polishing foglight glass

[fla 9]

I've got a good set of uncracked foglights but they are cloudy due to many tiny stonechips. Is there a sensible solution to removing these? Glass being as hard as it it will of course not lend itself to hand polishing so any products and methods would be appreciated.

[robrado974 1]

What a Coincidence , I was thinking this last night , I have spare fogs and indicators that could do with a polish too . I was thinking of using the glass scratch remover polish , with a small palm sander . Going through the grades with wet n dry .

[Jim Bowen 1]

I tried by hand with sandpaper but didn't get too far, there was a company called Lake Country or something similar that did a glass polishing kit but the chips on the corrado glass can be quite deep so not sure how well it would work.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Apparently you cannot remove any scratches / chips which are deep enough to catch a finger nail on. Shame there's no such thing as 'glass filler' which can be sanded back!

[davidwort 0]

Apparently you cannot remove any scratches / chips which are deep enough to catch a finger nail on. Shame there's no such thing as 'glass filler' which can be sanded back!

could you use windscreen crack repair liquid, same refractive index as glass?

[Dox 23]

I'd try a 2 pack lacquer and then a flat and polish.

 

Stone masons who do granite worktops etc use abrasive discs to cut and shape and plaster skim poured into plastic throw away cups to set first to polish cut edges to a shine

[Dox 23]

They used to polish the edges of cut glass for furniture etc with an abrasive stone lubricated with parafin

[fla 9]

maybe this could be an option?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glass-Scratch-Repair-Kit-DIY-Polish-Window-Scratch-Remover/271507253313?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20141212152715%26meid%3Dc82e1044bafa493b975beec33717302a%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D30%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D271506506233

[davidwort 0]

I'd try a 2 pack lacquer and then a flat and polish.

 

 

I'll do that, I've an old spare fog and some 2K lacquer left over from my wheels, that stuff sets like concrete.

[davidwort 0]

They used to polish the edges of cut glass for furniture etc with an abrasive stone lubricated with parafin

 

cutting oil? I got some of that for drilling holes in a stainless steel sink, although I'm favouring the 2K lacquer and flat and polish ATM :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

could you use windscreen crack repair liquid, same refractive index as glass?

 

I wondered about that, but I thought it only became properly clear when injected into the crack under pressure, or some such?

 

As others have said though, a clear resin seems like a good plan!

[KipVR 1]

I used glass resin to try and put a clear patch (without the fluting) on the back of a headlight glass. I couldn't get it to stay on, it kept de-laminating with heat, but I didn't try a glass etch fluid to give it some purchase, you could try that, but it won't stop the glass and resin expanding and contracting at different rates. A 2k laquer is more flexible and much thinner, so it may well work, but I'd use an etching fluid first.

[fla 9]

Are there any led equivalents to the normal foglight bulbs to reduce heat generation that will give similar intensity and dispersion?

[davidwort 0]

Well have a look at the photo here

Early corrado fog light by David0011, on Flickr

anything look odd?

half has been coated in 2k lacquer, the whole glass was pitted the same before

I'm amazed at the difference it's made, all the pitting has pretty much disappeared

 

Early corrado fog light by David0011, on Flickr

 

 

Early corrado fog light by David0011, on Flickr

 

Early corrado fog light by David0011, on Flickr

Edited July 15, 2015 by davidwort

[fla 9]

Thats superb. The pitted portion is exactly how my fogs are so thats a good result. How do you apply 2k? Any special method?

[davidwort 0]

no it's simply a 2 part mix of lacquer and hardener so chemically cures rather that's evaporating thinner, goes off in about an hour at room temperature and is far tougher than cellulose/rattle can paint, the stuff I've used was left over from a kit of vw wheel silver and lacquer that I repainted some wheels with, very tough impervious to Petrol, thinner etc once cured and sticks like the proverbial so hoping it bonds to the glass well, no reason why not, I've had old lights with over spray on them and that sticks well enough with no priming

oh, and I just used a soft modelling brush to apply it.

I've also had a go at repairing a stone damaged glass from the inside and that's looking good too

 

20150716_075401 by David0011, on Flickr

Edited July 16, 2015 by davidwort

[fla 9]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aerosol-2k-2-Pack-Clear-Lacquer-Fan-Spray-Hi-Build-Hi-Gloss-Smart-Repair-400ml-/351196319145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item51c4ee8da9

 

David, what do you think of this stuff? If not, what would you suggest?

[davidwort 0]

I think that's worth a go, it's probably cheaper than any two tin purchase online of any 2k lacquer and handy you can spray it straight on. If for any reason you get a run or dirt in it you can always flat it back and Polish it up again. I remember painting yellow tint on my mk1 spots years ago and with no prep that stayed on at least a couple of years so this is well worth a try I reckon.

[Jim Bowen 1]

I'm going to try this on some of my lenses, i seem to have a small pile of headlight and foglight glass.