Possible to Fix a Scuffed Headlight?
 

Hey guys... I was wondering if you could help me out? My friend recently got into a minor accident with her 2008 Honda Civic, and her passenger side headlight got scuffed. I wanted to know if it is possible to restore it? It is a little deep because when I passed my finger over it, it felt like it was past the glossy layer, so I am unsure if it can be fixed. Could it be sanded and then polished? If I am able to fix the passenger side headlight, do I have to do that to the other one so they look uniform? Thanks. I will post some pics of the damage soon.

sanding it down would make the plastic only thinner and would probably forever be hazed.. Just get some Blue Magic Headlight restore liquid from Local auto store and if that doesnt work then your looking at a new set of headlights.. Get some oem or if your on a budget I know ebay specials are quite affordable..

I heard of this. I hope this helps. i know it's from an integra but it should be the same. i use to have an integra and this works well. Thank you G2ic.com. good luck

The Generation 2 Integra Club and those posting these tips stress that performing these tips/tricks are at your own risk.
No one will be held liable for error / injury but yourself.

Renewing One-Piece Headlights.

You are going to have to remove the lights from your car to do this and it WILL take quite a bit of time and elbow grease. In fact, it's just plain tedious. But here are the steps and things you'll need.

Things you'll need:
1. Bowl of water
2. 2 Sheets 400 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
3. 2 Sheets 600 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
4. 2 Sheets 1000 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
5. 2 Sheets 1500 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
6. Turtle Wax No. 5 (heavy duty/red) rubbing compound
7. Turtle Wax No. 7 (light/white) polishing compound
8. Meguir's Clear Plastic Cleaner
9. Meguir's Clear Plastic Polish
10. Soft terry cloth towels

Steps:
1. Remove lights from car.
2. Use the 400 grit sandpaper and start sanding the surface of the lights lengthwise in only a side to side motion. DON'T CHANGE DIRECTIONS (up/down or circles). At first don't use any water, but add water as the clear coat starts to come off. You'll be able to tell where it is and isn't coming off.
3. Repeat above procedure with the 600 grit sandpaper after all of the clearcoat is removed (use water).
4. Repeat using 1000 grit sandpaper with water.
5. Repeat using 1500 grit sandpaper with water.
6. Now use a soft terry cloth towel to work in the Turtle Wax heavy duty rubbing compound using same side to side motion. Work that in for about 5 minutes and rub clean and dry.
7. Get a new terry cloth towel and work in the Turtle Wax Light Polishing Compound. Work it in for about 5 minutes and wipe clean and dry.
8. Examine the lights and see that all of the clearcoat is gone and that most of the hairline scratches from the sandpaper are gone.
9. If it looks pretty good, apply the Meguir's Clear Plastic Cleaner with a clean terry cloth towel. Work that in until it's clean and dry.
10. Now apply the Meguir's Clear Plastic Polish with the same towel. After being rubbed in thoroughly, use a clean towel and wipe it dry. The light should look close to brand new.

Once again, this is going to take some time as you can probably tell, but the end result is well worth it. If possible, invite a friend over and have him work on one while you work on the other (be prepared to buy him a meal for the favor he is doing for you). Best of luck and let me know if you have any questions. Later.

G2GURU

Pics added.

R3n3sis36... won't removing the clear coat from the light get rid of the protective layer permanently, or is there something you apply to the light to restore the clear coat? Would I have to fix both headlights so they look uniform, or can I just fix the damaged one? Thanks.

saw this thread kinda late, but hope i can still help.

how about cutting through all that bullshit and just using light sand paper and a can of clearcoat enamel?

its easy to do, and you get the coat of clear back... thats what i did when i dropped a clear corner.... and stepped on it. i just sanded it til it was near perfect, and the clear coat will fill in minor scratches.

done...

of course the other method mentioned will also work great. but all the steps in their is removing material i believe...

i just cut thru some steps and layer a coat of clear... adding material back.

either way you go, GL.

sorry bro the method might not work. I thought it would be pretty bad. and yes the clear coat will act as a layer but not in this case. There might be some sort of rubbing compound that might work. Good luk!!!

Yeah that's what I thought as well. The car is probably just going to get those parts replaced, but I still wanted to try something for the hell of it to see if it actually might work.

RICHARD!!!! HA!!!!! i agree with trochoid