It's FMCO again. Despite that, cases are soaring high - with today's record being over 13,000 new daily cases - and any hopes of things getting back to normal seemed so far away. With that in mind, I figured maybe there's something that I can do to my cars at home, and as it happens, Rosanna the Kia Spectra is the perfect candidate (yes, I've named after the song of the same name by Toto).
The headlamps on the Spectra has seen better days, and having seen a few videos on YouTube and asking around, I decided to jump right into Shopee and purchase the following items:
- 3x sand paper (800, 1500 and 2000 grit)
- Microfibre towel (regret)
- Formula 1 Headlight Restorer & Sealant
It took me a few days - almost a week - but they eventually arrived, although one of them arrived earlier than the others due to it being from different shop.
Even after my items arrived, I didn't jump right into it because I was just lazy and the weather is always raining. A bright and sunny day eventually came, and so did my motivation to get started. I get the car positioned under a shade (which is the house driveway, really) and got other materials that I already have lying around at home out. In this case, some hot water mixed with dish washing soap and a sponge to clean the headlamps prior to restoration.
Ideally, I'd tape off the surrounding areas with masking tape to prevent the sandpaper scraping away the paint. However, when you consider the paint condition of the car, I might as well save myself the hassle and skip that step. Opening the bonnet still helps, though, and as the chair I sit on is pretty much the same level as the headlamps, it's safe to say that I have myself a comfortable working position.
With that said, it's time to get to work. Starting from the passenger side headlamp, I get it and the first sandpaper - an 800 grit - soaked with soapy water and starting wet-sanding away. I begin with sanding in circular motion for roughly five minutes, before wiping it with sponge and soapy water just to clean it before sanding again.
After what felt like an eternity, I realised how exhausting this process was. Nevertheless, I cleaned the area with soapy water again, and moved up to 1500 grit sandpaper and instead of circular motion, I did horizontal motion across the headlamp for about few minutes. Rinse, then repeat the same step with 2000 grit sandpaper. Once done - or at least, I think I was done - I pour clean water over it, revealing a hazy headlamp.
It turned out what I was hoping, and at this stage, the universally correct method is to spray clear coat onto it. But I didn't because for one, I didn't have clear coat and didn't bother buying it since I know I might be lazy to mask the entire area to protect from clear coat, and because a friend said that I didn't need to use clear coat, and recommended me the headlamp restorer that I have bought.
Having said that, I went on and apply the headlamp restorer and after few minutes of rubbing into the headlamp, that's when I realised I've screwed up.
This is the outcome after the first rub. At first glance, it looked alright, but it still didn't turn out they way I expected it to. What's worse, the scratches I made with the sandpaper are a little bit obvious if looked at close enough. According to the bottle, it says that sanding the headlamp is not required. With this in mind, I tried the more direct route of apply the restorer to the driver side headlamp without sanding - after cleaning and drying it, of course.
As you can see, this turned out a lot better than the other side. Now it's just ugly - one side is cleaner than the other. So I tried to rectify the other side but no matter how hard I tried, it made very slight - if any - improvements. I mean I guess it turned out better on the second attempt, but I should have just gone down this route instead of sanding it first.
I guess I'll just have to go down the clear coat route, or I can try rubbing the restorer again in roughly few days from now. But at least I learnt something, which is to always trust the packaging and to not pandai-pandai do things your own way. It's a learning process, nevertheless.
With the headlamps out of the way for now, another thing that will need attention are the wipers. I suspect that the blades are dried up and needed changing, and the arms would need to be repainted. I already have the sandpaper and I do have paint, but it's silver - which would look ugly - and I need black spray paint. Looks like I'll have to visit Shopee again to do some shopping...
That's all for today's entry. Remember, do what the packaging says. See you in the next entry!
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