by Nick Taylor

An Overlooked Opportunity – The Trainer Video Series

Headlight reconditioning is a great way to offer a needed service to your customers and it is easy to perform.

Motor Age — The latest numbers show that the average age of the nation’s “fleet” is 11.4 years. In bay speak, that means that people are keeping their cars a lot longer than ever before and that should be opening the door to increased maintenance and repair sales in your shop.

One often overlooked area of automotive maintenance is headlight reconditioning. The polycarbonate lenses used on modern headlight assemblies take a pounding from the sun’s UV rays, acid rain, and other factors and that leads to the loss of the protective sealant and the oxidation of the plastic. This yellowish discoloration reduces the light reaching the highway by as much as 80% according to some sources, decreasing your customers’ ability to see. No, headlight reconditioning is not a “wallet flushing” service but can be one that actually enhances your customers’ safety.

There are a number of kits on the market aimed primarily at the do-it-yourselfer, but the process is simple enough. Mask off the surfaces surrounding the headlight to be reconditioned to protect the car’s paint first. Then, wet sand the lens to remove the oxidized, discolored material. Start with #500 grit and finish with #1000 to keep the surface smooth and free of scratches. Hand sanding is time-consuming but minimizes the risk of paint damage and is an easier way to deal with curved surfaces.

Once the majority of the surface is clean, switch to a fine liquid polishing compound to remove any remaining traces. Microfiber clothes can be used to clean the lenses of all traces of the process. You’ll have totally removed any remaining traces of the original sealant, so it’s a good idea too choose a product that includes a protective sealant for final application.

Want to see the process from start to finish? Watch this month’s edition of “The Trainer”!

Source: Motor Age