has anyone re-finished a set of tail lights before? to remove the swirl effect you get over time on the plastic exterior? would it be possible to wet-sand and clear coat or something to bring em' back to life?
please let me know your experiences if anyone has done such a thing.
thanks

 

polishing compound.
flitz also makes a tail light restoring thing. we sell it at advance autoparts.

 

I have used mothers aluminum polish. They also make a plastic polish which is probably the same thing. There is also flitz. Wet sanding would be a lot of work plus the clear coat would yellow over time. I would just try polishing. When I used the aluminum polish it worked wonders on some hazed headlight lenses.

 

I would just clean them really good using soap and water, rinse them off THOROUGHLY and then clear-coat them. You can also do like a 2000 grit wet-sand if you want.

I've done it a couple times on a couple different sets of tails. The biggest challenge is doing the clear-coat correctly, so that there's no 'wavy' effect or 'dimples'.

If you're using basic, Duplicolor clear, do several light coats, then finish it off with a THICK, full final coat so there's no 'haze' effect. Like, really drench 'em.

It's a night and day difference. You also might want to consider re-painting the black taillight 'housing' if it's faded or scratched too. Be warned though, orange-peel is sometimes hard to avoid on plastic. Be prepared to sand 'em down again if it doesn't turn out right.

Oh, and with the clear you only get one chance (IMO).

 

Meguiars clear plastic cleaner & polish. We sell em for like $10 each, I dunno what they retail for around where you are but they work well.