The only necessary product in the kit I am providing a link to is the coating that requires UV to cure. I will stop by in town today and see if I can find out what it is by itself, since I can't remember. At one time, I thought about selling a similar product, but it was too much work and a big gamble. It is a very good product though. As the above poster stated, anything that is not part of the lens(or becomes a part of it) is just a coating and can chip off. How well it adheres to the lense is really the only difference in most coatings. Clearcoat works well, but this process is better IMO and was made for the application.

http://www.cumberlandproductsinc.com/NewProducts.asp

 

Happy ending................

I was able to purchase a fine quality used unit from a seller on Ebay. Installed and looks great.

Now I too have an extra right headlight, but very cloudy. If anyone's interested in buying it for restoration, I'd be happy to send a picture.

Don

 

And it isn't as effective a UV protectant as the original, and it depends on which clear you use. ... but, it's better than nothing.

I wonder if an adhesion promoter would be a problem on clear plastic. I'll have to look into that.

Spraying it on too heavy would make it more susceptible to chipping, cracking and peeling.
I think I might try a scratch resistant clear.

What's it called? I work in the auto paint/autobody industry and have never heard of it. That doesn't mean anything - there are a LOT of things out there and I certainly don't run across all of them. I learn something new almost every day, and I've been doing this a long time.

 

Interesting. Is there any reason to believe Illuminator UV coating is anything other than a rattle can of clearcoat? It would need to have all the same properties. Knowing paint companies as I do (I worked for one of the major automotive paint companies for several years), I wouldn't be surprised to learn it's just a repackaged/repurposed product. There is a LOT of that. A good quality, high solids clearcoat would work as well as anything else, I would think.

 

No, it is not clearcoat. I can attest to this. It will bond to the plastic as well as the factory coating did, but it requires heat and UV rays to cure. If you spray this on, leave it inside to dry and check it 24 hours later, it will barely even be tacky. Put it out in hot sund for 4 hours and it is dry enough to drive home in the day. Should be ready for highway miles the following afternoon if you are depending on UV from the sun to cure. This product has much more UV blockers than clearcoat and it bonds better to the plastic lenses. If you really hate getting the right stuff because of expense or just want to try something different, there is another method we haven't mentioned yet and it works pretty well and has a fair amount of UV blockability.
Go to Lowe's or home depot and get UV marrine clear laquer and thinner. If you mix it 1/2 and 1/2 or equal parts, you can also yse this as a coating if applied with a shammy or something that will not leave lint etc. It to does well, but that method has not been tested as long or as much as the spray made for it. Wonderful stuff though.

 

I just bought the 3M kit and used it today...all I can say is WOW!!! My lens were REALLY bad, living in the Arizona sun just cooked them, and the car is garaged! I did the worse one today and it looks like brand new! Like everyone says, it takes quite a while, in fact, I had to get another kit because I ran out of the 500 grit pads, that one headlight was that bad. But if you follow the directions precisely, you'll get very good results!
Jay

 

You know, you didn't have to buy another kit. You could use *any* 500 grit sandpaper.

 

Always nice to here your suggestions Mike.
My headlights are so bad they de-fuzzed the buffing wheel thingy that came with the kit I bought. Time to break out the sandpaper.
Thanks.

 

Yes, but the idea is to get it onto my drill bit thing that comes in the kit. You need a velcro backing type sandpaper, and I needed the drill because it was so badly hazed. Still, 40 bucks vs 800...I call that a good deal!

 

Yeah... Hookit style paper. Probably a weird size disk in the kit. Easy to find 3" or 6" discs at an automotive store. I didn't realize you were sanding with the drill. I did mine by hand. 500 grit on a drill, you're seriously getting into that plastic. Do you run into an issue with melting it? That would definitely clog up your paper faster.

 

Yeah, it's smaller than 3". It would be easy to start to burn if you leave it on one spot too long, so you just got to keep moving it around. But given how badly it was hazed, it really did the job! And yes, it does clog it up more, I extended the life a little bit by brushing it off as much as I could. It still took about and hour to hour and a half to get it good.