Ok so here is what I did tell if I did anything wrong. I wet sand paper and the light and sanded it with 2000 grit for 15-20min then rubbed on the rubbing compound for 5 min using a terry cloth. Then when i clean it off with some water it stays bright new shiny for 15 seconds and then water goes away and it is dull. HOW DO I KEEP IT SHINY???

Before
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2017/10021636wt.jpg

After washing it off
http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/50/10021674xv.jpg


15-20 seconds later
http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/9854/10021651rz.jpg

If you have higher compound grits then 2000, thats a good place to start. If not, you have a couple options. Do you have a rotary or a drill? Machine polishing is usually the best way to achieve the results your looking for.

With a drill, you can buy a foam polishing pad that will go on the end of it, and you can also buy a wool pad.

Using this method, after your done sanding, wash the headlight to remove any dust. Then use the wool pad and Mothers Mag and Al. Polish and polish the headlight. Wipe clean, and follow with Meguiars' PlasticX on the foam pad or by hand to finish polishing the headlights to a high luster.

If you don't wanna try machine polishing, you can try the Mothers Mag and Al Polish with a terry cloth and polish it using alot of elbow grease. Follow with the Meguiars' PlasticX with a foam applicator.

I have also had good results by hand, using 3M swirl remover with a terry cloth, followed by PlasticX...

Do you think i can just apply some of the turtle wax rubbing compund on the foam pad and then use the drill? And after using the drill can I just wipe off excess rubbing compund with water?

I personally would take the turtle wax rubbing compound (liquid gravel and silicone) and throw it away...

Ok so here is what I did tell if I did anything wrong. I wet sand paper and the light and sanded it with 2000 grit for 15-20min then rubbed on the rubbing compound for 5 min using a terry cloth. Then when i clean it off with some water it stays bright new shiny for 15 seconds and then water goes away and it is dull. HOW DO I KEEP IT SHINY???


That's exactly what happend to mine when i did it-still like it on my car right now. I think it's becacause that plastic shows the marks so much more than the paint that any rubbing compound won't work. You'll need a glass/plastic polish that people have been talking about. I was at wal-mart today but forgot to pick it up, but when I exchange my goldclass wax for the nxt, i'll pick up the polish and see how it goes. There was an article about polishing the US headlights and they did the same step, but finished it with a plastic polish, made a big difference. Try that out first before you go onto the turtle wax polish, i really think that polish sucks (being spoiled with menzernas and such).

There is this cheap box at wal-mart that says " 5-minute optical polish", and that works great.

I had gone the wet-sand route with fixing my covers as well. I noticed that it would get a little foggy after I dried it as well, so I wet-sanded again (still had pits from the first try) and got all the pits out, then polished with metal polish by hand. That left them nice and clear, but after a couple days they seemed a little foggy. So the other day I was using some scratch x on some minor scratches and thought what the hell! Lo and behold, the covers came out sparkling and clearer than ever. I must say they still look great even after a couple of weeks.

Best thing I have found for headlight covers is after finishing the wet sanding, use some polishing paste for plastic.
That has to be the finest grit available @2500 or 3000, not quite sure since someone at a body shop gave me a cupfull of it.
Made the stock lights look new so I could sell them.