In this thread i'll be showing you how to repair your faded mirrors, and how to make them shine like new again without going through the process of having then re-painted. this method can also be used on headlights you just have to be more careful and not sand to much.
In this first picture you can see what I started out with the mirror looks grey and the clear coat is oxidized
The first thing you want to do is wash the surface of the mirror and make sure the surface is clean and free of any impurities, so you wont get any dirt in your sandpaper. Next mask off the textured plastic around the mirror cover like below (nevermind the compound i'll get to that later)
Wet down your mirror and a piece of 2000 grit sand paper and sand in a clockwise motion (comes in handy later). Be sure to keep your paper wet.
This is what your mirror is supposed to look like prior to compounding
Next I used 3m rubbing compound and a microfiber towel to rub out the 2000 grit scratches in a clockwise motion.
The image below just shows where I was rubbing with the compound the lower right is what you want it to look like once you get finished compounding.
Next I took some Meguires "Tech Wax" and a micro fiber in place of my glaze because I was out of glaze and rubbed in a back and forth motion to remove the compound swirls, do this atleast two times.
And this is the finished product. I did go back later and removed the cover and cleaned all the compound out of the crack.
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How to repair sun faded mirrors (Painted mirrors only)
Linear Mode
