Ok folks, here's the steps to clear out your headlamp all in one thread.
Introduction:
I can't stress enough that you need patience to do this........if you try to rush or cut corners, you will mess up your whole project, which I almost did.
Just take your time, and before you know it, you'll be done. If you sand continuosly, you can get this done in one day......if you are a busy guy like me, then it may take you a week.
I would suggested buying a new or mint condition set of headlamps to work with.........using your old or faded lamps wont do you any good....because when lenses yellow and fade, its deep into the plastic so it will never be clear, no matter how much you sand. I used bronzemaxell's headlamp that he donated, it was faded, but for demonstration purposes it was fine.
You can find brand new headlamps on ebay for around $50 each.
MATERIALS NEEDED
- 1 set of new headlamps
- Thin flathead screwdriver
- 3M brand Sandpaper in the following grades (yes you need all grits):
60 grit
80 grit
100 grit
150 grit
300 grit
600 grit
1000 grit
1500 grit
2000 grit
- 3M Rubbing Compound
- Plastic Polish
- An Oven
All products I bought at either Walmart, Lowes, or Auto Zone.
STEP 1: Heating and removing lense
Pop off the retaining clips on the sides of the lamp, should be about 5 or 6 of them. Take out the bulbs, and if possible, remove all the black plastic mounting tabs......but if you can't, that's ok, you'll just have to make sure they don't touch any heating coils in the oven.
Pre-heat your oven to between 350 and 400 degrees, turn the oven off, then place the headlamp on a cooking sheet with foil underneath the lamp to prevent glue from dripping on the cookie sheet.
After 3-4 minutes, take the lamp out, slowly pry off the lense using the flathead. You may have to repeat this process 2 or 3 times untill the glue softens.
STEP 2: Coarse Sanding
60, 80, and 100 grit are going to be your course sanding grits.......this step is the one that takes the longest for these are the grits that will remove the texture. I suggest wetsanding to make things go by a little quicker.
I suggest you allow 1-2 hours of straight sanding time on each step if you would like to get it out of the way on one day.
you don't really have to sand hard, just steady and evenly, this will save your arm some strength.
^^^^ I'm only sanding the lowbeam section (in yellow) as if a projector were to be used...also to show the difference between the textured and clear side when I'm done. The areas highlighted in red are going to be the areas which require the most sanding because that is where the texture is the deepest, so be prepared.
Once you reach a stopping point, rinse the lense off to see where you are.
STEP 3: Medium Sanding (evening out the roughness)
For this step, you will be using 150, 300, and 600 grit. At this step, you will be evening out the roughness left behind by the course grit paper.
this is what it should look like as you are doing the medium grits:
STEP 4: Fine Sanding
In this step you will be using the 1000 and 1500 grit paper.
this is what the lamps should look like while you are on these grits, as you can see, almost no texture can be seen:
STEP 5: Finishing
You will be using the 2000 grit and Rubbing Compound in this step.
After you are finished with the 2000 grit, the lamp should look like this:
At this point, you should be able to run your finger on the inside and not feel any scratches.
Now its time to use the Rubbing compound which will remove the fine scratches and make the lamp crystal clear.
FINISHED
Here's what the finished product looks like.......of course, if you use a newer lamp, then it will be A LOT clearer then this......also you shouldn't have the imperfections on the sides, that's my bad from using the dremel.
UPDATE:
Here are some pictures of a member who recently sanded theirs 100%......it CAN be done!!
Thanks to Camry92LE for the pictures.........good job!!!
Linear Mode
