Did the headlight restore

Topic: Did the headlight restore (Read 5173 times) previous topic - next topic

Did the headlight restore

March 04, 2006, 09:07:59 PM

I sat down the other night and took the good ol' wetsandpaper to the marker lights. They looked awful being all yellow next to the new headlight lenses I got last November. I was utterly amazed at the py selection of sandpapers both Home Depot and Lowes in my area had. The guy at Lowes looked at me funny when I asked for 1000 grit wet sand paper, and the highest they had at Home Depot was 400. Home Depot told me to hit up a local hobby shop that actually carried up to 3000 grit wet, they only had the 1000 in stock though, so I made due with 400, 1000, and the buffer bit on my Dremel. They look a lot better now, but don't come close to the brand new lenses in the middle. It was night time when I started, so I wasn't able to get before pics, but I'll upload the after pic when I get home from work.

Did the headlight restore

Reply #1 – March 04, 2006, 10:00:23 PM

what kind of hobby store was that! even walmart carries 3000

Did the headlight restore

Reply #2 – March 04, 2006, 10:54:42 PM

Lol you know I checked Target because I was already there when I decided to do the lights, and they only had stuff for power sanders. It didn't even occur to me to check Wal-Mart. Like I said, the hobby store carries up to 3000, but they were currently sold out of it and the 2000.

Did the headlight restore

Reply #3 – March 04, 2006, 11:47:45 PM

Did you clean out teh inside of the light?..BC i want new head lights for my car, hopefully a reasonable price..(88 T-bird)

Did the headlight restore

Reply #4 – March 05, 2006, 01:39:18 AM

mine came up new look'n but when i did them i used 1000 grit then 2000 grit and got my friend to use his plastic polish and buffer.

Did the headlight restore

Reply #5 – March 05, 2006, 05:16:03 AM

No I didn't. I didn't really want to crack them open and risk damaging them without having a backup set.

Did the headlight restore

Reply #6 – March 05, 2006, 08:43:52 AM

you shouldn't have to clean the inside... just sand em good on the outside and use a rubbing / polishing compound to get the dirt out. and then take a can of clearcoat spray paint and give it a couple of thin layers. the insides don't weather that much.

Did the headlight restore

Reply #7 – March 05, 2006, 10:33:32 AM

THe inside of mine look bad on the inside. I was looking for some insite on how to clean that with outpulling the lens. I used hot water and Simple Green,but still has a sspooge on the inside. Any ideals?

Did the headlight restore

Reply #8 – March 05, 2006, 10:33:39 AM

Well my seals are bad cuz the inside gets a lot of moisture in there. and their all yellow blah!

Did the headlight restore

Reply #9 – March 05, 2006, 02:36:39 PM

Lol it's actually kinda funny that people talk about seals being bad, because I noticed on mine, that at the bottom of each lens there is like a little triangle notch cut out for ventilation. I suppose that if there is more air getting in than what that notch allows then that could cause condensation. Anyhow, here's the pic.

Did the headlight restore

Reply #10 – March 05, 2006, 07:24:42 PM

Quote from: 5.8fastcat

THe inside of mine look bad on the inside. I was looking for some insite on how to clean that with outpulling the lens. I used hot water and Simple Green,but still has a sspooge on the inside. Any ideals?

I read somewhere of filling up the lenses with a solution (soapy water, simple green, etc.) and a good amount of crushed egg shells. Then shake the bejesus out of it.
I've never tried, but I suppose it could work.

Did the headlight restore

Reply #11 – March 11, 2006, 05:10:54 PM

I just polished my headlights a couple of weeks ago and i found a great product for it. Its called Meguiars PlastX: clear plastic cleaner and polish I had only sanded with 1000 grit paper and with just rubbing the polish on by hand in one application the lenses were nice and clear plus it says it has polymers to protect the lenses from discoloring. Hope this isnt a repost but i thought i would share what i found and hopefully help someone else.
Andrew

Did the headlight restore

Reply #12 – March 11, 2006, 05:16:16 PM

Hmmm, I've heard of some things like that, but not from them. Meguiars makes a great product, I'd check it out, but I really don't feel like resanding and all that jazz just to apply it. Plus I already sprayed on some clearcoat.

Did the headlight restore

Reply #13 – August 17, 2010, 06:00:31 PM

The ultimate solution:

All you need is an Advance Auto, drill, and $20.

The kit comes with a buffer/shine compound that is neccessary to get the full clarity out of the lenses, but I would reccomend using some of the aforementioned Plast-X to protect the new finish surface. Otherwise, this kit works really great.

Oh, and whatever anyone thinks is on the inside of your lenses, trust me, its not. Unless what you are seeing is on the actual chrome reflective housing of the assembly (which could be faded off entirely, headlights are virtually useless if so, regardless of how clean). If what you think you are seeing appears to be on the backside of your actual lense, its not. I kept thinking that myself, but 99% of the time, its just an optical illusion.

For the chrome coming off, you have 3 options. 1. Find a brand new housing. Good luck. 2. Send it off to a chrome shop and have them re-chrome it for a nice big chunk of change. 3. DIY, and pry off the headlight lense. It comes right off if you run it under some hot water for a couple of minutes to loosen the glue. Some peoples might just come right off.(mine did). Its easiest if you take the whole housing out of the front of the car, otherwise, get some painters tape and a lot of paper, cover EVERYTHING on the front of your car including the behind the grill and on top of the hood, and spray the inside of the housing with chrome spray paint. Trust me, this works really well, I've done it myself, and it makes a hell of a difference. I used Dupli-Color cheap ass spray can paint.

Here are two pics of my two cars I used it on too. The one on the Cougar was absolutely horrible. You could not see through the lense to the inner housing it was so cloudy. It has definitely faded since I did it, but you can see what it does. This fading is why I recommend a top coat such as the Plast-X stuff. You can see what I mean about the chrome coming off if yo look at the inside of the headlight. (also, ignore the turn signals. They are very cracked, this is not reparable surface damage.)

The other pic is on my 96, they are crystal clear. And they looked like hell before, every bit as bad as the 87/88's. They are a little buggy though.:D Haven't washed them lately.

If you do all this right, it is a little time consuming, it takes about 1.5-2 hrs to do both headlights, depending on your experience with taping, and probalby another 1.5-2 hrs to rechrome them if necessary. But, the outcome will be well worth it, and if you combine all this with some Silverstar Ultra bulbs, you will be able to see extremely well at night, and will have a nice high end bright white look coming from your front end at night!

Did the headlight restore

Reply #14 – August 17, 2010, 08:33:51 PM

Chrome paint is terrible - polished aluminum tape worked the best in my past experiences but still did not compare to new headlights. I got the old lights perfectly clear again with sandpaper and rubbing compound after the lenses were opaque and it held with minimal maintenance (wax) until I sold them to get new headlights (like twice as bright as "repaired" reflector). I also removed the casting marks on the lenses so the headlights were perfectly smooth side to side.

Proper refinishing - a kit should be able to just as good but not in 2 hours. Getting the headlights like new around the casting marks takes a lot of time which is why I just ground and polished the spots instead.

Wow...those were over 5 years ago on my first digital camera...