2000 Es300 Foglight Restoration
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After 11 years the foglights on my Es have become very pitted by rocks and such, so I decided to sand the headlights down to a like-new state.
Products Used:
100 grit sandpaper
320 grit
800 grit
1000 grit
2000 grit
Meguiars plastic polish
Black and Decker buffer
Meguiars Cleaner Wax
2-3 hours time
Bench Vise
Step One: Put your headlight in the bench vise and tighten it just enough so it won't move around when your sanding.
Step Two: Sanding using 100grit on a sanding block to make sure you don't cause any flat spots in the plastic. This is where most of the plastic will be removed and a little effort will be need to sand out all of the pits, and some may not even be removable because of how deep they are.
Step Three: Sand using 320 grit until the 100 grit marks are gone. Spend a lot of time on this grit as it is important so that you can get the deeper scratches out that the 100 grit will leave behind.
Step Four: Wetsand using 800 grit paper until the scratches become finer
Step Five: Wetsand using 1000 grit paper until scratches become finer
Step Six: Wetsand using 2000 grit paper until the scratches become almost non-existant. It will still be dull after using 2000 grit, but the polish and wax will take care of that.
Products Used:
100 grit sandpaper
320 grit
800 grit
1000 grit
2000 grit
Meguiars plastic polish
Black and Decker buffer
Meguiars Cleaner Wax
2-3 hours time
Bench Vise
Step One: Put your headlight in the bench vise and tighten it just enough so it won't move around when your sanding.
Step Two: Sanding using 100grit on a sanding block to make sure you don't cause any flat spots in the plastic. This is where most of the plastic will be removed and a little effort will be need to sand out all of the pits, and some may not even be removable because of how deep they are.
Step Three: Sand using 320 grit until the 100 grit marks are gone. Spend a lot of time on this grit as it is important so that you can get the deeper scratches out that the 100 grit will leave behind.
Step Four: Wetsand using 800 grit paper until the scratches become finer
Step Five: Wetsand using 1000 grit paper until scratches become finer
Step Six: Wetsand using 2000 grit paper until the scratches become almost non-existant. It will still be dull after using 2000 grit, but the polish and wax will take care of that.
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Step Seven: Apply the Meguiars plastic polish to the lense and let dry for about 5 minutes, then buff off using a power buffer for best results, but hand buffing should work too. I repeated this step twice for better results.
Step Eight: Apply the Meguiars cleaner wax to the lense and let dry, then buff off using power buffer for best results. I also repeated this step twice for the best results.
Step Nine: Clean up all the water or polish left around the foglights.
Step Ten: Re-install and admire your new looking shiny foglights![Thumb Up](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif)
The second to last photo is a comparison photo, refinished on top, original on bottom. The other two are both finished shots
Step Eight: Apply the Meguiars cleaner wax to the lense and let dry, then buff off using power buffer for best results. I also repeated this step twice for the best results.
Step Nine: Clean up all the water or polish left around the foglights.
Step Ten: Re-install and admire your new looking shiny foglights
![Thumb Up](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif)
The second to last photo is a comparison photo, refinished on top, original on bottom. The other two are both finished shots
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By oem casings you mean buying brand new foglights? I'm thinking the difference in cost would be ALOT seeing as this only cost me about 3 dollars as I had everything but 2000 grit already. If you were to buy everything besides the buffer it would probly only be about 20$ and I'm sure the foglights are over 100$ a piece.
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Wow thanks for the info MrBooby! Makes me feel even better! And @gray_es300 yeah im sure there are simplier ways to get lesser results like you said, but this method gave me, imo, great results! Definitely worth the time, effort, and money.
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*bookmarks thread*
Holy wow - my fog lights are not as bad as yours, with some elbow grease and time this will be worth the effort. I nearly bought new lights a few weeks back and gasped when the parts guy told me it would be nearly $400 for a set.
Holy wow - my fog lights are not as bad as yours, with some elbow grease and time this will be worth the effort. I nearly bought new lights a few weeks back and gasped when the parts guy told me it would be nearly $400 for a set.
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will post pics of how to remove foglights on sunday when I get back, stay tuned! Can also post pictures of how to remove front and rear bumpers, and lower door moldings since I will but putting those all back on the car on monday. If anyone is interested let me know!
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Here you go.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...7-99-more.html
Last edited by Hayk; 08-17-11 at 10:48 AM.
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