Plastic Headlight Lens Repair

[Veero 1]

Well I've picked a Subaru Legacy and it's got plastic headlight lenses. Unfortunately a previous owner painted DIY eyebrows on them and did a fairly crap job of it with runs all over the place.

 

Turns out Nitromors (even in small quantities) makes a real mess of plastic. It seems to make the surface layers of the plastic go a bit porous-like so now there's a few marks and small patches all over it. generally the surface condition of the lens is relatively good.

 

So my questions is this: Is there a mechanical way to remove these deeper marks?

 

I've found using a mouse type sander with a 2000 grit wet and dry pad on is great for getting the surface back to shiny, I reckon with more time, patience and elbow grease I will be able to get it back to mirror finish, but these deep marks refuse to shift. But when using a non-wet and dry pad the plastic gets hot really quickly and I don't want to risk damaging or melting it. Is it just a case of getting much coarser grades of wet and dry? I've started down on 240 grit with a cork block but it just won't get deep enough to take these little porous marks out.

 

Once I've gone up through the grades I was planning on some deep cutting polish to bring it back up to shine.

 

Any advice gratefully received.

Cheers

Veero

Edited October 25, 2010 by Veero

[smithy 1]

I would continue with some coarse paper by hand until they are bearable then work through the grades to get a smooth finish.a bit of g3 will remove the fine paper scratches font forget to use some decent polish with UV protection when finished or the sun will turn them yellow

[Veero 1]

Ah yes good point about the UV protector. Ok looks like I need a few more sheets of coarse wet and dry, fun times ahead...