$7 faded sail panel fix!
AutostradaVR4
09-27-2009, 07:42 PM
A few days ago i just woke up with this idea in my head. Use a lexan headlight restoring kit on the plastic sail panel window. I bought the cheapent one Advanced Auto had..."Turtle Wax Headlight Clarifying Kit", $6.99. It has 4 stages of abrasive pads, sanding lubricant, and a rubbing compound.
The results are jaw-dropping. Here's the difference after JUST the rubbing compound, so sanding or anyhting...just rub on and buff off...you can see there's still some spots of discoloration towards the tom and it's still a bit hazy
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee190/blinkra182/misc251.jpg?t=1254093527
and after sanding and re-buffing with the compound:
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee190/blinkra182/misc256.jpg?t=1254094050
pics dont do justice...it looks like tinted glass, just like it was designed to.
I actually went a step further and sanded all the grey off the surrounding lip, so it looks like a black rubber seal like it's supposed to. Only used the first 2 stages on that though...didnt want it too shiny. Looks good, but dont have pics of that yet.
Dont get to carried away with the 1st stage sanding pad...just do it enough to get off any discoloration. The more you hit with this, the longer each successive stage will take to get out all the marks left by the one before it. If your panels are just faded and you dont really have and discolored spots, i'd try skipping the 1st stage.
This will take you anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours, depending on how much of a perfectionest you are. Once you wet the panel you can't see the imperfections or spots that need more sanding. It probably took me 10 minutes to get them to ~90% perfect (just using the rubbing compound) and another 3 hours to get the next 8%.
I'll post up more pics when i get them on the car in a couple weeks.
I also plan to wax them to keep them protected
The results are jaw-dropping. Here's the difference after JUST the rubbing compound, so sanding or anyhting...just rub on and buff off...you can see there's still some spots of discoloration towards the tom and it's still a bit hazy
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee190/blinkra182/misc251.jpg?t=1254093527
and after sanding and re-buffing with the compound:
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee190/blinkra182/misc256.jpg?t=1254094050
pics dont do justice...it looks like tinted glass, just like it was designed to.
I actually went a step further and sanded all the grey off the surrounding lip, so it looks like a black rubber seal like it's supposed to. Only used the first 2 stages on that though...didnt want it too shiny. Looks good, but dont have pics of that yet.
Dont get to carried away with the 1st stage sanding pad...just do it enough to get off any discoloration. The more you hit with this, the longer each successive stage will take to get out all the marks left by the one before it. If your panels are just faded and you dont really have and discolored spots, i'd try skipping the 1st stage.
This will take you anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours, depending on how much of a perfectionest you are. Once you wet the panel you can't see the imperfections or spots that need more sanding. It probably took me 10 minutes to get them to ~90% perfect (just using the rubbing compound) and another 3 hours to get the next 8%.
I'll post up more pics when i get them on the car in a couple weeks.
I also plan to wax them to keep them protected
quackmandude
09-27-2009, 08:42 PM
noted, thanks man
SAMSUNG-SGH-I617/1.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.6)
SAMSUNG-SGH-I617/1.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.6)
VR43000GT
09-27-2009, 10:06 PM
Well done. :thumbsup:
I am going to have to give this a try!
I am going to have to give this a try!
sLADe781
09-28-2009, 12:35 AM
Awesome work bro!!!
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