Cleaning up the headlights?

BurningRubber · Apr 22, 2006

Im getting annoyed with the tarnished faded stock headlights... I eventually want to get a set of smoked headlights, but I rather put the money towards something else first.

So my question is... all this crap is on the outside of the lense, so is it possible to buff all of it out and get it back to a stock non corroded lense?

As in... will a buffer and some compound that you would use on restoring paint work? Hell, id even give it a shot with Simple Green or something since its only non painted plastic...

00FourSixGT · Apr 22, 2006

to be honest, i've gotten several opinions and nothing has worked. i am going to get one of those flitz things off tv just to see what it does, but after that i'm buying new ones , not worth the effort anymore

BurningRubber · Apr 22, 2006

00FourSixGT said:
to be honest, i've gotten several opinions and nothing has worked. i am going to get one of those flitz things off tv just to see what it does, but after that i'm buying new ones , not worth the effort anymore

Well, that sucks. Haha. I saw that Flitz thing too, I didnt know if its one of those "too good to be true" things or not though.

I might try it anyway if I can find a buffer to barrow.

Pertums · Apr 23, 2006

i used a mothers powerball with plastic polish. it didn't really 'fix' them, as much as hide its fading under shinyness. there's a 2-3 step kit around to restore fading lights but i'll be damned if i can remember where i saw the link from.

BlackenedSVT · Apr 23, 2006

my stock 02 GT smoked lights are all kinds of faded up. At my tech school, some kid got in an accident in his 01 GT. and he came in the next week with the car repaired. And it had brand new smoked stock lights. It was next to my car and it looked night and day. his were crystal clear and looked SEXY and mine are just all gunked up and my headlights look yellow they are so dirty now....

I need to find a way to clean them out too. I dont want to have to waste money on new headlights, just to get a nice clean look back in them

Seppi088 · Apr 23, 2006

00FourSixGT said:
to be honest, i've gotten several opinions and nothing has worked. i am going to get one of those flitz things off tv just to see what it does, but after that i'm buying new ones , not worth the effort anymore

Wet Sand 2000 Grit Buffer at 1800 RPM w/ meguires Diamond cut 2.0, bam look like new!

DTNODYA · Apr 23, 2006

I will post this again since the last time nobody cared because it was a 'buy new headlights' thread. So here we go. Here is a before pic (after trying to clean it with plastic polish and all types of other ****) and an after pic .. I could only find two pictures of opposite sides of the car, inside and outside. But I put this together so that you could get an idea of the difference. Trust me though, they were originally like yellow/almost gold color and looked like ass.

If you follow this procedure you will be amazed!

You will need:
- 800 grit wet-sand paper
- 1000 grit
- 1500 grit
- 2000 grit
- Some 3M polishing compound
- Another polish you like
- Some time!

The procedure:
- Clean headlights first with soap and water (dishwashing detergent works great to get as much bugs and crap off as possible)
- Wet-sand in the order that I listed above. Start with 800, 1000, etc. The key is to use a lot of water. Keep the sandpaper wet while you sand, this is very important.
- As you start to wetsand the headlights, you will say to yourself "damn I am scratching these things up" ... and you are. They should get more and more hazy and after the 2000 grit they will be super smooth but stupid cloudy (when they are dry) and really clear when they are wet. As you WET sand, you will see some milky looking water .. this is just the crap coming off your headlights. You basically want to smooth the surface by sanding in one direction (back and forth) only. Each stage of sandpaper will make the surface more and more smooth but more cloudy as well. Once you get to the 1500 and 2000 grit, your goal is to WET sand using a plenty of water and you should start to see the headlight get clearer while sanding with water. So, when the headlights are dry, they will be hazy and smooth. But when you are wet-sanding they will appear very clear (especially when you get to 2000 grit). After you have done this, let the headlight dry, or dry it off in the same back and forth direction that you sanded in (would not want to scratch them at this point.
- Now is when the magic happens!! Get out some 3M polishing compound, polish on - polish off and you will be shocked at the clarity (for the crappy design that the headlights are). Then use another polish that you like (step is optional).

Whatever you do, do not WAX the headlights afterwards for at least 1 month. I have no facts to back this up as to why, but I wouldn't.

If you follow those steps, take your time!!, you will have kickass results! I just described it in detail but it is not hard and worth the time (for me at least)

I think I'm gonna save this tutorial I just wrote ...

d98gt · Apr 23, 2006

Nice write-up

I guess I should purchase a buffer one of these days

DTNODYA · Apr 23, 2006

d98gt said:
Nice write-up

I guess I should purchase a buffer one of these days

I know what you mean ... I have been wanting one now for 5 years lol. You don't need one to polish with the 3M. Don't care what anyone tells ya .. just use a pad and some elbow grease ... that is what I did.

d98gt · Apr 23, 2006

DTNODYA said:
I know what you mean ... I have been wanting one now for 5 years lol. You don't need one to polish with the 3M. Don't care what anyone tells ya .. just use a pad and some elbow grease ... that is what I did.

They aren't all that expensive and I'd use it, but I guess i'm just one of the guys that borrows friends tools to avoid spending my money

I know.. I'm a horrible friend

Cantslowdown · Apr 23, 2006

I used 1000 then 2000 then buffed mine look alot better now..

Black Stang 97 · Apr 24, 2006

www.50resto.com has a "kit" to clean them up....take a look...

89lxsport50 · Apr 24, 2006

Can you sand and polish the 01-04 smoked lights too?

COramprat · Apr 24, 2006

I paid 40 bucks to have mine "refurbished". I was pleasently surprised. They cleaned with an alcohol based cleaner then polished with a regular wax and polish. Then they used a "coating" of some sort to seal and bring out the "new" look. Damned if I know the coating contents but it worked really well...

Here is the website but they only sell franchises. Wish I knew where the coating came from.

www.headlighthero.com

00FourSixGT · Apr 24, 2006

yeah canit be done on the 99+ lights? without the design in them like the 94-98 lights?

BadMoFo · Apr 24, 2006

DTNDOYA how long did that take you, sounds like a ton of work but it obviously paid off.

DTNODYA · Apr 24, 2006

BadMoFo said:
DTNDOYA how long did that take you, sounds like a ton of work but it obviously paid off.

It did not take that long. Took about 30-45 per light. But I did my truck the other day to test my 'first time takes twice as long' theory, and it took about 45 minutes to do both of em. It sounds like a lot of work but it really isn't. You just have to make sure that you have the sandpaper, water, shade, and some time ... well and some 3M compound. It's been hot around here lately so I definitely worked up a good sweat but they look 200 percent better in person. In fact, I just did a friends (prelude) yesterday and now he owes me big time.

FWIW, I am in Cola. as well.

2002GreyGT · Apr 24, 2006

I found a similar kit to the one on 50resto.com, but this one is only $15.

http://www.mdwholesale.com/

Do a google on "Headlight cleaning kit" with the quotes.

~K

streethorse · Apr 24, 2006

Take a look at your headlights with a magnifying glass. After polishing
the crap outta mine they were better but still not clear. On closer
inspection I could see tiny cracks inside the plastic, not on the surface.
No amount of polishing would work. So I broke down and bought new ones.

jcint · Apr 24, 2006

yeah cleaning them is temporary. They always get cloudy again. buy new ones!

Cleaning up the headlights?

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