Kontrax

i saw an ad in the classifides for camaro tail lights. i clicked on it and there was a picture of these lights in great shape and shinny as hell. he said they were just buffed out for the shine. has anyone done this or is this guy just crazy? how do i do it?

Zrated83

iTrader: (17)

Here you go, there are more just do a search.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...lishing+lights

Ozzy88GTA

Not crazy at all, I did the same on my GTA's tail lights. I first used Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish to get the surface polished then I finished it with Blue Magic Plastic & Plexiglass Cleaner (and Light Scratch Remover). Works very well and made them look like new. If you are going to do it be sure to hand buff with very soft cloth. Do not let the compounds dry, instead wipe it dry while it is still wet.
You can use the same technique for shinny interior plastic trim pieces too.

-Ozzy

TunedPort 335

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...olished+lights

So far so good. I get compliments all the time on my tailights, and people asking how I got them so shiny. If you got any specific questions just ask, but the threads posted should answer most of your questions.

Kontrax

NICE lights tunedport, i like i like. im gonna try it, post up some pics when done.

joshp14

You don't need to go through different compounds to get those results. All you need is plastic polishing compound from eastwood and one buffing wheel and either a drill or a bench grinder to put the wheel on. I used the bench grinder and pulled off my tail lights. It took me maybe 45 min to get them as shiny as I liked.

First thing I did was wet sanded those DOT letters down flush with the rest of the tail light using 400 grit. Then put your wheel on the grinder, turn it on, apply compound to wheel, and polish away....



And here is the third brake light on my 95 when I was in the process...notice which side has been polished?

FruityOne

Damn josh. I'm REALLY jealous now! Now i need to go polish my tail lights.

How long do they stay polished? How much upkeep is there?

joshp14

I polished them last December and that picture was taken about a month after I polished them.They still have 'some' shine to them, but now they don't look like did it that picture.

Of course, the polished look goes away each time you wash your car. If you put a good coat of wax on them after you polish, it will stay better looking longer. I did this on my 95 tail lights and they still look good and I did them in June.

So I haven't really kept up with them to keep them looking that good. But If I did, It would prolly need polishing every 6 months.

bnoon

You can use a wood polish to keep them looking freshly polished... something with a good heavy wax buildup works best. Spray it on a rag and wipe it on, just as you would your wood furniture. Once a week with the weekly washing and they'll look new for quite a while longer than without, plus it's easier than a hard car wax to apply.

CamaroFreak85

where do yu get the Eastwood Plastic polishing compound that you guys used on your taillights any info would be nice thanks

joshp14

www.eastwoodco.com

It's the blue compound.

Dark Man C

Here are my 1991 GTA taillights in my 1989 GTA!

QUICKCHICKEN

iTrader: (12)

i use mequires quick wax. it works nicely for about 3-7 washes. but i think Josh has the best method. man that looks slick bro.

StreetRoc85 350

heheh, Thats me. No Im not crazy. Those taillights looked like crap when I started. I was going to get some new ones and I found a decent set at a junkyard but they wanted $60 each. So I cleaned my old ones off as best as I could and hit them with something my dad had called Novus plastic polish 2. It worked great, and although it took me forever (had them in my lap while i watched the simpsons) I eventually got them looking better than new. To top it off I laid down a fresh coat of wax on them, and they looked gorgeous. Seeing as how I no longer have the Iroc, (see signature at bottom) I figured they would be better off looking great on someone elses car rather than sitting in my basement.

I recently picked up a pair of GTA taillights for my bird', they looked even worse than the irocs did when I started but I hit them with some soap and water, then wetsanded with 1000, then 1500, then polished them and finished with wax. They have an absolute mirror finish. Very noticiable difference to your car.

BTW- I still have the lights for sale if anyone wants them

Kontrax

so do you actually wet sand the whole light? then put the polish on or am i not getting this correctly. i dont want to go sanding my only set of iroc lights, its not cheap to get another set.

TunedPort 335

I didn't sand at all, I just buffed and waxed.

joshp14

No need to wetsand the whole thing. I wetsanded one part of the light, and that was the part where the raised DOT letters were at. Sand it flush with the rest of the taillight and then go ahead and polish. A layer of wax will help keep the shine around.

StreetRoc85 350

No you dont need to sand them. The iroc lights you were orginially talking about, those were just polished. I only sanded my GTA lights because they had some scratches and some residue from tape or something. Wetsanding wont hurt it if you have the patience, but if youre lights arent scratched up to begin with, its not really nessicary.

BTW- why is it that i no longer recieve e-mails when someone replies to topics i posted on? any ideas?