Headlight restoration 96 Cobra

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Drsuce

New member
Its my first real write-up so be kind :)



Here's the drivers side OEM headlight from 1996. The UV coating is peeling off and making a mess, the lenses are milky white and it looks like it needs replacing... right? :sad5:

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Another thing with SN95 headlights is they have those stupid little tits on them! You know, the ones that you always crush a finger on when your washing your car? I will be removing them aswell, heres a pic of what i mean

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I used a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to remove the tits. Heres the first pic of the tits shaved off. WARNING: Be very carefull when your using a dremel tool, use eye protection and DO NOT remove too much of the tit. If you go too deep you will NOT be able to sand it out.

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and to the side

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One more for good measure

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The Lenses were then block sanded with 800 grit. Focus on removing the remainder of the tits before you work on the lens. Remove all the factory UV coating and any defects you want gone. Here are some pics having everything completly sanded down with 800 grit



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Tits gone!!!

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Repeat the process with 1000 grit and 1500 grit if you see fit. I left it at 1000 grit as i am able to fully remove 1000 grit marks easily!



Lets polish the lens clear again!

I used my Flex 3401VRG using orange and white pads with 3 diffrent polishes.

I started off with an orange pads with menzerna powergloss.Defects were still vizible so i moved on to a gentler menzerna super intensive polish using a fresh orange pad. The defects are now 100% gone, now all i needed to do was add clerity and some pop. i used my white pad with menzerna P085RD. The results speak for themself. The lens is now clearer than factory, titsless and lookin awesome!



Enjoy!

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Those dots are just dust!

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damn man. i need to get this skill down. 800 gritt that's pretty deep stuff LoL.



What kind of sand paper are you using and do you recommend letting it soak for a bit? I'm assuming that it was wet sanded.
 
Yes, i wet sanded. i used 3M paper and did not really soak it for more than 10 min or so. I would have gone to 600 for the first stage if i had any, fully removing those tits with 800 was ALOT of work. My arm is still on fire!
 
The best part by far is removing those tits... i swear i smash a finger on one EVERY time i washed the car. I did the passenger side last fall before i stored it and absolutly dreaded doing the drivers side! Taking a dremel to a headlight is not an easy task and i did make one small boo boo :( gatta be an autopian to spot it tho! :P
 
well never the less that is a work of art. any tips for a noob when comes to light sanding that is. I can correct paint but not the best at headlights LoL
 
If you can do paint, you can do headlights :) literaly just sand untill they are smooth. The plastic on my housings are good and thick and allowed all the correction i was after. I cant tell you if all headlights are like that though.

This was my 4th headlight ive done. I did my GT winter beater before the winter and they came out great aswell. I might add that they went through an entire canadian winter with no clear on them and they still look like the day i polished em (oh ok maybe a snow scraper mark or 2 :P )
 
My headlights on my GT have some really bad hazing, I really need to do this (just haven't had time) and it will really make the headlights and front end pop again. You can't really even tell that they are smoked lenses (02 GT). You basically saved from having to pay about 150-200 a pair for new headlights.
 
Great job looks like new! I still don't understang how the car makers could have gone w/plastic lights and not expect them to eventually haze up. I think this is a safety issue and they should be responsible for fixing the problem.
 
Very good work. I've done a few in the same fashion and it's always an amazing difference, especially when they're in horrible shape to begin with. Remember to add a few coats of sealant and keep sealing them to protect them from the environment. A shot of clearcoat at a local shop will do wonders.
 
You will have to go a little higher on the grit(2000 maybe?) to finish out with a PC with my experence, but results just as good :) Did my fog lights with the PC & 3" orange pad!
 
Nice write up, I've been thinking of trying this but now I feel more confident I can pull it off.



So I'm assuming those lenses are plastic or acrylic? Would this work the same on glass lenses?



Thoughts.



Josh
 
Yes its a mystic cobra :) 1 of 9 factory "stripped down" cloth cobras painted that color :)



As for sanding a glass lens... im not sure thats a good idea :) I dont know of any existing methods for polishing sanding marks out of glass!



for those wanting a pic of my baby, here it is :) its got diffrent rims on it now (and i dont like em)
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Drsuce said:
Yes its a mystic cobra :) 1 of 9 factory "stripped down" cloth cobras painted that color :)



As for sanding a glass lens... im not sure thats a good idea :) I dont know of any existing methods for polishing sanding marks out of glass!



for those wanting a pic of my baby, here it is :) its got diffrent rims on it now (and i dont like em)
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Click to expand...



So, is it like the GTS model than? No wing and cloth interior? Does it have power options like windows and stuff? I've never seen a mystic with a stripped down option, just the ones with the black leather interior Mach 460 and wing.
 
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