Milky plastic headlamps

[Kitchski]

Headlamps on the old Saab are so yellowed and hazy you can barely see through them! Have tried some elbow grease and wet & dry, but I'd genuinely be there for 2 weeks!

Any products worth trying? Was thinking a buffing wheel or something?

[R8Steve]

3M or Meguiars headlight restoration kits seem to produce the best results here.

Alternatively a lot of work with various grades of sandpaper/compound will produce good results.

[S0 What]

Try harder?
I do a lot of them, start with 1200 and get finer, i finish with 2000 grit them some G3 on a polishing mop, if i want it to last to the next MOT i then lacquer them, you can get special kits but they only contain plastic mopheads instead of sandpaper and a polishing compound, i probably "repair" 6 or 7 a year, mainly astras or fiestas, vauxhalls fade worse than most or rather (astra G and H) seem to, or maybe i just see a lot of astra

[eybic]

It depends how bad they are.

I saw good results using whitening toothpaste and a cloth (no, really) on a Puma's plastic headlamps.

[R8Steve]

S0 What said:

Try harder?
I do a lot of them, start with 1200 and get finer, i finish with 2000 grit them some G3 on a polishing mop, if i want it to last to the next MOT i then lacquer them, you can get special kits but they only contain plastic mopheads instead of sandpaper and a polishing compound, i probably "repair" 6 or 7 a year, mainly astras or fiestas, vauxhalls fade worse than most or rather (astra G and H) seem to, or maybe i just see a lot of astra

Nissan micras always seem to be the worst, PH2 clios not far behind.

[Winky151]

S0 What said:

Try harder?
I do a lot of them, start with 1200 and get finer, i finish with 2000 grit them some G3 on a polishing mop, if i want it to last to the next MOT i then lacquer them, you can get special kits but they only contain plastic mopheads instead of sandpaper and a polishing compound, i probably "repair" 6 or 7 a year, mainly astras or fiestas, vauxhalls fade worse than most or rather (astra G and H) seem to, or maybe i just see a lot of astra

I've done both my dads Astras (G) but started with 400 & got finer. Took about an hour & half.

[Kitchski]

Thanks guys.

They're really bad. 2005 Saab, so probably the same st plastic Vauxhall use anyway!

Have tried with paper, but I just don't have the motivation to see it through. I'd be there for a day, honestly. It's just a daily smoker, but I'd obviously like decent headlamps!

Might give one of those kits a try. I don't have a polisher or anything like that, so might need to borrow on.

Cheers

[smudgerebt]

AutoGlym do a kit which has everything in it as a pack.

You will need a drill to use the atchement.

You might be able to buy it from Halfords.

I got mine from AG HQ on the Detailing World open day.

[Alex_225]

R8Steve said:

.....Meguiars headlight restoration kits seem to produce the best results here.

I picked up this kit from Halfords and it's worked fairly well on my 03 E Class. They're not perfect but the wet sanding seems to have taken the main yellowing off the lights.

Then used the drill bit attachment to work the Plast-X into the headlights and they certainly look pretty good. They're not perfect but I reckon some Scratch-X via DA will give them a helping hand and come up shiny.

Not perfect but passable (especially for a 13 year old car!)





I think with a bit more refining they will come up really good.

Meguiars also sell a spray that goes over the lights that makes them apparently look crystal clear, I may buy that kit once I've polished these and see if it gives them that crystal clear finish.

My other half's SL is ten years old and the headlights are perfect but i guess a more expensive model gets glass rather than plastic headlights!

[CaptainCosworth]

eybic said:

It depends how bad they are.

I saw good results using whitening toothpaste and a cloth (no, really) on a Puma's plastic headlamps.

Yes, seen this advice on plenty of detailing forums. Never tried it myself tho...

[Alex_225]

Have heard the same with toothpaste as it's essentially an abrasive, can imagine that T-Cut probably offers a similar cut.

If they've started to yellow and you can feel the texture isn't smooth as it should be, you'll need more than just a hand polish.

The ones on my car above, had yellowed slightly and were rough to touch. They should polish up to perfection now though.....hopefully haha

[anonymous-user]

Started with wet & dry then moved on to some micro mesh. Took maybe an hour of two. Then some t-cut. Every few months when they start to go slightly hazy again I put some t-cut on.

[Kitchski]

Thanks for all the advice chaps.

I did debate buying some new ones as two of the bulbs have died and it looks like a bumper-off, headlamp-out job to put it right. I figured if I've got to remove them, may as well change them, but then I noticed they're £150 each! Maybe not.

Can't say the prospect of having to polish the headlamps every six months fills me with joy. I've never even polished the paint before! Maybe look into some protective clear film to go over them. What causes the crazing, exactly?

[tr7v8]

UV Light. I did the Jeep ones last year, started with 800 in a bucket of water with some fairy in, then 1000-1500-2500 then AG Paint Renovator, finishing with AG Super Resin polish. Still look OK & they were horrific before. Took around 30 mins for both.

[anonymous-user]

Kitchski said:

Thanks for all the advice chaps.

I did debate buying some new ones as two of the bulbs have died and it looks like a bumper-off, headlamp-out job to put it right. I figured if I've got to remove them, may as well change them, but then I noticed they're £150 each! Maybe not.

Can't say the prospect of having to polish the headlamps every six months fills me with joy. I've never even polished the paint before! Maybe look into some protective clear film to go over them. What causes the crazing, exactly?

It only takes 5 minutes to re polish, do it when washing the car

[Kitchski]

AVV EM said:

It only takes 5 minutes to re polish, do it when washing the car

Will the ASDA car wash do this for me? I can't say I've ever washed it by hand

[Alex_225]

Bought the Meguiars two step kit today which contains a spray can and polish. So masked up the surrounding paintwork, wiped the headlights down with the polish provided and sprayed the lights.

Looks great now.

[Cyder]

UV resistant lacquer over the top and jobs a good'un you then shouldn't need to do them again.

[Kitchski]

Alex_225 said:

Bought the Meguiars two step kit today which contains a spray can and polish. So masked up the surrounding paintwork, wiped the headlights down with the polish provided and sprayed the lights.

Looks great now.

I don't want to sound like an ahole, but they still look quite milky to me. Got any before pics? Trying to work out how bad mine are in comparison to everyone else!

[Alex_225]

Compared to what they were they are a hell of a lot better. They're still not 100% but I wouldn't have been surprised if the next MOT would have been a failure based on the headlights.

For 13 years old these look a lot, lot better. This is how they looked when I first got the car.



And now...



Not perfect but a lot better.