Headlight Refurb-any recommendations in W.Mids?

[JOHNC74]

Hi All,

Looking to get my 996 Turbo lights refurbished/refreshed. Anyone had this work done, and ideally a recommendation of companies based in Warwickshire.

John

 

[Shalmaneser]

It might well be worth ringing up some local bodyshops - they will be able to flat and sand the lights then spray with UV resistant laquer. Much longer lasting solution if you can drop the lights off or leave the car with them.

Got the headlights done on my wife's boxster this way for £100; money well spent while it was in for some tidying up.

 

[G-996]

It might be worth considering doing the refurb yourself, I did this on my 996 myself and it was surprisingly straightforward.

First, remove the headlights or tape off the surrounding bodywork with 3M low tack 3434 masking tape.

Then use Meguiars Headlight Restoration kit to remove the oxidation. This consists of 4 grades of sandpaper, a soft rotary buffer that fits on the end of drill, and plastic polish. The idea of taking sandpaper to headlights seemed quite scary, but take your time, follow the instructions, it's pretty straightforward.

Lastly, wipe with 3M Quick Headlight Clear Coat to protect the lenses and slow down future oxidation.

All of these available easily from Amazon etc.

 

[pzero]

Have a read here first before you decide where to take your car.

http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?p=967776&sid=bafe359ea82077cb291300ad82bca221

 

[Wh1t3Kn1ght]

Had mine sanded and clear coated by the body shop who painted my car. They look great and it cost about £100.

 

[martin t]

DIY.

I have refurbished several headlights.

Recently i did my friends Boxster which was very cloudy. All i used was T Cut and they cam up like new.

I did not even need to use a machine, just elbow grease.

The technique is simple;

1. Using a soft mutton cloth and T Cut, rub away covering all areas. This will remove the oxide/opaque coating.
2. Do 1 again, but using fresh muttoncloth. Now the plastic will start to shine
3. Do 2 again and then buff off and the headlight will be like new.

RE sanding the dull coating off:

I had to buy a used headlamp from Douglas vally for my own car. When it arrived not only was it dull but you could detect swirl marks from a previous attempt to refresh the light fitting. That time i used G3 and G10 with a machine and gradually the swirlmark faded, but what was annoying was that all that was needed in the first place was a buff up with a fine
compound and a machine or just my T cut method.

Beware od sanding the plastic headlight.

BTW it took about 10 minutes per headlight to do

 

[JOHNC74]

Thanks for all the advice on DIY. But being incredibly lazy, still looking for recommendations of a decent place to do the work.