Dull, Lightly Scratched Tail Lights

[EdR5150]

Has anybody restored their tail lights to their glossy, new appearance? Can you recommend any products and techniques?

Some other non-Delorean forums suggest wet sanding with 1000 grit, then 2000, then buffing with Meguiar’s PlastX. Sound ok?

[dvonk]

Novus Plastic Polish (http://www.novuspolish.com/index.html) has 3 levels of aggressiveness based on how dull/scratched your plastic is... level 3 for heavy scratches, level 2 for light scratches, and level 1 for cleaning/buffing.

ive personally used it to polish acrylic aquarium 'glass,' and i use it for polishing my soft vinyl windows on my Jeep every spring. you can buy it online--amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035U5ARK/), ebay, etc.

[Mike F]

+1 on the Novus as well. I have also used the Meguiar's PlastX on a number of things and had pretty good success with it. Can't say I've tried it on the D tail lights but I don't imagine why it wouldn't work. If I were you I would try something like that first before I busted out any sandpaper. YMMV depending on the condition of your lights but it could be that a good polishing is all they need. I'd be wary of using sandpaper on our taillights anyway, for fear of scratching the black plastic grid pattern. A lens made completely out of lexan/plastic isn't too much of a concern, as you can easily step up the grit and eventually polish away any scratches; might not be so easy on that black plastic though.

[john 05141]

I used a CD scratch remover and a Dremel at low speed to polish mine and it looked very well.
Careful you keep the RPM low and make sure the temperature remains low when you use a Dremel.

Jan

[Mark D]

I've used PlastX polish in the past and it works great:

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=13977&d=1349962010
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=13978&d=1349962011

I wet sanded with a rubber block and 600 grit paper... the tail lights on this camaro were pretty bumpy from when they exited the mold so I had some work to get the surface flat. Then I switched to 1000 grit, then 2000, then plastX polish with a cotton buffing wheel on an electric drill.

If you only have minor scratches you could just start with the PlastX and see how they look after buffing. If there are still noticeable scratches then move on to sand paper.

[DeLorean03]

This thread peaked my curiosity, and seeing how I have a Tales from the Crypt pinball machine, I just happened to have some Novus 1 & 2. My tail lights were definitely starting to have their own weather forecast (cloudy), so I figured "why not?" and gave the Novus 2 a try.

Here are some pictures and results:

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Here is the driver's side tail light before anything was done to it.

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Here is Jessica light applying Novus 2 in a circular pattern with a microfiber towel. The important thing with Novus 2 is to let it dry - similar to if you were waxing your DeLorean's bumpers.

Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the step of the process, but we utilized a drill driver (not a drill - a drill driver) with a buffering wheel on it from Ryobi. Then Jessica gently buffed the dried Novus 2 off of the tail lights.

And here is the final product in two different shades of light.

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Here are some comparison shots of the driver's side being cleaned and the passenger's side still to do.

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Here is the passenger's tail light all cleaned up.

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And here are pictures of the tail lights all cleaned up and re-installed.

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[Domi]

Really nice job!

[EdR5150]

Update: My taillights appeared to have many tiny cracks in them, so I opted to buy new ones. I actually found a decent used set, which cleaned up nicely with some Meguiar's Plastx: http://www.16908.info/?p=2449

As for my old taillights, I might try to sell them. If not, I might try to "rice them out:"
https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1/1012997_673676889314305_1623788273_n.jpg