Half-Arsed Headlight Restoration

[@RogerBaileyOnCars]

A far better result than a real diy half arsed attempt- such as my own previous go at those lights, So a big thank you from me Car Cleaning Guru a top job once again 👍🏼

[@CarCleaningGuru]

I told you using your old undies to buff would only add to the yellowing!

[@Beboroni]

Most of your ‘Half-Arsed’ is my ‘Superb’ 😅

[@canuckfobroader9553]

Right!??!? I wish anything detail oriented I did was as 'half assed" as this, I would be over the moon!

[@benjaminfrohns]

Same 😅

[@petestaint8312]

Agreed! 👍

[@stevenbrown8857]

Mate, love you're vids, voice overs and production. Apart from the skill and dedication they show, they're incredibly relaxing. As a Geordie, I never thought I'd say that to a scouser 😂😂😂

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Listen I used to love watching Byker Grove so it’s all good!

[@devonutopia]

I do love a good restoration but I just use wet sanding paper. Sometimes have to start with 800 grit, working up to 2500 grit, using a small block. Then machine polish and apply a UV sealant (meguiars)

[@georgina_gsm]

I’ve used that Cerakot kit on two family cars now and both times been really impressed with results

[@indetailcarcaresolutions3770]

I swear by the Cerakote kit. I haven’t had a failure yet. My clients are stunned Ido no machine polishing when replenishing with the Cerakote. Lloyd

[@JimmyJ26]

Absolutely great video. It's certainly will give the beginner confidence to move forward in doing their headlamps. In my experience working up from approximately 600 to 2,000 grit wet sandpaper and then some polishing compound on my foam buffing pad. Then a wipe down with alcohol and a tack rag. Lastly a final coat of lacquer, 2000 grit wet sand and finish polish/wax works best for me however these kits seem extremely convenient. Thanks for the effort you put into all your videos.

[@Epicmadnesslol]

Somehow - - I feel nostalgia seeing this video. Reminds me of your "Dodgy Detailing Products" one haha, we need more of those!

[@MrBigMalT]

The Cerakote did a great job, and I really like the fact the clear sealant was simply wiped on. In contrast, I could see a DIYer like myself causing havoc with the Holts aerosol approach! Nice vid, cheers 👍

[@RichieRouge206]

Absolutely love MR2s. Need to do my headlights again - £350 per side is way too much for new ones. Great and informative video fella

[@skodakatie7341]

Both methods produced great results, those headlamps looked very acceptable, on camera. Great video, as always, I really enjoyed watching it😊.

[@gamestree5318]

Turtlewax headlight restorer and sealant 2in1 works wonders, comes in a green bottle about £7

[@SteveLBMK]

Always a pleasure to get a notification that you have posted a video, Joe, seemed that you did an excellent job all things considered!

[@daylen577]

I like how you restore headlights that look 10x better than my headlights already lol. Great work as always

[@raftonpounder6696]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@spynena]

Beautiful job!! I continue to learn so much from your video's excellent work.

[@nekite1]

Nice to see two products compared. After seeing this, I think I'll get the Cerakote kit for my CR-Z. The headlamps aren't bad, just a little bit of cloudiness here and there, but I want to sort them before they get too bad.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

The indicator ‘notch’ makes the sanding a bit awkward if it’s being done on the car unfortunately.

[@nekite1]

@@CarCleaningGuru I think that is the reason why I am inclined to use the Cerakote kit as it doesn't need any mechanical aids. As previously mentioned, my headlights aren't that bad (the car has less than 60k on the clock and was obviously garaged).

[@Joolz1982]

I usually just get the 1000, 2000, 3000 grit sand paper out. When I did this on my old 2004 Celica and used drill with soft cloth rotation pad and polish after if I remember rightly. Thanks for showing these products first one looked pretty amazing.

[@benj2101]

Great video! Well timed for me as I just used the holts kit last week. I made the mistake of taking the headlights out of the car (as I was removing the lenses to clean inside), and would have probably had more success if they'd have been held in place more firmly. I still thought it did a decent job, but was also surprised that it wasn't a lacquer and that I'd have to buff off!

[@NokorUK]

Perfect timing, as I was going to do a wet sand on my MR2 over the next few weeks! Brilliant results here.

[@stewills9711]

Wet sand with 800 grit, then 1200, then 2000. Alternate your cut direction. Then with a 2500 circle sand (wet) then use clearcoat. 1 gripper, 1 'wet' will last longer than any headlight restoration kit from the likes of meguirs etc.

[@ColmJones]

Great video, as always. I could watch your videos all bloody day. Details are brilliant

[@anthroism26mc]

Just used a Meguiar's kit (albeit with some extra 800 grit) to restore my friend's headlights on his 2012 Civic Si. Plastx is a great compound, we'll see how the protective compound works! (probably not too long lol)

[@decker0373]

I guess you weren't happy with the content but I enjoyed it. Love the MR2, I genuinely think they could make that now and it will sell. All the best. 👍

[@1974kenm]

I have the same car with the same headlights and the same issue. The micro-fracturing and the delamination was on the inside of the lens. You can put the headlight in the oven, warm it up slightly, pull the lens off the top and then polish inside. But I opted it to just replace the headlights altogether.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Yeh headlights in the oven is a step too far for me!

[@Jamie-Evo]

That dudes driveway is mint.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Apart from the plastic sludge stains I left on it!

[@paultaylor9652]

Beautiful car, and well done on restoring them in situ. Tell the owner he needs some new screws in that front number plate though.

[@judebrown2672]

Fascinating seeing the difference. Like the idea of none mechanical kits.

[@WasterSpace-tt2np]

‘Bastardise’! Taking your already impressive vocabulary to the next level! Thanks for the laugh Joe, brilliant!!

[@WelshVilliageDad]

Love it .

[@chinezyxx]

Very cool job !! Awesome results !

[@Frozsen1994]

I have the same issue with my cordless minipolisher, which is of a different brand, but everything else looks the same as yours. It sometimes cuts out, when i push down on it. My polisher seems to love newly charged batteries, but hate batteries thats been sitting for a week.

[@5084204]

I'm doing mine tomorrow. Decided to go the traditional route - wet: 800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000, RO meguiars 105, menzerna 2500, sonax np 03-06.

[@samhunt8240]

I've used the Turtle Wax kit before with good results, it is all elbow grease required and was pretty cheap.

[@anthonywhite721]

Holts that’s a blast from the past

[@rum_addict6667]

I've been watching all your videos learning how to clean and detail properly so I can make my van look like new. Yesterday I spent 7 hours cleaning inside and out, this morning I came out to find my van looking like it's been driving through the desert covered dirt spots from a five minute rain. Suffice to say I am fuming! How do you deal with the British weather when cleaning all these cars?

[@ReDsHorde]

11:00 I see you linked the short in the description but in that video I can't see turtle wax hybrid compound being used, it's not in the description either. Also, would I still need something like the plast-x? I'm a bit confused, I have a little bit of yellowing on my cr-z too, and I wondered if some fine grit sandpaper, TW hybrid compound and flex wax would be all I need to restore it

[@CarCleaningGuru]

In my experience the 1&Done compound will be more capable than the dedicated plastic polish but either should work after a light sand and yes the wax will protect it but only for so long so you will have to keep it topped-up.

[@ReDsHorde]

@@CarCleaningGuru Thank you for the answer! The TW compound is quite a big bottle so I keep wondering what else can I use it for, since I only have one car to work on. Perhaps glass, with decently abrasive pad? What a great coincidence that this channel has so many cr-z videos now that I bought one and I'm trying to detail it as well as possible

[@YehoodToob]

A fabulous video! Thank you

[@ryanmcquitty5604]

I actually used mags aluminium polish with some drill pads for cleaning mine. Works great.

[@SomeMadRandomPerson]

Love old skool DIY content like this Joe 😎👌🏻

[@antho824]

i was litteraly going to use this exact cerakote kit right when you uploaded the video xD

[@CarCleaningGuru]

It’s pretty popular from what I can see.

[@cg7856]

Nice vid guru

[@RoobehTunes]

I just used an orbital polisher, some cutting compound and a layer of fusso coat on my headlamps. Works as well as what's here. I tend to recoat them every 6 months as they get heated up and I don't know how well the fusso works on plastic! But we'll enough not to have to keep cutting them back again!

[@piovo1]

I’ve found fusso doesn’t really like plastics but if I was you I’d buy a cheap Chinese ceramic coating and use that as mine lasted almost a year with that on.

[@alanmac101]

I've used my polishing pads with various grades of compound depending on bad oxidation was, then finishing with chemical guys headlight restorer which has uv inhibitors in it to help prevent future damage. I usually can get both headlights done with 20 mins using my da polisher. Headlights have to be extremely bad to have to break out sanding disks.

[@petebaja2690]

A great video and of interest to me as I have a red 05 MR2 just like the one in the video, my nearside headlight is worse than the offside as that one was replaced when a cack handed mechanic broke the headlight adjuster. The Cerakote kit looks like the one to go for, the Mk3 MR2's are under rated and only getting their due recognition now (although EVO magazine rated them highly in a comparison test back in the day against the Mk1 Elise and Mk2.5 MX5) Great handling cars as they float over rough undulations which is a factor given the state of the roads these days.

[@MattTester]

I recently did the lights on my 2012 MX-5 with the Auto Glym restoration kit, followed by an application of their Extra Gloss Protection sealant. Very messy but as it's a white car I didn't have to worry too much about spots and I'm very happy with the results. I used an 18V right angle drill and it works much better than a standard drill, not quite a rotary polisher but not too far off. A right angled die grinder would've probably worked even better.

[@SunnyJim93]

Yeah I think the Autogylm kit is the most comprehensive that I could see. They've made the headlights on my old Discovery so much better.

[@markhouston3404]

Bigges thing with these kits is the longevity. Owned lots of vw so i have the experience 😆 best thing is flatten and then 2 coats of laquer.

[@hemibell]

I'm about to attempt this. Is aerosol clearcoat (not 2k) going to work after 800 grit wet sand?

[@markhouston3404]

@hemibell get 2k, you can get it in a tin. 1k wont last long, its quite soft. I only sanded upto 400, the laquer smooths it well

[@BodenM]

yep this is the approach I use, typically I find sanding them up to ~600 grit or so works pretty well, and then one spray can of 2K clear is enough for two coats of clear with some left over on most headlights. Requires basically zero after care unlike most of the sealant or coating methods and the cost is pretty similar to a headlight restoration kit anyway.

[@hemibell]

@@markhouston3404 i don't have a paint gun. Also I hear a lot, especially on this channel, that 2k is bad for headlights? Plus the cans have to be used in one go. Thanks for the reply

[@markhouston3404]

@hemibell you can get 2k in a can. Its just clear coat so great for headlights if the prep works been done. Yeah after a day or 2 the tin will gum up. But once prep work is done, do a light coat of laquer, wait 20 mins and then do a proper coating. Most the problems come from trying to put too much on with the first coat

[@michaelskinner896]

For me, it depends on the condition of the lens as to how I'm going to approach the restoration. Lightly oxidized lenses can generally be cleaned up with single or 2-stage polishing. With heavier oxidation, I'll sand first then follow up with polishing. I haven't ever used a dedicated kit for this though.

[@Jakob.n.h180]

I do a lot of car washing for my dad my step dad and my grandad I do a really detailed wash learning from the best which is you hahaha great video as always

[@JRGRAY-33]

Cracking commentary and video. 👍🏾

[@CyanRogue759]

I used the autoglym headlight restoration kit. Worked a treat on the 3 cars I used it on. Pretty much the same as the holts one but better 😂 great vid as usual 👍

[@danwillington6491]

Do you have any videos on cleaning a suede/alcantara steering wheels?

[@HairpinMagazine]

Interesting video, as always. How much time did it take to finish the job, an hour per headlight?

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Too much time but then I’m messing about with cameras!

[@HantsLeo]

Top Tip about turning the lights on, I didn't think of that 🙈

[@liberty0758]

I use Mother's metal polish paste. My headlights aren't that bad and don't require sanding, so just polishing them with a cordless drill and pad attachment once every few months works for me. Even in harsh Australian sun. One tub of the paste can last for years...

[@NoOnesIdea]

Amazing as always.

[@jorowi]

I've used both chemical and abrasive kits. I prefer the chemical approach. Some headlights are so weirdly shaped (likethe ones on my Prius) that the best approach is just to dump $200 on aftermarket assemblies.

[@groberto8164]

Tried the Holts kit and not a good result. Could be my effort thats at fault though. How long do you sand each grades for ? I may not have done enough.

[@VeteranHeadlightPro]

Nice work.

[@brayerip]

Hiya mate, was looking into a kit for my car recently, but not sure if it's fully necessary as there's no haze, just a very slight yellow tint, would you recommend going through all the trouble of knocking it back with sandpaper or do you think just polish would suffice?

[@TimMSUK]

In my experience if you catch the yellowing early enough a medium grade compound like koch chemie f6 on a microfibre finishing pad is all you need. Then protect with a dedicated headlight protectant after an alcohol wipedown.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Tbh I generally just polish to get them 80% there. Worth trying before committing to buying the other stuff.

[@leedsunited007]

is the oxidation wipe really necessary?

[@ItsMeYourRealDad]

What did you use in the spray bottle? I use p&s absolute rinseless diluted at 256:1 for wet sanding and it works great! Much better than just water

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Just water, I usually use Autosmart Reglaze though.

[@itsevansxx2299]

Love the bullie tattoo on the hand. I have 2 ❤

[@kamilianos]

I caught my oxidation early and all I needed was TurtleWax head light polish compound. My car is 10 year old, also Japanese. On my old Astra H , I had to sand the lights , then clear coat them. They were too far gone anyway.

[@iPCGamer783]

Best product to get stubborn tar spots off the paint work?

[@razorsz195]

Ended up using a Bosch Orbital sander on my Brother's Clio headlights going from 1000 up to 4000, since the 00s clios suffer so much from oxidation i just spent more time to cut it back and get that smoothness with a high grit sandpaper, quick bit of T-cut to smooth some hard to reach bits and a UV coating and they turned out brilliant..then hes only gone n bought some angel eyes with the same issue so looks like i'll be looking into a different methiod this time though since that orbital sander was a bit too big and was a tad nackered with pads slipping. So i might just find a velcro puck (Or hey one of those arcade air hockey pucks 😂) and just buy some foam backed sanding pads to cut ta shape and do the process by hand since i much prefer it that way. The sandpaper set cost me £4 vs £30 of the cerekote kit :)

[@cnat_sepll]

Would i follow the same steps for glass headlights?

[@CarCleaningGuru]

No, glass headlights wouldn’t/shouldn’t oxidise like this but if they did need polishing would be best going with a dedicated glass polish.

[@cnat_sepll]

@@CarCleaningGuru thanks for the response 👍

[@dvddmc]

Have used the turtlewax headlight restore on my car lasts about a year will have to do it again.

[@tchinounitchou]

can you ppf headlight over these products?

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Yes but it would be best to just PPF a naked lens then protect the PPF to make it easier to clean.

[@markopolo9936]

I’m feeling smug as mine are glass 👍 if only brands would stop cheaping out and go back to glass, wouldn’t need to faff about with this every other year. 🤷‍♂️

[@keithroberts5611]

There's a good reasons why car manufacturers changed to plastic headlights first safety and secondly polycarbonate is three times stronger than glass weight for weight, Cheaper to make, Look at modern headlights around you!! It would be impossible to mold such extreme shapes!!!from Glass!!

[@Beer_Dad1975]

If this is half-arsed, then my own work is quarter-arsed! My wifes old Toyota, which I have to admit, I neglect to spend much time or effort on - I just hit it with my full sized DA, foam pad and some single stage polish and ceramic coating each year before it goes off for its annual inspection - I don't even bother masking it up I'm so lazy! They look fine from 10 feet, considering the car is 21 years old and has sat in the elements for most of its life - and most importantly are certainly safe... but I probably should make an effort to do something more permanent. My Lexus's lenses look like brand new despite it being 15 years old now - combination of the car being garaged most of the time, and me being pretty fussy about keeping a good layer of ceramic on it. Had a guy with the same model park next to me once and ask me how I got them so clean (his were very yellow and dingy) - I said I've just always kept them that way - but did give him some advice on what to do.

[@keithroberts5611]

I think you did a great job on these headlights!! Clarity and shine💯 Better than before, It must be understood your chosen kit are for light oxidation only? Heavy oxidation uv damage + Old cracking thick clearcoat requires a more aggressive kit, There's many to choose from!! My preferred kit is 3M restoration kit as they include both wet and dry kits, The instructions are fool proof if followed properly!! My choice of clearcoat is Meguiars as used by professionals, Keep away from 2k max which last a long time, But when refurbishing comes around again which it will beleave me a nightmare to remove and could permanently damage the polycarbonate lens!!🤔😊🫡🇬🇧👍

[@KyleBrook]

Im petrified to restore my MX5's lights cause i really dont wanna mess them up by sanding them and making a mistake/missing a spot or something. That aside, you did an amazing job here

[@CarCleaningGuru]

There’s not much that can go wrong with 2000/3000 hand sanding providing everything is clean and there’s no stray bits of grit knocking about.

[@1stfrompuertorico568]

Nice!!!

[@pigeonpoo1823]

I believe you've misspelled 'First'😅

[@1stfrompuertorico568]

@pigeonpoo1823 😁😁😁no, I was in church, so I was going to watch later

[@purpletrance9874]

"Clearly" the Cerakote kit was less hassle.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Don’t be so transparent.

[@purpletrance9874]

😂

[@P5ykoOHD]

The crosshatch of lines only means your higher grit paper didn't remove the lines from the grit prior, meaning you didn't do the 3000 properly ... that's how sanding works.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Yeh I get that I just think for diy jobs like this where people aren’t likely gonna be as scrupulous with the sanding as they should be then cross hatch probably isn’t the best advice.

[@sheffcitys2forgedinsteel255]

You redesigned the uprising tattoo on your left hand at 11:47 Or am I way off the mark, Probably don't even know what uprising is 😂 could be wrong tho

[@CarCleaningGuru]

It’s a “bull & crossbones” but it does need tarting up to make it look a bit less shit.

[@sheffcitys2forgedinsteel255]

@CarCleaningGuru okay, I thought it was the emblem for uprising a hardcore event from the 90s,

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Just googled it, Dj Sy amongst others, think he was behind the later Cheeky Trax white label I’ve got loads of on vinyl haha.

[@sheffcitys2forgedinsteel255]

@CarCleaningGuru lucky you, They be worth something now them, never mind in 20 /30 years time, Brings back some wicked memories of some great nights man

[@BenHur872]

I'd like to see whether the Ceracote kit's protection lasts long enough to justify its claims. My suspicion is that it'll only last a few months before showing signs of degradation again.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

I reckon it will outlast most protectants but no way it’s permanent.

[@l228spn]

I have a proper old school MR2, with proper glass headlights, so I don't need to do this. My RS however.......

[@ad_182_uk]

Yikes, that mini polisher in rotary mode clearly is not fit for purpose. AB need to sort that.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

To be fair this is the older model and I used it on my headlight today with the smaller one inch rotary pad which worked fine so not sure what’s going on with it 🤷‍♂️

[@mrdewy]

Rear nearside tyre of the mr2 on the wrong way round

[@CarCleaningGuru]

I think I thought the same as I had these tyres in my C30.

[@subarubrat]

Great work, it looks tip-top.👍👍👍 Cool car too.👍😎

[@dirkdingle7926]

Wish you posted this about 3month ago,bought the meg kit what a load of crap,did my n/s headlight got it spot on done the o/s headlight and a fly decided to land on it so rubbed it down again applied lacquer then one of them flying balls of fluff decided to land on me headlamp done it again went inside for a brew starts raining give up at this point,then seen the n/s headlamp had runs in it so bought a new car instead was cheaper🤣 but that cerocote kit looks mint think I’ll get one for the car that’s been in the garage now for 2month collecting dust and my k2 decided to fall of the shelve and put a nice big dent in me car 🤮

[@Mr.Reflex84]

Just like your youtube channel bro.

[@simonburns102]

Cataract inflicted 😂😂.

[@gaspump]

I might... might just sell my ridiculous car to do a Mister 2 with a 2zz engine swap.

[@Southghost5997]

One cheek is clearly enough

[@Southghost5997]

Mister 2 😂

[@JammNickk]

Arm & hammer toothpaste 🤫

[@ilikechickensausages2075]

Hey Guru have you had some dental work done? Your voice over was different.

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Haha no my video camera is broken so had to use the shitty selfie camera on the front of my phone.

[@ade2551]

Total waste of time and doesn't last. To keep the yellowing at bay you need to remove all the rubbish as per this video, and get them clear coated properly. Otherwise the yellowing will be back in weeks

[@CarCleaningGuru]

Clear coating is the best approach for sure but so long as you keep protection topped up it can last. I did mine over a year ago and aside from one small patch that needs a light polish they still look crystal clear.