Has any1 actually used novus on zenki lights?

[LiU]

I've tried mother's chrome polish, meguiar's plastic cleaner/polish combo, nail polish... while they do make the lgihts look better, but there's stilla significant amount of yellow fog over the lights. I'm wondering has any1 actually used novus on their zenki lights?

[LiU]

the cheapest price I've found it is on ebay for like $14 shipped for the whole kit 1-2-3. I might try them... my last resort is buying a new set of healight... hmm

[MasterMan]

nail polish works pritty good, u just have to spend some time doing it, or paint thiner, or use a really high grit sand paper like 2000 grit then move to 3000 grit, make shure u use soapy water while sanding.. also normal pain polish works really good also, i use mothers.

[AZhitman]

I like Novus - a lot.

Tyler's right - Start w/2000 grit, then move thru the 3 Novus stages.

Finish off with a coat of protectant like Zaino or FiveStar.

[LiU]

what about just using terry cloth and using novus??so far I've only used terry cloth, haven't used anything else.. maybe I should try scrubbing/rubbing alot harder/longer? heh

[AZhitman]

Try what Tyler said.

I used this on some 88 Mustang hl's that were TOTALLY opaque. Turned out pretty nice.

[LiU]

so... ugo to home depot and buy some sandpaper?? can you just give a lil more (jsut a lil more) detailed ;] I'm totaly new at this stuiff

[andrave]

just use acetone and 1500 grit sandpaper, then rubbing compound.I'd think that would work. make sure you wash the acetone off or it will eat through the plastic.

[AZhitman]

Better to try a body/paint supply store.

OR, swing by your local bodyshop and ask if they have a piece of 2000 and 3000 grit (wet/dry paper), they might just give it to you.

Order the Novus, it's a great deal, and you can use it for other stuff - Works awesome on taillight lenses, corner lamps, gauge cluster cover, all your car's plastic pieces. Makes them look like brand new.

[j-z]

the process i use is far significantly better than any other method. you can send your lights to me and ill do them for $20 each. see the lights in my sig? looks like my car just rolled out from the factory .

[LiU]

actually i don't see the pic hehe....so 2000 grit sand paper? sand the surface of the lights at the same time running soapy water on them?

then after that clean them using mcguiar's 2 step cleaner/polisher??(I couldn't find novus in any of the local places... would order them online but I wanna try using maguiar's first seeing how I just spent $12 buying them) sorry I'm a newbie at this ;]

[Nismo_Freak]

Did they forget to clear your front bumper lights, the center mouth portion is missing some stuff, front lip on a non-SE, and I think they forgot to give you springs

I'm afraid I would send that car back to the factory for the rest of my parts

[LiU]

oh yea... in addition to what I said above... is there an advantage to taking the lights apart and cleaning them inside and outside?

[j-z]

haha smart ***... anyways there is no point in taking the lights apart. its just a weathered film on the outside of the lense.

[LiU]

hmmm well.. I used 600 then 2000 grit... and stupid me I did it in a circular motion for about 1-2 min... then used megauir's cleaner/polish and now the headlight is all hazy and worse off than the noncleaned one... what should I do now? I realize I sohuld've sanded ins traight lines rather than ciruclar motions... what to do now..

[Nismo_Freak]

haha smart ***... anyways there is no point in taking the lights apart. its just a weathered film on the outside of the lense.

Hahah... me?! Never :icesangel

Car looks good BTW... need to get some rimz0rs on it though.

[j-z]

tryin man, believe me theres some nice k1s i spotted in the classifieds. i want to auto-x so bad, but not till i get some decents rims and tires on it first. thanks for the compliment. for more pics see my thread below.

[LiU]

hmm any actual answers ot my questions? should I be sanding alot longer? I'm assuming I can eventually sand down the surface sanded circularly by sanding using linear motions.

[andrave]

gotta sand it out with the fine grit ****, then use some rubbing compound or something1-2 minutes aint enough with the fine grit.

acetone will help take off the high spots but you gotta be careful

[j-z]

or you can just send them to me

[AZhitman]

hmm any actual answers ot my questions? should I be sanding alot longer? I'm assuming I can eventually sand down the surface sanded circularly by sanding using linear motions.

LiU - No offense, but we've answered every question already. These guys told you how to fix them over and over, and I don't think anyone told you that using 600 grit would be OK. Bad idea.

Now - You need to get some 1000 grit, some 1500 grit and finish with the 2000 grit. THEN use the Novus in all three stages.

OR just send them to j-z.

[j-z]

hehe ^^ right on brotha

[LiU]

LiU - No offense, but we've answered every question already. These guys told you how to fix them over and over, and I don't think anyone told you that using 600 grit would be OK. Bad idea.

Now - You need to get some 1000 grit, some 1500 grit and finish with the 2000 grit. THEN use the Novus in all three stages.

OR just send them to j-z.

non taken... I was reading some googled posts and it suggested doing 600 then to 2000, I believe another post here or on another 240 board also mentioned something about moving form 600 to 2000. anyway I was just looking for some confirmation to what I'm doing was right, it's dark now I'll continue polishing it tomorrow, I'm very new at this and I'm having trouble understanding "finishing" it.. I guess when it is clear then it is finished w/ the sanding stage, at which point I should move on to the cleaning/polishing stage.

Right now the light is very hazy and dull, so I'm in need of more sanding tomorrow.

Thanks.

[AZhitman]

Just remember this:

You're using progressively SMALLER grit (higher numbers) to make the "scratches" in the plastic smaller and smaller and smaller.

Then you'll get to the point where grit on paper won't work, so you move on to an abrasive compound (like Novus) starting with the most abrasive and working down to something that has almost no abrasive... This is called "finishing", or polishing.

The lenses will start to look clearer and clearer the further along in the process you get. And a circular motion is OK (better than straight lines).

[LiU]

I don't really plan to buy novus at this point... I'm moving from 2000 grit straight to meguiar (nonabrasive)... I'm thinking I need something in between, maybe an abrasive polishing compoound inbetween?

[Soy]

[LiU]

ok here is what I've done

used 600 grit, then 2000 grit along w/ soapy water... as a result the yellowness is gone but the lense is very hazy and less transparent than before when it is dry (I've noticed that it is clear when there is a filmo f water over it)..

So I went and bout TurtleWax rubbing compound and applied it and the lense is still very hazy/less transparent. Should I try a higher grit such as 3000 and then try the rubbing compound?

[extheflow]

you should start over at 1000grit,then step to 1500,then step to 2000,then step to an ABRASIVE compound.then some plastic polish.it's hard...it's time consuming,if you don't do it your headlights will forever look like they do now.

[LiU]

update (all by hand)ok used 600, 1500, 2000 w/ car soap water until it was transparent w/ a film of water over it.Then used turtle wax rubbing compoound, followed w/ megauir's #10 clear plastic polish.

results:looks stunning, no yellow, clean, clear, great job right??!

the problem:Then I rinsed the headlight w/ water and it seems the polish washed off, because the light became immediately less transparent, foggy (althought NOT yellow).... it is less transparent than the noncleaned one...

any tips would be appreciated! I'm tempted to try waxing the headlights, but I don't want to use that to cover (possible) errors in sanding/polishing.

[SilviaS14KA24DE]

man whats with not listening and always using 600 grit first/?!?! no offense but are you listening? start 1000, 1500, then 2000....