3SGuide

If your plastic 3000GT or Stealth headlights/headlamps have peeling clearcoat (95+ 3000gt/Stealth models only, 94 had glass), you can restore them to a beautiful shine and avoid spending a heft amount on new headlights with a little hard work.

Before

After

The supplies you will need are:

• 3M Wet or Dry sandpaper 800 grit
• 3M Wet or Dry sandpaper 1000 grit
• 3M Wet or Dry sandpaper 2000 grit
• 3M Rubbing Compound
• 3M Scratch and Swirl Remover
• Your favorite Carnuba wax (I used Meguire’s 3-step process)

All of these products can be found at Autozone, O’Reilly’s, Advanced Auto, etc.

You will want to wet sand the headlights with the 800 grit until all of the clearcoat is gone. The surface should be smooth and dull afterwards. I usually spend about an hour to an hour and a half getting all of the clearcoat off. Take your time, the final result depends on the effort you put into it.

Next, move onto the 1000 and 2000 grit wet sanding, in order. All of the clearcoat should be gone. Clean everything off and apply the 3M rubbing compound with a terry cloth to remove the scratches that are finer than 2000 grit. Apply the Scratch/Swirl remover and follow up with several coats of wax to bring out the shine and protect.

With this method, you will need to continue waxing your headlights every so often because there is no clearcoat. Optimally you should take them to a body shop and have them spray clear onto it. It’s not very expensive. Do not use a spray can of clearcoat, it will turn out badly.

Limitations:

• Deep gouges