Impala Nightmare!

[GLASSTIME]

Hello,

I Don't Normally Post Photos But I Just Had To On This Post. I Was Out Marketing Yesterday And Earned A "new" Customer Which Is Always Nice...eh?
So I Went Today And Serviced This Vehicle.

When I First Seen These Headlight's Yesterday, It Was In The Shade But, I Took The Time To Examine Them Thoroughly! I Didn't Notice Anything Different About These Headlight's And The Oxidation Present Than Any Other Set I Have Done In My 6 Or So Years Of Doing Hlr. Today However Played Out Different. I Began Using The 320 Disc= Wasn't Cutting It. I Actually Used 3 On The First Lenses And Finally Called Korey. He Gave Me Some Ideas To Try, One Of Which I Just Knew Would Do It. That's To Spray Prep On The Lenses And Try "wet Sanding" = Didn't Work. I Was Also Told To Try 180 Disc. Unfortunately I Didn't Have Any On Me And After An Hour Of Trying To Locate Some, My Helper Called To Let Me Know He Found Some. I Encouraged Him To Rush Back As The Customer Was Leaving Work At 5. Fortunate Enough She Was At Work So I Don't Believe I Caused Any Inconvenience.

I Used The 180 Disc Both By "dry" And "wet" Sanding. I Didn't Get The Result's I Was Hoping For. It Almost Seems As If A Very Harsh Chemical Has Came In Contact With The Lenses At Some Point In Time. After Applying The Coat2protect There Was A Significant Improvement, Yet The Cloudy Look Was Still Present If Looked At Up Close. I Truly Feel I Improved Clarity By At Least 80% Or Better!

Let Me Know!

[GLASSTIME]

Korey has to help me out on the photo thing. Hopefully they will be up soon!

[photoadjuster]

I have restored several dozen of these tougher than normal Impala lights.

I have kept this method a secret for 10 years. I must give this warning up front, this method has worked perfectly for me on hundreds of headlights. Your mileage may differ. I practicd on 2 dozen lights from the junk yard before attempting this in the field.

Before getting out your tools, take a single edge razor blade and remove all of the corrosion. You must hold the razor blade exactly 90 degree to the lights surface and pull, never push. Watch closely for any scratches. If a scratch appears, stop and start again with a new blade. To learn, start with the blade leaning toward you and then start pulling. If will not cut util you push the blade, away from you, to an upright position.

The Good:
Normally you can begin sanding with 800 grit paper. This will remove the razor scrapes. This saves money on the rough grit sanding disks. Although I carry them, I never use the 180, 320, 500, and seldom have to use the 600 grit. Normally the 800, 1500 and 3000 grit is all that is needed before the coating.

The Bad:
Stock plenty of band-aids.

Regards,
Stephenson

[just chippen away]

You should show us your out come. On an Impala. Seeing is believing. Sounds like you are not taking the top sealer off, just the cancer.

I am the first one that published the Impalla being back lights to restore and no one beleaved me, Now others are posting the same. You are coming on saying you have done worst... please, Lets see your before and afters. The proof in in the pudding.

[t4k]

You should show us your out come. On an Impala. Seeing is believing. Sounds like you are not taking the top sealer off, just the cancer.

I am the first one that published the Impalla being back lights to restore and no one beleaved me, Now others are posting the same. You are coming on saying you have done worst... please, Lets see your before and afters. The proof in in the pudding.

Do you think pictures are enough proof? He could photo shop them and still be lying to us!

[photoadjuster]

Oh well, I though I was helping. Might want to try it before insulting my honor. The only photos I have, only show the before and after, which would not prove anything.

A quick internet search found a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpV6x3R8gTA

Regards,
Stephenson

[GLASSTIME]

photoadjuster,

I really appreciate the advice. However, the problem with the polishing methods that I have realized is that as it may impove the clarity of the lenses it doesn't provide any protection to the lenses themselves. Regardless of the method used to remove the oxidation wether it's sanding, razor blades or steel whool (JK!). Once the yellow film is removed and the light is dull typically worse than before you began, this is due to there being no Clear, No UV Sealer present.

In a few short months depending on the area in which you live I wouldn't imagine this "Polishing" Method working well for very long. As soon as the vehicles headlight's make contact with harmful agents from the road, soaps, chemicals, airborne fallout and more, they will return to their original state.

I have been doing HLR as I have said before for 6 years if not more. The first initial way we used to do it at a dealership I worked for; we would just hit the lenses with 600 grit and 1200 grit (Hand Sanded). They would send 'em over to the body shop and there they would just spray on regualr Automotive Clear Coat" Yes this made them look great. I used this method up until I purchased my Delta HLR Kit and I will have to say, I'd challenge anyone using Automotive Clear Coat anyday up against the Delta system.

With te Auto Clear, it may look great, but it produces a more syrup look. You have problems with possible runs, trash in lines, moisture alot to take into count.

WIth the lights above there was this haze that to me looked as if a hazordous chemical had came in contact with the lenses. I remember once I hired a guy when I owned my Detailing service. He went out one day by himself. I soon got a call to come look at a vehcile he had just cleaned. He stated that the Headlight's have a milky look to them. When i arived to my shock he was right. He said he feels that he may have caused them to do this. i asked, what , if anything did he spray or use on the front end. He showed me 2 chemicals. 1. Adhesive Remover 2. Degreaser. All of our Degreaser was always dilluted down with water so I didn't feel that had caused it. I felt that with the UV from the sun and the coolness of the chemical vs. the 102 degree weather that the AR actually etched the lenses.


I seen this countless of times especially with Car Sales around town asking if we can polish this or that or fix this. Most of the time it was due to a corrosive chemical coming in contact with something sitting in the beating heat. It's mostly wheels, front ends (Bumpers, Grilles and Windshields)

I too would also be a little skeptic to this technique due to the fact that I personally have never tried, never heard of it. Therfore, I am curious to what the lenses indure by scraping thm with a razor blade which is much sharper than a sanding disk. Even at 1200 rpm I would imagine the human hands could cause significant scratches , cuts ect. to the lense due to irregular pressure. Using a sander as such of the Metabo, theres no need to apply pressure whilst running it at the appropriate speed it removes the oxidation with no problem.

In this case I truly beleive no matter what I have done that day, I would have never gotten them completely clean. The main goal was to satisfy the customer in whcih we did!



JMHO!

[photoadjuster]

Glasstime, thanks for the info. Since the topic was the hard to sand lenses, my post did not get into the sealer. I just assumed that everyone always seals. I always replace the UV coating after removing the bad plastic. I have used the CP brand of sanders and polishers for many years and last month I purchased the Metabo and the Makita polisher along with the coating from DeltaKits. My testing of the Delta stuff is still in the "I don't know" stage. The goal was to go all electric on our mobile units, because of the trouble running air compressors & generators while mobile. The air tools take a lot of air. The Metabo is not quite up to the air tools. Don't take this wrong, the Metabo is the only tool (out of 1/2 dozen I purchased) that will do the work and I like it, but it seems to pig tail more than I would like to see. Even using the large rubber abrasive belt cleaners to keep the discs clean, it is still piggy. I can live with it to go all electric.

On the topic of Delta kits sealer. When testing it, like I always do, I waited a few weeks and then removed it. The fastest way was with the razor blade. The goal is for me to know what to do if it is cured and trash or fingerprints were embredded.

I too used regular auto clear for a while. I won't try that again. Had a lot of problems with the lense discoloring from the bulbs heat.

You wrote << I am curious to what the lenses indure by scraping thm with a razor blade which is much sharper than a sanding disk. Even at 1200 rpm I would imagine the human hands could cause significant scratches , cuts ect. to the lense due to irregular pressure. Using a sander as such of the Metabo, theres no need to apply pressure whilst running it at the appropriate speed it removes the oxidation with no problem. >>

Oddly enought there are very few scratches from the razor blade. But let me clarify, that there is a big difference in razor blades. Stay away from chinese blades. Only use good old american single edge surgical carbon steel. If it is not marked clearly on the box they will scratch. The best blades are .009

Try to imagine the difference in sanding a board and running the board though a surfacer or a planer. The cut of the razor is like planing a board. There are many less scratches than you would have with rough sand paper.

Explaining the process is harder than just doing it. It does take a while to get comfortable with it.

Regards,
Mike Stephenson



JMHO![/quote]

[just chippen away]

Chad
The way I found that removes the Impala clear coat best is by using my Jepson 3605 vk (variable trigger) rotary with the 3" backer threaded on and 240 grit. I still went through almost 10 disc's. Have a damp rag wadded up and trigger the clogged sand paper over the wadded rag and it will clean off the clear coat off the disc to get more use... then go back to the Metabo and continue as normal..

[Dr.Chipster]

I am no expert by any means, but I thought I would share with you what has been working for me. The last two Chevrolets that I worked on were a Impala and a Grand Prix. The 320 grit and the metabo were not doing the job for me, so I pulled out a sheet of 220 grit wet sanding paper. I wet sanded the lenses by hand with the 220 grit until I was satisfied the old clear coat was off and had a nice evenly faded lens. I then proceeded with the Delta recommended procedures. It took some extra time like 15 minutes a lens but the end results were a like new condition. Some of you may want pictures but my picture files are to large for the forum requirements. I don't like to wet sand but sometimes I find it is necessary. I am some what of a perfectionist so I will take the time to do it right. Every headlight restoration I learn something new. All headlights are not created equal. It is frustrating when you feel a job is gonna take 30 minutes and then you look up and an hour has gone by. I love to do lenses that are totally trashed as I find them easier to do.The lenses that have a little corrosion are the ones that are time consuming. Sorry for being long winded. I hope this helps.