Are any of these 3M, Mothers, Permatex Headlight restoration kits any good?

[White02CivicSi]

I dont have a buffer but there are a couple of kits out there like 3M, Mothers & Permatex that you can use by hand or with a drill. Has anyone used any of these and what were the results?

#1 - 3M/Headlight lens restorer kit includes pad holder, 6 pcs. sanding disc, 4 pcs. finishing disc, Trizact disc, 1 oz. headlight lens polish and Buffing Pad.
http://contentinfo.autozone.com/znetcs/product-info/en/US/mmm/39008/image/4/

#2 - Mothers PowerBall 4Lights Headlight Restoration Kit
https://store.mothers.com/contents/image.php?sizex=350&sizey=350&image[0]=images/products/07250_dropshadow.jpg&

#3 - Permatex/Headlight lens restoration kit
http://contentinfo.autozone.com/znetcs/product-info/en/US/ptx/09135/image/4/

[ep_hatcher_510]

Out of the three, 3m is the best all you need is a drill, all the sanding and polishing are done with it. The second would be the mothers then permatex. actually the permatex sucks since you have to use your hand for everthing.

[Blindeye_03]

My honda dealership offered to do my headlights for me for $120!! lol. I said no because they couldnt warranty or guarantee how long it would last.

[BeaterEP]

My honda dealership offered to do my headlights for me for $120!! lol. I said no because they couldnt warranty or guarantee how long it would last.

Jeebus! Blows my mind how bad the stealerships will try to rip ya off sometimes LOL. WTF?

My vote's for the 3M, def your best bet. Like everybody else said, all you need is a good drill (I'd go corded, personally)
Instructions are nicely written and clear. Just takes a little patience, and your golden. :thumbu:

[Jestervs]

...toothpaste? :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKAshYmrExc

Both 3M and Mother's are very reputable brands, and both received good reviews. Never dealt with any Permatex products.
I think it just comes down to reading the directions thoroughly and taking your time with it.

[johnkimble]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sraPOjkN4E

[Falcon7]

I've used the 3M kit several times.

Took a set of headlights with scratches like this: http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/BAFernandez/DSC05000Medium.jpg

To the set you see here on my car: http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/BAFernandez/DSC06123.jpg

[johnkimble]

^ thats money. gonna pick up a kit today

[Falcon7]

One note for the 3M kit (and I'm sure the other kits) is to move slow and steady while you're doing it and make sure that the sanding lines are disappearing after every step. If you move too quickly you won't properly remove the lines.

The majority of buffing/polishing I have done was on vehicle clear coat so you can't stay in one spot for too long or you burn through the clear. With headlights you're working with hard plastic/polycarbonate so a bit more time must be taken to properly polish out the sanding marks and achieve that glossy headlight finish.

I say all this because I noticed some fine sanding lines a while after I had initially polished the headlights and they were really annoying. Hardly noticeable but I knew they were there.

[Gasp23]

I'll give the 3M kit a try since it's expensive to replace the whole headlights.

[STP03BlueSI]

3M used it on my jdm headlamps and have used on 2 other cars.

[RedSiBaron]

ive used 3m kit in the past, seems to yield the most bang for the bucks

[Passenger]

I used 3m on my girl's car and it worked very well. Still kind cloudy but I was scared of tearing up her headlights the whole time so I probably didn't do something thorough enough.

[Jukka]

I've tried the permatex and the mothers. I got a really good outcome from the permatex one compaired to the mothers. I had to re-do my headlights with mothers twice and its still not coming out great. The permatex is a pain in the ass cuz you do have to do it by hand, but it only took me like 35 min while watching tv to do my first set.

[ep3colin]

i tried the 3m one and used my friends portercable 7424 to buff out the rest of the scratch marks left by hand and it came out great! good luck.

[SSMcivicEP3]

I used the 3M kit and it worked great!

http://www.robertjarrell.com/admin/pic_hosting/3m-restore.jpg

Only negative I've found is that the "fix" isn't forever. I did this back in December, and already I have to do it again. They're not as bad as when I originally did it, but they're not as nice as right after they were done either.

I'm sure it has to do with the fact that we're leaving unprotected plastic exposed to the elements after we're done doing the restoration. I'm going to do it again, and try to use Mother's plastic polish on them also. It will remove very fine scratches, but more importantly I know it has some UV protection in it.

Anyone have any other ideas for protecting the nice new finish of a headlight after doing a restoration? Maybe some clearcoat?

[Twisted-X]

I'd try some car wax.