Headlight restore kits

[Vdubchaos]

What it sounds like you did was you took the oxidized layer off with your kit and buffed the plastic that remained. What it sounds like you didn't do, however, is reapply the UV/fade-resistant layer clear coat.

Only problem is.....that I did.

This is basically what oxidized along with the top-most layer of plastic in the headlight assembly. You can buy this stuff in rolls that you cut and apply to the headlight surface after you've thoroughly cleaned and polished it. This clear layer is then sealed. Badda bing, badda boom...years of crystal clear headlights once again. It isn't cheap though...about $60 - $80 per headlight though...

I might as well get a new headlight....no thanks

Oh, I theorize the reason the blinkers and side indicators don't fade is that wind plays a good role in the whole process as well...but I am probably wrong in that.

I'm pretty sure you are because portions of the corner blinkers face forward just like the headlight.

 

[bradly1101]

When I was growing up cars had glass headlights-so much simpler. They went the way of 5mph bumpers for the same reason; emotional appeal.

My van has signal light lenses that are plastic and wrap around to the front, right next to the headlights. The headlights looked horrible, but the signal lenses were perfectly clear.

I used a lens restore kit with little success. It was polished smooth but the lens was still darker.

The only difference between the lenses is that one had a high intensity bulb behind it. I think they darken from the inside.

 

[JCH13]

Smooth, ? new guys please don't think you can Just " smooth plastic, 400-600, ,

Clear coat them with, " something " .:whiste: something, UV protective, .

Please tell me how this method doesn't work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itvunq95sSI

http://www.jegs.com/i/Duplicolor/31...&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CKrI6qPVyrgCFYqi4AodB0MAYw

If you pulled your head out of your ass you might actually learn something.

 

[snoturtle]

Am planning on doing my headlights soon and am going to try Minwax Spar and mineral spirits 50/50 mix

Seems to be easy to apply and long lasting

Some good info http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...eadlight-restoration-new-uv-sealant-idea.html

 

[BUTCH1]

The 3M kit worked great on my Dakota's headlights. Lenses were thick and pretty much looked new when I was done and stayed that way until I sold it almost two years later.

The think acrylic lenses on the malibu however were much different. They were crazed all the way through. The 3M kit helped a bit, but the lens remained cloudy. I finally gave in and bought new replacements which totally made the car look better as well improved light at night.

Sometimes it is better just to replace the dam lens then to polish it.

Yea, mine are cruddy on my 'Bu, I've tried 2 different kits, little improvement, it seems like it's clouded on the inside as well, planning on buying replacements, I saw some on Ebay for $98 including all new bulbs..

 

[bradly1101]

I replaced mine too. It gives a car a new face.

 

[ino uno soweno]

So last year I went ahead and got the 3m kit and restored the headlights (they looked like complete shit).

Followed all the procedures and even took extra time to get everything done proper.

I also went ahead and got a headlight sealer and applied it once I was done.

Year goes by and they look horrible.....

What do I do next? I do NOT want to do this every year.....at this point I'm about to just leave it as is/fuck it.

Any help/ideas?

Your request reminded me of my first headlight restoration using a shop brought $68 product, sorry I did not really notice you were also using a protective cover, and I the only experience through observation of many plastic protective systems which, is they do not work for much longer than 6 months when kept in everyday sun, as we all know, and no overnight cover, also protective covers are too hard and time consuming to remove " next time ", , cost more money,



So I will share my experience with this shop brought product, no protective coating supplied, sorry I can’t remember the name of it, but I know exactly where they sell it,
Then continue with some of my experiences in removing oxidization on some plastic headlights, and tools, compounds and methods, pictures, here,
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2329293&page=3


So my first headlight restoration, experience was a Holden vector ( something ) about 2006 year model I think, ( as seen in above and below pictures,) absolutely very bad oxidization, I basically carried out the method described as per manufactures specs, which detailed methodical rubbing with #400,#600,#800,#1000#1500,and #2000 foam sanding pads, then buffing with compound supplied, I was not happy with the result, the pads were too well worn from hours of me rubbing, but i did have polish left over,


So next day I went and purchased a sheet of wet and dry sand paper for each grade, and more hours re-sanded each grade again, buffed again, as per specs, finished off a few deep spots on the outside that looked like they were cloudy on the inside, ,
Only then I got these results, which did surprise me, because I never saw the black section on top of the light as well as along the black on the bottom, due to the oxidization on the top horizontal plastic surface.

 

[ino uno soweno]

 

[ino uno soweno]

[FONT=&quot]Headlight on left shows it is flooded with sunlight, but is as clear as the left headlight, please note they are clearer and more crisp then those seen on the 2 u-tube on this thread. And these also look like new, unlike the paint, it looks like it needs a buff[/FONT]

 

[ino uno soweno]

Please tell me how this method doesn't work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itvunq95sSI

http://www.jegs.com/i/Duplicolor/31...&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CKrI6qPVyrgCFYqi4AodB0MAYw

If you pulled your head out of your ass you might actually learn something.

Please tell me how this method doesn't work. What do you mean work, ?????. I watched your u-tube, and they use allot more then 400-600 you refer too., and a different method used to cure and seal a top coat, all most probably “at “ 3 times the price, on a car that has guaranteed under cover parking, so your link is miss leading to the new guy, unless he wants to pay 3 times the price, and has full time out of direct and indirect sunlight,
Your second link showed a poor clarity restoration similar to what the op and other posters are “not happy with, so also miss leading to the new guy this is better,,

[FONT=&quot]
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[FONT=&quot]Join Date: Sep 2010[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Location: NH[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Posts: 3,465 [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sand them smooth with 400-600 grit or so and clear-coat them with something UV-protective. Worked like a charm on my Miata's tail lights. [/FONT]
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New guys, please note what appears to work on taillights and side indicator lights is absolutely no indication as “to what works “on headlights, because headlights get “much hotter “ then tail lights, and cook and then go cold, then cook the clear coat protector, a heated incubator focused on oxidizing “applied clear coats”, please consider that a headlight gets very hot when standing, then rapidly cooled when driving, ice, snow, cold water, are a major factor in clear coat headlight oxidization, ,
So again, this post is miss leading to the new guy,
You Say, If you pulled your head out of your ass you might actually learn something.
More Anti-Social Narcissism that I read in only some of your posts, which really disappoints me, because I am usually enjoying and learning from the tec stuff you post, and bang, I have think about the ladies, and the other people sharing and posting here are also have to read that rubbish, , in my opinion not good behaviour for where we are, please.

 

[JCH13]

Your polishing method works, for a time. Though, at best, it partially resets the oxidation and degradation process.

Do you know what paint prep is done with? #300 grit usually in my experience. The paint's surface tension makes the outer surface smooth.

By sanding down a lens with #400-600 and then using a good clear-coat (OEM clear coat in shaker cans is available from several sources) you are actually protecting the plastic from UV rays, not just polishing the oxidized layer away. This clear coat can be buffed, waxed and maintained like the clear-coat on your paint and keep the headlight from clouding over again. One can also add tinting to the clear coat for a 'smoked' headlight if desired.

You're right that tail lights don't experience the same thermal cycling that a headlight does. But what you fail to mention (or realize) is that paint clear-coat goes through the plenty of heat-cycling. Take a car hood as an example. Every time your car stops the hood gets heated up quite a lot by the engine and exhaust heat from the engine bay, then you drive it again and it cools off. Over and over. I highly doubt the thermal cycling from a headlight will be any worse.

If you actually enjoyed reading the tech stuff I post, why not give me a little benefit of the doubt? Why not consider what I'm saying carefully, do a little research, and then come back with a reasoned argument about why it doesn't work? Instead you post a bunch of condescending BS that, of course, elicits a harsh reaction from me. Only after this do you bother to explain your iffy logic and insult me personally.

 

[ino uno soweno]

Your polishing method works, for a time. Though, at best,


Let’s cut the b/s and nut this out a bit at a time, together, please, hopefully for the benefit of all.
You said, your polishing method works, for a time.
For a time, please let’s think about that “for a time “with me in a logical and focused manner, one step at a time,


Please note we are talking about either of 2 situations here,


1, situation is a new car has a very light polish on headlights, about 3 mins with a buff each light, , no sand paper, let us say, 18months after new, only visible oxidization can be seen under magnification, but otherwise they look clear,


2, situation is a 10 year old headlights with serve oxidation,


In the first situation, 1, would you agree that most new car headlights last 18 months and still generally show no oxidization, ??,


Do you agree with that, ??. Please,


And would you agree or disagree if i suggested 18 months there is no or little oxidization, and visable oxidization at around 3 years old, ,



If you do not, how long would you say headlights last from new, ??.

 

[ballmode]

I'm gonna try the 3M one here in a few weeks

 

[thomsbrain]

I've tried the kits a few times and never had good results, even after hours of sanding and countless cordless drill batteries drained. I paid $40 to have a body shop clear them and they came out crystal clear. Best $40 I ever spent.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

^^ is the same as what JCH13 is suggesting. Professionally clearcoat them and over time you might save money. Maybe need to redo them every 3-4 years instead of every 6 months.

geeze ino. Pissing contest instigator. Learn to consolidate your posts. Its annoying.

 

[CPricecrispi]

Those $10-20 kits are a rob. If you plan to do them every 6 months you can even use paint swirl remover, buffing compound, or even toothpaste for slight oxidation. You still need a decent UV coat protector that cost $45 a bottle. You can use a clear coat in a bottle, get a 2K version for $25, and be done with it.

For medium to heavy oxidation and chips, you have to wet sand. From 320-400-600-800-1000-1500-200 grit. Then buff polish, and recoating with UV protecting coat or clear coat. Either way it ain't cheap and it's time consuming.

 

[ino uno soweno]

I'm gonna try the 3M one here in a few weeks

I thought these pictures and comments may be of some assistance to you,


1, pic shows light cloudy oxidization, please note the bulk of the oxidization or cloudiness appears to be on the upper orange blinker area, but actually is right across the upper horizontal areas of the light,
Please also note, this headlight is the driver’s side,



2,pic is same headlight at a slightly different angle, and I moved the light source slightly to provide another viewing angle of light reflection,




3,pic shows “your” passenger side head light, some clouding can be seen, but it is only the passenger side, so I would suggest your driver side headlight should or could have more oxidization,




4, shows same headlight pics 1 and 2 after 2 x 3mins quick buffs with G3 regular buffing compound, and big, ?? or normal size variable speed buffing machine,





5, Shows same ( 3, ) headlight at different angle, and I moved the light source slightly to provide a another viewing angle of light reflection.




6, shows passenger side headlight after 2 x 3min buff, the car owner reported the next day that lighting was greatly increased on his night drive home, and arranged to come back asap to remove the rest of the oxidization, ,




I would recommend if at all possible you buff each headlight as above, so you can “see” the depth of the oxidization, and also see where the oxidization is deeper and more intense,


Also I had a look at the 3M kits, and noted the small sanding / polishing disc pad holder,2" to 3" dia, and suggest that the 3m disc pad holder would be great for flatter surfaced headlight, like the red Ford Fiesta shown on other oxidizing thread, but as we know WRX headlights are not flat, and I would be greatly concerned the stiff, flat disc on the overall curvy WRX headlight, might cause even fine grade sanding disc’s to dig in accidently on the curvy WRX surface, again,



I still have grave concerns that I would not attempt to sand the beautiful curvy WRX with a 2”to 3” diameter sanding pad,


Please consider this suggestion, which I will try as soon as I can,
That is to only use a full size buff machine with foam buffing pad, (which in my experience, does fit into and onto a curvy WRX headlight very well, it felt great, ) starting with a fine to regular buffing compound, to clean off the surface to visually locate the deeper patches of oxidization,




Once you are confident you know where the deeper patches are, change Velcro, foam buffing pad to medium firm foam buffing pad, and buff with a course cutting paint buffing compound to ( grind and cut with a course compound, not sand ) the deeper patches of oxidization away, ,


This should cause the surface to become slightly opaque, or cloudy,
Then go back to the regular compound and soft foam buffing pad to remove the opaque scratches caused by the course cutting compound, to again get a visual on any remaining oxidized areas, and repeat until all oxidization is removed, then use a fine foaming ( swirl remover, ) compound ( or dedicated fine plastic polish, ) with a new softest foam buffing pad to final finish,


I do think that a 2”to 3” sanding pad on a flat headlight would work ok, but I also think a 7” dia foam buffing pads, with relative course and fine grinding / polishing compounds would be much faster, and above all safe for WRX headlights,


Good luck, and please take and post pictures of your resto,,

 

[CPricecrispi]

I would avoid the 3M kit. It has a decent pad that is like 2" but using a drill to polish headlights is silly. It's fine on the old style glass square and round headlights but it causes haziness on plastic ones. It has to do with the tight 2" pattern it creates.

Better off buy a bottle of Meguires ScrathX or Lens Cleaner #10 and Lens Protector. If you have a 5" or 7" orbital buffer it will do the job. You are better doing it by hand then using a drill and 2" pad.

 

[CPricecrispi]

Also, anytime the oxidation is bad enough you can't get it off with a towel and $6 bottle of ScratchX or PlastX from Meguiars, you will need to put some elbow grease into the polishing or sanding.

I did basically the same thing in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsHHBk-hZzk. I just sanded lighter using more discipline straight sanding motion, Karate Kid style. Used a bigger bucket of water with a couple drops of soap in it. Did a third and forth polishing step with swirl remover and PlastX , finished with a UV protection coat. For $40 of stuff, you can do several cars. The 3M kit does one car.

 

[yhelothar]

Have you tried PlastX? It doesn't take more than a minute to polish each headlight with it. It's about as much time as it takes to wash a rim. It won't look as good as a full on sand and polish job, but it does a pretty fine job in removing the haze/oxidation.

This might do the trick to maintain your lights.

 

[Thegonagle]

I suggest to everyone that before you spend $30+ and a lot of elbow grease on a kit that may or may not give satisfactory results that may or may not last, you check the price for replacement lamp assemblies for your particular vehicle.

Many popular models have replacement "OEM-equivalent" headlight assemblies for less than $100 per pair.

I just inherited a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan that's worth more to me for the utility value than the $1500 I could get selling it, and its headlights are in awful condition--bad enough to be dangerous, as they scatter the light that's supposed to shine on the road into other drivers' eyes.

I was thinking about one of those polishing kits, but I figured I'd have to do it again fairly regularly, and I don't want to do that.

So I searched Amazon, and found several brands of new replacements for less than $100 for a pair.

I've plugged in some other popular domestic and Japanese models, and found similar pricing.

Just because the dealership wants $300, that doesn't mean the collision repair industry hasn't come up with something a lot more economical.

Even if the replacements aren't as high quality as the originals, if they're DOT certified, I believe they should be fine, and they should last years longer than the results from a polishing kit.

Given the cost for replacement vs. a polishing kit on my Caravan, I'm going the replacement route.

 

[JCH13]

ino,

Did you know that OEMs clear-coat headlights? From the factory every car has some sort of clear coat protection layer on all of it's plastic lenses. When this clear coat wears away the lenses start to oxidize. By simply polishing the plastic you're re-setting the problem to when the clear coat wore off, and you're ensuring that the whole light housing has been completely stripped of it's protective layer.

It is unreasonable to try and predict some general lifespan for the clear coat or buffing treatment as everyone lives in slightly different conditions. I wouldn't even pretend to hazard a guess at what effects different environmental conditions (relative humidity, temperature, ozone content, air quality, acid rain content, fumes from that chemical plant 2 miles away, sand on the road... etc) will have on oxidation rate of plastic.

What I do know is this: polishing headlight housings and not clear-coating them is analogous to sanding down and polishing rusty steel without painting it afterwards. Sure, you got rid of all of the oxidation, but it's going to start oxidizing immediately and the oxidation will be completely unhindered.

The simple fact of the matter is that clear coat is applied by OEMs. OEM quality clear coat is available in inexpensive and easy-to-use shaker cans. By using a clear coat treatment you are stopping oxidation until the clear-coat layer is compromised again, as opposed to polishing, which will begin to oxidize immediately. Applying a clear coat to a light housing is inexpensive, less time-consuming that buffing, and doesn't require any special skills or equipment. That Duplicolor product I linked is designed to completely eliminate any runs or drips in the clear-coat, costs $10, and comes with the prep/polishing compound.

Why do you think clear-coating is a bad idea?
Do you expect your sanding/polishing regimen with several grades of sand paper and buffing equipment to cost less than $10 and take less time?
Is there really anything to hash out? I am willing to accept that there are multiple ways to restore a headlight, but clear-coating them is the best way to do it. I am not willing to compromise on that point for the simple fact that OEMs clear-coat lenses.

 

[ino uno soweno]

ino,

Did you know that OEMs clear-coat headlights? From the factory every car has some sort of clear coat protection layer on all of it's plastic lenses. When this clear coat wears away the lenses start to oxidize. By simply polishing the plastic you're re-setting the problem to when the clear coat wore off, and you're ensuring that the whole light housing has been completely stripped of it's protective layer.

It is unreasonable to try and predict some general lifespan for the clear coat or buffing treatment as everyone lives in slightly different conditions. I wouldn't even pretend to hazard a guess at what effects different environmental conditions (relative humidity, temperature, ozone content, air quality, acid rain content, fumes from that chemical plant 2 miles away, sand on the road... etc) will have on oxidation rate of plastic.

What I do know is this: polishing headlight housings and not clear-coating them is analogous to sanding down and polishing rusty steel without painting it afterwards. Sure, you got rid of all of the oxidation, but it's going to start oxidizing immediately and the oxidation will be completely unhindered.

The simple fact of the matter is that clear coat is applied by OEMs. OEM quality clear coat is available in inexpensive and easy-to-use shaker cans. By using a clear coat treatment you are stopping oxidation until the clear-coat layer is compromised again, as opposed to polishing, which will begin to oxidize immediately. Applying a clear coat to a light housing is inexpensive, less time-consuming that buffing, and doesn't require any special skills or equipment. That Duplicolor product I linked is designed to completely eliminate any runs or drips in the clear-coat, costs $10, and comes with the prep/polishing compound.

Why do you think clear-coating is a bad idea?
Do you expect your sanding/polishing regimen with several grades of sand paper and buffing equipment to cost less than $10 and take less time?
Is there really anything to hash out? I am willing to accept that there are multiple ways to restore a headlight, but clear-coating them is the best way to do it. I am not willing to compromise on that point for the simple fact that OEMs clear-coat lenses.

Sorry J,

Just got major dose of the flu, if it does not kill me, will be back asap, ino.

 

[vshah]

my 2007 civic (bought late 2006) has plastic covers, and they're still perfectly clear

 

[JCH13]

I'll make this as simple as possible for you ino.

These are how common plastics react to UV light: http://www.cityplastics.com.au/uv_resistance.html

Headlight lenses are polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is not UV stable and will yellow and/or oxidize in about a year. Obviously this time depends on local conditions.

Clear coats are acrylic or urethane. Urethane (or polyurethane) clear coats or paints typically contain acrylic. Acrylic is 'one of the most inherently UV resistant materials available' on top of being one of the most optically transparent plastics available.

Would you prefer to have plain polycarbonate plastic completely exposed? Or would you rather have the polycarbonate covered by a protective layer of acrylic?