Polishing Headlights and Tailights

Curious if anybody can recommend a headlight/tailight polishing system?I am familiar with the Mothers and Meguiars
and am looking for something that will LAST and not haze in a month.I have a PorterCable 7424XP and all the various
pads.I am thinking I can use it along with 1 of the less aggressive pads to polish them up.Has anyone used the 3M
plastic polish?It seems to get the most positive feedback of all the systems available from Amazon.
Thanks
JG

Jim, funny you should ask this. I JUST did a write up on another forum here ya go!

Required tools:

250/500/1200/2000 grit wet/dry sand paper. (Harbor freight has a multipack with all of these minus the 2000 for $5)
Mothers Powerball Mini and electric drill (The regular powerball or the cone would work, I just happened to have the "mini")
Meguires Plastix polish
spray bottle or bucket of water
1-2 clean/ dry rags

Step 1) Starting with the 250 WETSAND the headlight to get as much of the "fog" off as possible
Step 2) Then take the 500 and 1000 grits and finish removing main gunk.
Step 3) Clean off headlight to view progress, resand starting with 250 if needed
Step 4) With CLEAN headlight finish with WET 2000 grit paper
Step 5) Dry headlight thoroughly.
Step 6) With the Powerball attached apply a liberal amount of the Plastix directly to the PB. When done, apply the drill to the light starting SLOWLY, work the drill in circles until all the light has polish. Then in a circular motion at a higher speed buff in the polish until light is clear.

Results-

Before:


After:

I used Meguirs 105/205 with my CablePorter polisher on my daughters car and it worked great.

Use Megs Ultimate Compound with an orange pad on the PC. Finish with plastic polish on a white pad.

i use aluminum polishing compound,.on the orbital,. works quick,
Nick

All good ideas, but unless you PROTECT it with a UV blocker, they will turn on you QUICK!. There are several on the market, I have used clear "top coat" paint from Duplicolor with respectable results and limited durability (I WANT my customers to come back).

It is the UV protection that wears off and then the plastic starts to break down.

Just my $.02

I personally sand them down and shoot a new layer of clearcoat on them. H/L or T/L works great. yeah I know you all don't have the means to reshoot clear but that is the best way to fix the problem.

With the exception of the various grit sandpapers I have everything you guys mentioned except!
Jarrod please define H/L and T/L please?Last question I have a set of tails that are going on the
RMW and will these precedures also work on them to remove minor scratches and a little haze?
Thanks everybody!
JG

Hey Jarrod I did a little checking on those tailights that someone had taken apart and polished
out the enhancement prisms.Turns out even with the LED bulbs installed the total light output
is less lumen wise along with the percieved intensity.So my tailights are staying stock inside but
I still want to see those tailights at night.Must have been a lot of work removing all those little
pyramid shaped bumps.
JG

Jim buffing of lenses will take most scratches and marks off the lenses,.. if not hide them in the process. As for the other things H/L=Headlight T/L=Tail lights

As for how long it would take to sand those little bumps off, I have no clue. I don't even think I would make the effort.

I am such a dummy about stuff like that.Let the remarks fly.
Thanks Jarrod
JG

I've used this stuff for several years and have found it to be very good, with a fine smooth finish and a armorall type of shine when finished.

http://www.novuspolish.com/index.html

Acme racer swears by Wenol. It's german stuff. I bought some but haven't tried it
yet....

I bought mine in Daytona, but he said you can get it at motorcycle shops. Works great on yellowed lights he said.

Everyone has that "something special" that they swear by.

Wenol
Zynol
Mequires
Pinnacle
Wolfgang
Auto Magic
3M
etc......

The point is, you need to remove the oxidation, polish the "new" plastic so it is smooth, and then protect it from further UV damage.