Experiences with restoring stock taillights

[hgeranium]

It’s raining right now so my normally very faded tail lights look brand new. Knowing what they could look like really makes me want to restore them.
 

Does anyone have any good experiences doing so? Or is it more worth it to buy one of those aftermarket OE sets? Or maybe the Oracle lights?

[eaglescout526]

If your short on coin, I’d take the time to read the DIY in the DIY thread on restoring them as that’s the cheaper way. Plus you may end up with excellent results. 

[Eagle_SX4]

I wet sand with some sandpaper 1500-3000 grit. Then some buffing compound, I use Meguiar's Plastx with a cotton buffing wheel on a hand drill. It works great to bring the shine back to both taillights and any newer headlights.

[hgeranium]

Left/right before and after. I did everything by hand because I didn’t want to put that much effort into these old tail lights. They’re already cracked so I knew there’s only so much I can do for them. They certainly look a lot better though. At some point I’m sure I’ll pull the trigger on those key parts repops