How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

[ViperArry]

but what good does a coating do that you can get light to go through all that well?

I think it is to prevent the inside plastic chroming (mirrors) to start fading or all crackling up.

My guess is that people don't want to change their headlight units every 5 year or so...... due to this.
So maybe that't the reason the UV protection is there?

I don't know how the technical inspections are done in the US, but in the Netherlands we have to pass a YEARLY technical inspection.
In this inspection, the distortion of the headlights is measured....
Fogged glasses and faded mirrors result in a No Go with the inspection.

[popol]

Where can I find 3000 grits sand paper?? I checked at my local part store and they only had 2000 or 2500.. would it be good enough?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by popol
Where can I find 3000 grits sand paper?? I checked at my local part store and they only had 2000 or 2500.. would it be good enough?

Hi popol,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!


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Any PBE store that carries Meguiar's can order you in #3000 grit Nikken Finishing papers if they don't stock them.

You can use #2000 or #25000 if you have a way to remove the sanding marks. In most cases, you want to use a rotary buffer to remove sanding marks. When working on soft plastics, you can often times work the sanding marks out by hand using a peice of terry cloth with some PlastX

[popol]

ok so 2500 + PlastiX would be good??

[Souperman]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

reviving an old thread.

how long do the headlights stay clear before hazing up again?
I mean, havent you sanded off the UV protective layer?

I ask because my headlights started going noticeable foggy/hazy after around 5 years (and i park my car outdoors all the time). If the product keeps them clear for another 5 years, then that's great. but i dont want to be restoring them every few months or so...

[seth1066]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

I thought that what is referred to as a UV coating was a coating to protect the plastic from road rash, gravel, stones, etc. The stuff is incredibly hard to sand off. I used to do it by hand and have since graduated to an air powered DA sander that cuts an hour or more off the job.

[JimboB5]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

Regarding adding a clear after sanding it off due to yellowing, I have used several coatings - canned clear enamel ( doesn't last long ); oddly enough, used water-based poly-acrylic used for furniture, etc. looks very clear and deep and lasts long time with several coats using a QUALITY brush... says not intended for exterior but was on about 8 months with no problem until I used a citrus cleaner to address bugs - took the finish off. If I were to do it this way again - wet-sand, brush on poly', wait a month and polish with mild compound and apply wax ( this is what I did and it looked fantastic until I ruined it with cleaner ). There are kits that do have a clear as well.

[agp56]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

Another option is an optically clear stick on coating that is cut to fit your lights. They go on fairly easy after cleaning. If your headlamps are fairly large and curved the application can get a little tricky to have no wrinkles or bubbles, though.

[JimboB5]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

I had thought about too - applying the X-Pel headlight film... there is another brand that's around... actually have emailed to see if the film provides UV protection and haven't gotten a reply; would be nice though to be able to polish off the crud and put a clear film over it to protect from further degradation.

[Souperman]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

good responses guys...

but specifically
i) does sanding remove protect UV coat? y/n
ii) after sanding and polishing with plastx or other product, how long does the headlight remain looking new before going yellow?
iii) are there other products recommended to prevent early yellowing/hazing of the headlight?

[JimboB5]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

Sanding will usually remove UV coating; I sanded my current lights and used Plastx and have started to turn again... it's been almost a year. After repeating polishing, add a UV protectant - wax or 303 protectant to make it last longer. All info from me has been from experimenting on headlights. I would add a coat of wax or 303 this time... and a coat every wax time. Hope that helps.

[ripple_effect]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

great work! however, how long will that 'clear' look lasts?

[rusty bumper]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

great work! however, how long will that 'clear' look lasts?

I guess it depends on how much sun / UV light they're exposed to.

[JoeDirt]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

I've always just used a 30 second application of 3M Finish Restorer and my mini-orbital from Harbor Freight. I've never gone to sandpaper or wetsanding.

You do need to re-Wax/NXT frequently since you're removing the UV coating, so they don't yellow...

I haven't tried PlastX yet, I was using the 3M before I saw the light and started using Meg's products...

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[CarTaract]

Re: How To: Polish Fogged Over Headlights

[QUOTE=Rick;62187]Alright so I've been meaning to do this for a long time and happen to recently have come across the perfect candidate, a 2001 Honda Insight with 90K miles and 4 years worth of Arizona sun beating down on the head lights. Here's what I had to deal with.



Hi Rik

It looks amazing! However, you have used a polish and wax and you know rhat using this type of product does not renew the polycarbon but just cleans it and the wax is only cosmetic. What you need is after you did the scratching of the surface with the sandpaper you need a formula that puts a protective coating into the polycarbon that will make the headlight look like new and will provide UV protection for a long time. Check out a product called CarTaract its a really good productI have used it it was very simple to use and have many people telling me how good my car looks now.