Meguiars PlastX did awesome job on old JGC headlights!

[berettafan]

I generally don't show much interest in washing, polishing, etc. my cars (911 excepted of course!!!) but a new product found its way into my garage recently.
The headlights on my wifes '01 Grand Cherokee were so scratched and nasty i was surprised she could see well enough to drive at night. Well the other day a guy approaches her in the walmart parking lot with a bottle of cleaner and says 'i can get those headlights clean for $10 using this $70 per bottle stuff'. She declined as she didn't have $10 on her but checked on the stuff when she got home. It's a Meguiars product called PlastX and research showed that it works well. Of course it doesn't cost anything near $70.

Well i tried it and WOW! I used a 1500 and 2000 grit wet sandpaper first and then the PlastX. The results are amazing. Totally worth $6 for the bottle of PlastX (is anyone really surprised that it isn't $70 per bottle?).

[azasadny]

3M makes a very good plastic polish and scratch remover too...

[tabs]

I grew up 3 doors down from the Daughter of the Founder of Meguiars, she used to tell me stories about her Dad, growing up in Pasadena and how he would ask his kids to compare polish finishes of various products. The formulas were all a family secret. I believe it is still a family run business. The Grandkids of the founder have to be of retirement age by now.

[Dan in Pasadena]

The center rear reflector on my '76 911 was pretty cloudy and scratched when I bought it. I went to Harbor Freight and bought a very cheap plastic polishing wheel - I think it is 6" or so, for my bench grinder and a plastic compund that (I think) was a medium blue color. The reflector came out like brand new.

The only tricks are to make sure you get a polishing wheel that is made for very soft materials like plastic (it'll have only one or two circumferential stitches on it), keep plenty of compound on the wheel as you polish it. Move fast and keep moving to make sure you don't stay in any one spot for longer than a moment or it'll burn the plastic. Works like a charm.

I think I literally have like $10-$12 in the whole setup and I have enough to polish all the plastic I will ever own!

[Tim Hancock]

Pretty much any polishing compound will clean up hazy plastic headlights/turnsignals/taillights. I happen to use 3M buffing compound (I think it is called perfect-it III). It also works well for polishing metal. A wool buffing wheel and polishing compound will make plastic light covers look like new again.

I used to buy special high dollar polishes for plastic and metals until I found out that they all basically do the same thing.