Thread: Dome polishing

Originally Posted by rwo978

Short of the 3m HL kit, which I have one..... but, I've also got WS paper as well in 1500 and 2000 grit. I'd like to try both and am about to jump into the whole dome polishing trial and error and I'm still missing it after re-reading the whole thread.

How do you all keep the dome wet? I'd prefer to not have to lean over the bathtub for hours getting it done. So, wet the paper good, then use a spray bottle to keep the dome wet? I read somewhere about putting a drop of dish soap in?? Tips on this specifically?

I keep my dome wet by resting them vertical in my kitchen sink. I put a clothe at the bottom of the sink to prevent scratches. The sink is half full of warmy-hot water. Let the sandpaper in the water a minute or so to get it wet and smooth before sanding. Spray/wet the dome, then put a few drops of liquid hand dish soap and spread it over the area to sand. What I do is dividing the whole dome in many working area to keep track of where I've been before. Sand each area for at least a minute per grit. After a minute, I rinse the dome section I'm working on to remove any buffed off particles and preventing scratches. When the whole dome is done for a grit, a repeat with the next finer grit and so on. It DOES take time, especially for domes which aren't rectangular and TwinSonic like.
Before switching to another grit, check the dome closely and inspect for the Scratch-pattern left by the sandpaper. It should be uniform. The finer grit you'll go, the less apparent the scratches will be, Although it's not possible to perfectly polish polycarbonate, with the proper method and finishing compound, it will look good enough.
Sometime, to really see if the sanding is well done, rinse the dome, dry it with a soft cloth, and check a ceiling light through it. A wet dome always look somewhat better than dry, thus making you think it's well sanded when it's actually not. You will also spot more easily any remaining scratches on a dry dome. When all scratches are removed, it's only a matter of elbow oil to gradually sand the dome grit by grit.
After 2000 wet-or-Dry sandpaper, I use this:
Micro-Mesh Finishing Kit

Then this:
MeguiarsDirect.com: PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish using this: Mothers® PowerBall Mini®

I finish with Turtle Wax Platinum car wax.

Here's the results I got with this method.
Dome polishing
Again, it DOES take a while to achieve this method.

Good luck; I hope this helps!

I used a micro fiber clothe with some megguires plast-X head light restore....looks pretty good, I think I will soak them in hot soapy water to give a good cleaning then follow up with another application of the plast-X

I just used a spray bottle. Do it somewhere where you won't care if you make a mess.

My next question to this technique.

I have polished my headlights with the Mequires kit. It lasted about a year and a half, and now they are just as yellowed as before I did it. What do you do to prevent the domes from hazing again, or for that matter, the headlight lenses from going back to what they look like before??

image.jpg
Comparison photo. Used the 3M kit. Worked great I think. Once I got the routine down it took no time at all to do.

ETA: Sorry it's upside down. I'm not smart enough to figure out how to fix it. You still get the point though.

I am a Acrylics Specialist for Monoplace Hyperbaric Chambers. the two products that I use are Micro-Mesh Soft Touch Pads : MICRO-SURFACE FINISHING PRODUCTS, INC and Novus NOVUS Plastic Polish. The Micro-Mesh can be as fine as 12000 grit, check it out if you looking for the fine stuff

hello,
Here is my method, polishing and buffing with sandpaper discs:

Which way is best when sanding out scratchs?

Going with the scratch or across it?

If going across then going the length of the dome?

Here's aone of the lates that I've done starting with 220-5000 grit wet/dry and Novus polish to finsh. Sold.

Originally Posted by Captain4164

My next question to this technique.

I have polished my headlights with the Mequires kit. It lasted about a year and a half, and now they are just as yellowed as before I did it. What do you do to prevent the domes from hazing again, or for that matter, the headlight lenses from going back to what they look like before??

I've heard about using a clear poly spray (clear coat) like you would on furniture/etc, I've tried it on a few I've had and so far, so good.

*Edit: I realize he asked the question long ago, and probably isnt relevant to him by now, my reply was solely geared towards helping the masses*

Rattle can automotive clear coat.