The Truth About Microcracks: What Headlight Restoration DIY Kits DON'T Tell You | 2013 Cadillac ATS
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- čas přidán 24. 04. 2023
- Hello everyone! In this video I am doing restoration on a 2013 Cadillac ATS. It had some basic oxidation, chipping clear coat and worst of all Microcracking. I've noticed almost no other headlight restorers on CZcams explains or show microcracks and neither do DIY Restoration kits. This job gave me the perfect opportunity to show how deep microcracking and be, thanks to the headlights unique design. Microcracks can either be really bad or minor like this Cadillac. Most DIY Kits only talk about light hazing, and no other issues like severe oxidation, intact clear coat or other issues you may run into. Not every headlight can be done with regular DIY Kits.
Microcracks in the headlight are caused by the polycarbonate expanding and contracting due to constantly heating up and cooling down. These tiny cracks can be very large, or very small, and can be deep in the lens. This is why its important to explain to the customer that you won't be able to remove them. Some microcracking can be present on the top layer of the lens, in which case you can restore them, but any deeper, the only solution is to replace the headlight. I go over the cracks at the 9:00 Minute Mark.
The clear coat was still pretty intact on the passenger side, so I used the 320 to break thru the clear coat, then I continued with the 400/600, where as the driver side clear coat was already deteriorating, so I was able to do a 400/600 method.
Shoutout to Tom Demarco for giving me the idea to go over microcracking, and the symptoms you can have when they are present!
💨 Clear Coat I Use - nextgenheadlightsolutions.com
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Shoutout to Tom Demarco for giving me the idea to go over microcracking, and the symptoms you can have when they are present!
I would love to just hear your customers reaction when they see the completed job. I imagine they must be just blown away at the transformation.
Lol…. That’s awesome thank you I need all the help I can get. I like it when you video in real time and then speed it up because it gives at least me a understanding how much time I should spend sanding . Again thank you !
Thank you this is what i needed to see!
Thank you for that video very informative and again nice job .
How long does this coating last?
I had an incident where after completion the customer was finding all kinds of faults. I think he didn't want to pay so he fussed until I said it's free. Have you ever experienced that or do you take payment upfront during booking?
The longer headlight housing could be susceptible to flexing with the vehicle, I see that on occasion resulting in the microcracking you are showing, nice work also..
If sandpaper is an abrasive which cause micro scratches added that no high grit sandpaper used then why don’t you polish them?
will this need to be done more often after you sand off the factory seal?
What causes a headlight to come out hazy/cloudy. Today I did a PT Cruiser and I started out at 600 then was worried about spraying a coating so went to 800 then 1000. Do you think I should of started out at 400 ? Usually the lens pop with shine and clarity. What do you think causes the hazy/ cloudy ?
What kind of spray did you use?
Raise the price yet?...... that's a 140 job right there.