How to Restore Buff and Polish Taillight Lamp Lens Assembly
By D.Arredondo

 

Over time the taillights of a classic car or truck may fade and get contaminated with dirt and dead insects. Remedies may vary, depending on the amount of sun damage.

We will focus this article on restoring lightly faded taillight lenses. I will write another article on procedures of how to restore heavily sun faded taillight lenses.

Often times people trying to sell their classic car or truck end up decreasing the value of their vehicle by not taking the time to properly detail it. A clean and well detailed vehicle will bring up its value.

I will describe in detail this buff and polish procedure, using a dirty and slightly faded tail light that I recently recovered off of a tired 1980 Datsun 280ZX at the junk yard. I treat every one of my recovered taillights with this procedure before listing them on this website, or in other marketplaces.

 

MATERIALS
Dawn simply clean dishwasher liquid, Ultra Duster can, one bottle of distilled water, 3 micro fiber cloths, Novus #1 #2 and #3 plastic lens compound and polish, QD Electric Cleaner, 3M 1500 grit, 3M 2000 grit sand paper.

 

Step 1. - Remove the taillight and disassemble it. Remove bezel and wire harness.

Step 2. - Wet sand lens with 1500 grit sand paper, then rinse and repeat with 2000 grit sandpaper. Skip this step if you're taillight lens doesn't have noticeable scratches or fade.

 

Step 3. - Wash plastic light assembly with Dawn Simply Clean dishwasher liquid in a clean bucket of water.

 

Step 4. - Pour dishwasher liquid into the taillights inside bucket and wash away years of dust and dirt trapped inside. Rinse thoroughly.

 

Step 5. - Use water hose to flush out inside bucket of soap, dust and debris.

 

Step 6. - Pour bottle of purified water into light buckets and pour out. The purified water will reduce the chances of hard water spots from building up inside the taillight lens assembly when dry.

 

Step 7. - Towel dry the taillight assembly thoroughly, Use Ultra Duster or air compressor to blow out remaining moisture from the taillights inside bucket. This will speed up the drying process.

 

Step 8. - Apply a generous amount of Novus #3 heavy scratch remover over lens and hand buff with cloth until lens appears polished.

 

Step 9. - If using a buffing wheel do not apply to much pressure or you may risk burning the plastic.

 

Step 10. 11. - Repeat process with clean cloth and Novus #2 fine scratch remover. Apply pressure when hand buffing and try to create friction. The pressure applied by your hand and cloth will trigger the Novus compund to smooth out the plastic surface to a shine.

 

Step 12. 13. - Carefully reassemble your taillights bezel and clean electrical wire harness with QD Electrical Cleaner to remove any dirt that may disrupt the taillights electrical currency.

 

 

Step 14. - With a clean cloth apply Novus number 1 plastic clean and shine and hand polish entire assembly.

 

Enjoy the fruits of your labor. You now have taillights that can pass as new!