither GC nor Glass Sealant or Boost will remove scratches, but they will clean and seal. Adam's sells a headlight restoration kit, https://adamspolishes.com/shop/kits/4-polishing-kits/adam-s-headlight-restoration-kit.html that could work for the scratches and any potential hazing/yellowing. To seal them, I prefer PS with HGG as maintenance. Obviously, the same applies for taillights, markers, etc.

 

The more I think, though, I'm wondering if the Glass Sealant and/or Boost has any filler properties like the BG that may help, if only for a bit, with the slight scratches. But for long term, polishing is your best bet. Can anyone weigh in?

 

If I were to use the headlight restoration kit would it introduce swirl marks into the headlight since the pads are used with a rotary drill? I saw one of Adams videos and he mentioned that would happen when removing scratches in the paint and to use the rotary buffer to remove the swirl marks afterward. Just making sure bc that's the last thing I would want to do to my headlights!

[mc2hill]

1 hour ago, Matt0351 said:

 

If I were to use the headlight restoration kit would it introduce swirl marks into the headlight since the pads are used with a rotary drill? I saw one of Adams videos and he mentioned that would happen when removing scratches in the paint and to use the rotary buffer to remove the swirl marks afterward. Just making sure bc that's the last thing I would want to do to my headlights!

Using the pads on the drill should not cause swirl marks in the headlights.  You are removing some of the original headlight coating when you polish them, and as long as you are moving the drill around the lens you should be fine.  I have not watched the video, but you need to follow-up the correcting pad/polish with the finishing pad/polish to get the best results.