# Lacquering headlights - how?



## Franzpan (Mar 2, 2009)

I've seen a few articles where people have lacquered their headlights after restoration. I don't get how this works though - surely if you have sanded and polished the headlight to a flawless finish then the lacquer has nothing to grip on to?

Am I missing something? Is there a specific lacquer for plastics perhaps?


----------



## Sicskate (Oct 3, 2012)

Yep, you're missing something 

You can sand the headlights down, but you don't polish them up. 

A good lacquer will cover 500grit sanding marks.


----------



## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

The other approach would be to apply a quartz coating to your perfectly polished headlight. Gtechniq C5 or Carpro DLUX should bond nicely to the plastic.


----------



## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

I've never been convinced about lacquering the lights, I put 3M clear protection on mine 2 years ago and not only are they still nice & clear but it protects the cover against stone chips as well


----------



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Sicskate said:


> Yep, you're missing something
> 
> You can sand the headlights down, but you don't polish them up.
> 
> A good lacquer will cover 500grit sanding marks.


Could you finish down with a higher grit and still lacquer the lights? presume as long as there's some key it should bond. I Did the headlights on the Citroen c3 my mum has few years back and protected with Gyeon Trim, the havent gone hazy like before but look to have a yellow tinge to them


----------



## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Christian6984 said:


> ...... havent gone hazy like before but look to have a yellow tinge to them


AFAIK headlights are covered with a UV resistant lacquer to stop them yellowing. If you take that coating off then you have to replace it with a like-for-like coating. Hence 'proper' headlight lacquer kits seem expensive compared with 'normal' lacquer.


----------



## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

squiggs said:


> AFAIK headlights are covered with a UV resistant lacquer to stop them yellowing. If you take that coating off then you have to replace it with a like-for-like coating. Hence 'proper' headlight lacquer kits seem expensive compared with 'normal' lacquer.


The 3m film does the same job as mine haven't yellowed at all.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## WRussellE39 (Sep 13, 2016)

I did mine with Gyeon Trim after a full rub down and polish back. Still going strong and crystal clear. 




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## justinio (Jun 24, 2013)

It's actually very easy. Have a look here


----------



## waqasr (Oct 22, 2011)

Just think of it as clear coating paint. Similar to a flow coat where you flat the clear coat down with ~1500 grit and then re clear for a much flatter gun finish.

So yea you dont polish, you just sand it down and then clear coat. You can clear coat on a surface sanded upto 2000 grit and it will adhere fine.


----------



## markymarkh (Sep 28, 2015)

Could I apply gtechniq c1 as a sealant not sure as it's designed for glass not polly carbonate


----------



## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

I have read that C1, C4 and C5 are all quite similar (if not the same actual stuff in different bottles) and can be substituted for one another.


----------



## robwils (Nov 17, 2013)

justinio said:


> It's actually very easy. Have a look here


Anyone done this ?


----------



## MagpieRH (May 27, 2014)

markymarkh said:


> Could I apply gtechniq c1 as a sealant not sure as it's designed for glass not polly carbonate


C1 would be fine, G1 is the glass sealant. Gtech don't recommend using G1 for headlights, suggest you use g5 instead :thumb:


----------

