Stephen "Rotary Related" cleaned up his tail lights today

I'll be making this write up using his words on facebook


Materials needed:
3M Headlight Restoration kit
sand paper
180 grit
220 grit
400 grit
600 grit
2000 grit
3000 grit (i believe included in the kit

The black is actually paint so be carefull or else you will need to repaint it



"220 grit for tough stuff. Then 400. Then 600. Then 2000. All wet sanded. Then a 3000 pad on a drill still wet. Then 3m scratch remover with a course foam pad. Finally 3m rubbing compound on a fine foam pad. Just buy some sand paper and the 3m headlight restoration kit and you'll have everything you need."

Comparison


as for the 3rd brake light
"On the 3rd brake light I used 180grit to cut the raised dot numbers off.
And worked my way up. As you can tell it came out awesome"



Finished

 

The right tail light looks like a different style it is a deeper red.

 

Its probably because of the angle

 

Or maybe your right

 

Quit winking at the screen and it will look better!..lol!

 

Always a worthwhile project. The difference is night and day and is one of the little things people could do to make the car look a whole lot better.

That 3rd taillight gasket looks like it has seen better days!

 

or if you have a rotary buffer you can skip all the sanding steps and just begin buffing it with a polishing compound.

 

truth

its only plastic its not aluminum really not much need for all that sanding, and as you can see on the s5 lights you can sand the finish right off them

but I do like the idea of sanding the lettering off the lights

 

Where do you get new 3rd light gaskets from?

 

mazda?