Cleaning up my head lights by hand...

[S3 Paul]

The headlight plastic lense on my 2001 S3 are looking old ,
Ive seen on here how people have wet sanded them and then buffed them.
I dont have a DA or buffer so will be working by hand...
How would people recomend i do this?
I heard something about megs plastex? but the bottle had changed... is this still the best product? Should i just use that and do them a number of times??
Thanks for the help and sorry for my bad Grammar

 

[HerefordQuattro]

I did my 2001 A6 lights back in the summer and it made a brilliant difference, i have a DA so was easier but you can do it by hand:

I started with 600grit wet and dry (all wet and dry soaked in a bucket of water and dash of fairy for 20 mins before use)

you'll be horrified after this first stage as they'll look awful but step up to 1200grit to remove the previous stage of marks then 2000 then 3000 and they'll be looking a lot better.
I finished mine of with my DA and a cutting pad with Menzerna powergloss then polishing pad with Menz P203s (kit i had from correcting my paint).

You will need a hand polishing pad like a lake country orange : Lake Country Light Cut Hand Pad | Lake Country Car Care & Detailing Products

and some cutting polish, i have heard good things about megs scratch-X but couldn't get it locally (T-cut just wont cut it so to speak), it will be hard work by hand to get the final finish but physically no reason it won't work with the right products.

Remember each stage of finer grit is removing the marks from the stage before so keep going and you'll get there

 

[HerefordQuattro]

oh yeah and use a block to wrap the wet and dry around to keep it flat (i used a 50p diy cork one)

and use plenty of water and wash the wet and dry residue off the bumper etc because it makes a right mess.

and tape the light surround etc up before you start

 

[HerefordQuattro]

you're welcome

(what is the point of me writing an essay and you don't even reply? forums, don't you just love em)

 

[S3 Paul]

Oi,
Calm down a touch ,
Ive read the reply but only on my Iphone which, i poh at using so waited until i was on the pc.
Thankyou for the response, Im a bit scared of wet sanding when i can only polish by hand after.
However i understand that the marks will not be removed without it...
Thankyou again, Fingers crossed all goes well

 

[HerefordQuattro]

i'm in a bad mood

 

[ChrisFurlong]

I've done my RS6 headlights and taillights too. The headlights had a couple of deep scratches, so took some 600 grit wet and dry and spent a few hours on each to get rid of them. Then worked my way up through the grades (900,1500,3000) and then used me DA with some of Meguiars Plast-X for the final pass over. They've come up great, but I do really need to find a better polish as there are still some very faint marks left. Or maybe I could do with a wool pad.

But if you are wetsanding them, be sure to keep the headlight constantly wet, and use a backing pad! Don't want an uneven surface from your fingers! Good luck

 

[S4twiggy]

get someone to get a DA on it with a spot pad, i done my rears and headlights with the DA and they came up a treat after half hour. must be someone round your way with a DA?

 

[Sarah's A3]

I used a DA and Poorboys SSR1 and SSR2 then used some Megs deep crystal system stage 2 and 3 Carnauba Wax, came up a treat.