Outline
As the lenses of the plastic headlight get old, the colour gets yellow and distorts the original colour. The headlights also get scratches and distort the light output on the headlight. You can remove the scratches with a headlight restoration kit. Scratches that get deeper are more likely to be removed.
Scratch Removal Steps
The following steps are needed to remove scratches from the headlights of your bike:
Step 1
Run your fingers in the headlights, and if you feel scratches, check on step 2. If you do not feel any sort of scratches, just do the polishing part and proceed to step 4.
Ste p 2
Soak out the sandpaper in a water bucket for about 10 minutes. Take a piece of 1000 grit sandpaper and wrap it around a sanding block. Wet down your headlights and start sanding them with blocks, remember to keep the surface wet with the hose. If you are going to sand the plastic surrounding the scratches, you can eventually polish out the complete scratch. For better visuality, you want the area around the scratches to be dull.
Step 3
Repeat step 2 with 2000 grit sandpaper then with 3000 grit sandpaper. You want uniform dullness around the area and at this point, you shouldn’t be able to catch a nail on the original scratch.
Step 4
Put the buffing wheel into the drill. Apply a quarter-sized dollop of polish including the kit on to the buffing wheel and hence apply it to headlights lenses. Turn the drill on and slowly word the polish around the whole surface area of the headlight until it achieves a uniform appearance.
Then wipe off any sort of dried polish using a macrofibre towel and see if the lens surface has got any other scratch. If you find any, repeat step 4.
Always Keep in Your Mind
Wet sanding is not a fun process and it can be felt tedious at times because you never know when you will be finished for the surface. But if you can get a uniform finish, then it is okay to move to the next step. You can also sand the full surface area just to make it at the same level, but keep in mind that you don’t scratch the painted finish. So, it is okay if you use masking tape on the sides so that they don’t get scratched too.
Things to Have
- Bucket with water
- Sanding block
- 1,000-, 2,000- and 3,000-grit sandpaper
- Hose and water source
- Headlight restoration kit
- Drill
- Microfiber towels
The Bottom Line
With the passage of time, the headlights of the bike get old. The colour of the light can become faded and yellow. It also distorts the original colour. The additional problem with the headlight is if you use the headlights for some time the scratches might appear. Some time is required to remove the scratches. By following the above steps you can remove the scratches to make the headlights of your bike look like the new one.
Sources:
1. Use Toothpaste to Fix Car Body and Headlight Scratches – Post by lifehacker.com
