3M 39008 Headlight Lens Restoration System

by 3M

Product Features

• Easy, 3-step process requires as little as an hour to remove scratches and restore cloudy, dull lenses
• Features 3M abrasive technology and a polishing compound to restore hazy and dull headlight lenses, as well as other plastic lens surfaces on your vehicle
• System is intended to restore two headlight lenses
• Utilizes the muscle power of a common household (1200-1600 rpm) drill to do all the necessary sanding and buffing
• This item is not for sale in Catalina Island

Product Details

View Product Usage Checklist [PDF]

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View Installation Instructions [PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3.1 x 5.4 x 6.8 inches ; 24 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001AIZ5HY
• Item model number: 39008
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (678 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22 in Automotive (See Top 100 in Automotive)
  • #1 in Automotive > Car Care > Glass Care
  • #2 in Automotive > Car Care > Exterior Care > Cleaners
  • #3 in Automotive > Car Care > Headlight Restoration

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

In the past, replacing scratched, clouded or yellowed plastic headlight covers was an expensive necessity in order to preserve safety. But now with the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System, car and motorcycle owners can shine and restore plastic lenses — including headlights, tail lights, fog and directional lights — to like-new condition for a fraction of the cost. This kit includes everything needed to restore two headlight lenses, excluding the user-supplied household drill (1200-1600 rpm), automotive tape, clean cloth, and spray bottle. Restore clouded plastic headlights to crystal clarity. View larger. Plastic headlight repair in 3 steps. View larger. 2-step sanding process. View larger. Buff and polish. View larger. And see clearly again. View larger. Clouded Plastic Headlights Plastic surfaces are great for giving vehicles lightweight, durable components – from plastic headlight lenses to motorcycle windshields, plastic tail lights, trailers and more. But these plastic components can yellow and haze with weather, sun and sand, limiting visibility and diminishing the appearance and value of the vehicle. While the impact on a vehicle's value varies, the dangers in terms of limited visibility are clear: It is a factor in 2.8 million accidents, 23,000 fatal crashes and 2,300 pedestrian deaths each year, according to the Motor Vehicle Lighting Council. Dim headlight bulbs and hazy plastic headlight lenses or surfaces may lead to this reduced visibility, putting you, your passengers and other cars at risk. The AAIA Car Care Council found that 26 percent of the cars it inspected had issues with their lighting system. Millions of cars on the road today have plastic headlight lenses. The problem increases with the age of the lens, and with the average age of cars on the road about 10 years old, the problem is growing. Yet there is something you can do about it. The Do-It-Yourself Solution The 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System is designed to give do-it-yourselfers an easy and affordable way to repair their vehicle's plastic lens surfaces. Containing various graded sanding pads, pad holders, buffing pads, polish and detailed instructions, it includes everything users need to turn their household drill into a low cost solution to this dangerous automotive problem. The Lens Renewal Kit can also be used to repair hazing on other plastic surfaces, including taillights, emergency light bars, plastic motorcycle lights, trailers, snowmobiles and more. Compared to having headlight lenses commercially repaired for approximately $75-$150 or replaced for up to $1,500, the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System costs a fraction of that price, and the entire process takes under an hour, depending on the extent of the damage. How Does it Work? The steps for using the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System are as easy as 1-2-3. First, sand the hazed surface in a two-stage wet sanding process with the enclosed sanding pads until the surface is smooth and the dulled layer is removed. Then polish with the 3M plastic polish, and buff with the buffing pad to the level of clarity desired in the plastic. In addition to a standard household drill mentioned (1200-1600 rpm) used in the buffing process, you will also need 3M Automotive Masking Tape to protect the body panels of your car surrounding the work area, and a spray bottle and water used in the wet sanding process. Otherwise, everything that you need is included in the kit. Features: 3M abrasive technology and a polishing compound to restore hazy and dull headlight lenses, as well as other plastic lens surfaces on your vehicle. System is intended to restore two headlight lenses. Utilizes the muscle power of a common household (1200-1600 rpm) drill to do all the necessary sanding and buffing. This inexpensive kit saves hundreds of dollars and restores crucial night time visibility by restoring your own lenses. Easy, 3-step process requires as little as an hour to remove scratches and restore cloudy, dull lenses. What's in the Box 1-disc pad holder, 1-3M soft interface pad, 6-3M sanding discs, 4-3M finishing discs, 1- 3M trizact disc, 1-3M headlight lens polish/rubbing compound (1 oz), 1-buffing pad, step-by-step directions. Limitation of Liability Except where prohibited by law, 3M will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from the 3M product, whether direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential, regardless of the legal theory asserted, including warranty, contract, negligence or strict liability. About 3M 3M is fundamentally a science-based company. They produce thousands of imaginative products, and they are a leader in scores of markets - from health care and highway safety to office products and abrasives and adhesives.

Product Description

Plastic lenses can yellow with age, reducing headlight brightness, and new lenses can be expensive. The 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System lets you shine and restore plastic lenses, including headlights, taillights, fog and directional lights. By restoring clarity to the lens, the performance of the headlight is improved and the appearance of the vehicle is enhanced Now you can produce professional results with the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System and a household drill (1200-1600 rpm). Kit includes all items necessary to perform the task except for the drill, tape and clean cloth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

231 of 233 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Surprised, October 8, 2008

By 

Daugenet Breaux (Charleston, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 3M 39008 Headlight Lens Restoration System (Automotive)

I own an 11 year old car and the headlights had become significantly glazed over. The only thing the kit doesn't come with is a drill. (which would really drive up the cost of the kit) The steps are pretty easy to restore your headlight

1. Clean the headlight and tape around the headlight edges to protect the paint job.
2. Use the "yellow" sanding disk with the drill attachment. The headlight will take on a more cloudy, but uniform, appearance
3. Use the "white" disk and smooth out the surface
4. Use the "gray" disk (with water) and begin the polishing of the surface
5. Finally use the "orange" foam disk with the polishing compound and complete the job.

Instructions are included with the kit and are pretty straightforward. I would say that anyone can do this job in approximately 2 hours or less. The drill attachment is WELL worth the money.

I was actually able to do two cars with one kit. Obviously this will depend on the condition of your headlights. I would recommend buying one kit per car though.

When using the kit I actually wiped off the "dust" that was created between steps. This wasn't mentioned in the instructions but I don't feel that it effected the results either. If you do the same thing then you will not see much of the "white slurry" described in the instructions when using the gray disk.

I hope this review helps and I will try to check back later to see if anyone has some comments that need answering.

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Update Dec 2011

Sadly the effects do not last forever. (nor would I expect them to) After about a year I could notice the hazing starting up and within another I was about where I had started. On the plus side, the second round of restoration went very quickly. I am glad to see this product has worked so well for so many people.

198 of 209 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It works, but..., January 2, 2010

By 

Colin Mattson (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 3M 39008 Headlight Lens Restoration System (Automotive)

When I saw the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System, I liked the idea. Speed up my headlight polishing by using an electric drill? Count me in! It's got to beat wetsanding lenses for 30 minutes a pop.

In execution, though, it definitely falls short of the idea for a couple reasons:

1. 3M demonstrates the product on a mid-90s Ford Taurus, which has huge, round headlamps proud of the bodywork--perfect for the system 3M has created. If you drive anything else, you'll rapidly discover you can't safely machine sand your entire headlamp. The pad is just plain too big for many other applications, where you have tight radiuses, 90° corners, and lamps recessed into and/or abutting bodywork. You can cover the most important part on any vehicle, but if looks are a priority, you may want to buy another (manual) product.

2. 3M uses their cheapest dry-only papers in this kit. Most competing products use wet sanding or wet polishing; this one mostly uses dry sanding and kicks up a lot of plastic dust. Definitely follow the admonition to use eye and respiratory protection.

3. Jumps in grit give the results you'd expect. You jump from 500 to 800, then to 3000, and then compound the lens. The results aren't bad by any means, but if looks are a factor you'd do well to do some intermediate sanding (or use a product like Meguiar's G12310 PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish -10 oz. to finish off after the compounding).

You could definitely do worse than the 3M kit if your goal is just to see, but you can definitely do better if you want that showroom-new look and aren't driving a Taurus.

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Product - I thought my lens was beyond repair. Not so!, July 19, 2009

By 

Art Diefenbach (Newport Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 3M 39008 Headlight Lens Restoration System (Automotive)

This product is just incredible. I have a 6 year old Jetta which had deep pits in the headlight lenses. They looked like they had been sand blasted. [...]. The results were fantastic. The lenses now look as good as new.

Some tips from my experience:
1. If you're going to wash your car the same day as you restore the lenses, wash after you do the lenses. Some plastic dust blows around and there is some spatter on the wet sand.
2. Be sure to really protect the surrounding paint. 3M recommends two layers of automotive masking tape, which I did. But I did cut through in two places with the edge of the sandpaper. So if there is any chance of touching the body of you car with the edge of the sandpaper, put on 3 or 4 layers of tape.
3. The kit comes with plenty of supplies: sandpaper and plastic polish. The directions warn that there may not be enough supplies, but I had plenty left over, although admittedly the Jetta headlights aren't that large. I don't see any need to buy the kit with the large bottles of plastic cleaner and polish unless you need that stuff for other projects.
4. I followed the directions exactly. I went the extra mile of doing extra passes on each level of sanding to insure I got out all the original damage and then each level of sanding scratches. I got as uniform level of appearance as I could. As the instructions say doing more at each level makes the next level easier. I also ended each level with a few passes with lower pressure.
5. I'd say the only tricky part is holding the drill steady while you sand away. It can jump around if you're not careful. I set up a stool with the appropriate height so I could rest my forearm that was holding the drill on my thigh. I held the drill with both hands and then moved it steadily across the lens. I sanded the whole lens with horizontal passes overlapping on each pass and then repeated vertical passes. I used about 10 total passes at each level.

Each lens took me about 30-45 minutes. I was skeptical that my damage could be repaired. But there is absolutely no evidence of the original damage and the lenses look as good as new. It is so satisfying to see the results, what a difference.

Oh, and the price is a terrific bargain too.