My headlight had some rock chips so I decided to refinish it. I took the headlight off but it is not necessary. It is easier to do it on the car as long as the front bumper and fender is off like this:



Before:



After:





I used a combination of 3M restoration kit, sandpaper, Dual action buffer, and Meguire Ultimate Compound and Polish. The first headlight took forever because I was OCD about getting every sandmark off and wasn't using my DA buffer. I was inspecting the headlight from 3 inches. The second headlight was much faster (2hrs) as I was satisfied with the result from 12 inches away.

Once you sanded off the clear coat, the headlight will be scratched easily and can be UV damaged. As result, I installed a 3M Scortchguard clear protection film. You need 36 inches by 12 inches of clear film to cover two headlights.

Once again, it is easier and cheaper to hire someone to do it. My local guy only charges $120 for both headlights. I did it myself only because I don't like waiting for an appointment and plan ahead. This is also why I sometimes cut my own hair.

If your headlight looks old and dated, this could be a good mod to consider.

 

What grit did you sand with?

 

I used two different approaches:

1. 500 drill
2. 600 Hand
3. 700 drill
4. 800 hand
5. 1000 hand
6. 1500 hand
7. 2000 hand
8. 3000 wet drill
9. Orange pad + Ultimate Compound
10. Black pad + Ultimate Polish

This approach took forever so I wouldn't do it again.

The second approach:

1. 500 drill
2. 700 wet drill
3. 3000 wet Dual action buffer
4. Orange pad + Ultimate Compound DA
5. Black pad + Ultimate Polish DA

This approach is much faster and produced decent result. Using a porter cable 7424xp to wet sand and polish saved a lot of time. It is important to use some sort of protection after you sanded off the clear coat because the plastic is very soft and can be scratched by microfiber towel.