Early morning commuter car hunting..Volvo S60 D5?

[croakey]

Roger Woods said:

cannondale said:

Try a little bit of Cif on the headlights before buying expensive headlight restoration kits. It worked incredibly well for me.

Interested to know a bit more about the CIF product you mention, mine are tired again........

Isn't CIF a lemon scented bathroom cleaner?

[Roger Woods]

croakey said:

Isn't CIF a lemon scented bathroom cleaner?

Thats what I thought but did not want to sound like a dick.......

[rb5er]

It is a bit abrasive so could possibly work. Not one I've heard before though.

[cannondale]

Yeah, it's bathroom cleaner. Think it used to be called Jif?

It managed to get rid of the UV haze on my Subaru Legacy headlights. I nearly bought a restoration kit but thought I'd give Cif a try first. Seems to have lasted well. At least six months and it sits outside most of the day in the New Zealand sun.

Just wash it off if it doesn't work. No harm done (hopefully).

[ALBA MELV]

1400 wet and dry, t-cut then polish on the wife's Signum last night worked a treat to bring the headlights back in order.

[croakey]

I've got a 3m kit, and some uv protectant.

Then need to source either... New incandescent bulbs (shorter life span).. HID's (illegal and poor light scatter)... Or LED (unknown entity)

Any opinions?

[JakeT]

I would say go for Incandescent. HIDs are illegal as you mentioned but also switching them on and off a lot kills them. Which happens a lot in a Volvo. Osram nightbreakers are a good shout.

[mattfuey]

Another here for incandescent.

LED's I put in my Focus are terrible. Number plate lights failed within a week.

[twoblacklines]

croakey said:

I've got a 3m kit, and some uv protectant.

Then need to source either... New incandescent bulbs (shorter life span).. HID's (illegal and poor light scatter)... Or LED (unknown entity)

Any opinions?

HID's aren't illegal are they?

And they definetly don't scatter if you have projectors in your headlights, which you do.

[JakeT]

twoblacklines said:

HID's aren't illegal are they?

And they definetly don't scatter if you have projectors in your headlights, which you do.

to be legal they need headlight washers and a self-levelling system. Some factory systems (R53 mini, FN2 civic) came with HIDs in reflector housings, too.

[croakey]

twoblacklines said:

croakey said:

I've got a 3m kit, and some uv protectant.

Then need to source either... New incandescent bulbs (shorter life span).. HID's (illegal and poor light scatter)... Or LED (unknown entity)

Any opinions?

HID's aren't illegal are they?

And they definetly don't scatter if you have projectors in your headlights, which you do.

Didn't think I had projectors?

[croakey]

croakey said:

twoblacklines said:

croakey said:

I've got a 3m kit, and some uv protectant.

Then need to source either... New incandescent bulbs (shorter life span).. HID's (illegal and poor light scatter)... Or LED (unknown entity)

Any opinions?

HID's aren't illegal are they?

And they definetly don't scatter if you have projectors in your headlights, which you do.

Didn't think I had projectors?

I do however have washers ... If I went HID I'd get them dropped low enough to dazzle oncoming traffic

[twoblacklines]

Projector next to the amber indicator, no?

[stevep360]

I think that is the indicator - the orange is just a reflector - possibly. There are two versions of Xenons on S60's - one version looks the same as this but with a rectangular section added to the larger reflector and the other looks completely different and are active xenons which turn with the steering.

[croakey]

From memory the orange bit is a marker light, the circle is the indicator and then so on and so on.

Xenons for these command £500+ and I am not that flush!

[croakey]

Well... Today has been an experience.

After fitting the blinds in our renovation project (see homes and gardens for that enthralling tale) I looked outside to see the filthy dirty Volvo looking sorry for itself.

So out came the headlight restoration id spoken about:

Before







Dirtier and hazier than an 18-30's holiday to MAGALUFFFFFFF

Stage 1 - mask up.


Stage 2 - laugh at how much like a dame Edna Saab your car now looks.

Stage 3 - power tool time



Stage 4 - eBay how much new headlights cost as you've totally ruined the ones you had.




Stage 5 - keep working through the various layers of sanding paper in the kit. Begin to feel that maybe you'll be ok.



Stage 6 - explain to neighbour you're not mad just polishing headlights. They leave unconvinced.

Stage 7 - remove tape and buff headlights, then apply the special uv protector. Ignore safety advise to wear gloves because well... Uv protected hands might come in handy.



Stage 8 - admire how much better they look , and how grubby the rest of the car is. Consider getting the bucket out.


Stage 9 - sit down have a talk with ones self and remember dirt doesn't slow it down so leave it for another day.







Fin.

[smn159]

Good job

My kit turned up today, which will be used to polish up the similar looking headlights on my newly acquired V70

[croakey]

The Volvo forum has come up trumps...



My winter wheels are inbound - genuine 16" of some background?!

I am very tempted to tidy them up, but will see how rough the are when they turn up.

Baring in mind how comfy she is on 17's these should ride like a rolls Royce

[croakey]

As a real world use this morning I would say that by sorting the housings I've gained about a third more output and a far improved spread of light.

In other words DO IT.

Now to source some brighter bulbs and I might call it a day.

[croakey]

Another boring update on let's face it a boring car!

After the debacle of ordering the wrong size winter tyres and the subsequent hunt for 16" wheels for it we have made progress.

Admittedly they are absolutely not needed at this moment in time baring in mind it is 16• here - but the tyres that were on it were very close to illegal.

So here it is...





Even got it cleaned ready for the winter.

It looks pure grandad chic right but is so darn comfy!