Plastic headlight lense full of scratches

[Danny S]

Can anyone suggest how i can buff out the scractches in my plastic headlight lenses?

I have scratches on both sides - but on the drivers side it is so bad its hard to see through them! Not good at all and i can see the MOT tester not being too happy about it either

Any product suggestions?

[nelly1]

See here...

[Defcon5]

Can you post up some pics?

[Danny S]

Defcon5 said:

Can you post up some pics?

can do tonight - i get the feeling the marks are from some kind of glue tbh, hopefully will be able to wetsand out

here are the pics the previous owner of the headlights sent me

[EK993]

This stuff is constantly advertised on TV here in the US.. not sure if you can get it in UK??

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/detail/MEG+G1900

http://www.meguiars.com/video/index.cfm?playURL=rt...

[Defcon5]

Never seen that over here, they do a plastic polish though, PlastX or something similar.

I dont think your pics are woking OP, I cant see them anyway

[Parrot of Doom]

You can easily do it with a few grades of paper and some plastic polish, I did mine that way, however, they will soon return to their previous state.

Its simpler and more effective to just get new lenses. The manufacturer's name will be stamped somewhere on them, you don't need to order the complete headlamp.

[Defcon5]

Parrot of Doom said:

however, they will soon return to their previous state.

Its simpler and more effective to just get new lenses.

Why would they return to their previous state? And if they would, surely new parts would just get scratched as well?

[nottyash]

T cut will work as good as any. try it.
Most of my Jap cars have had this problem. I use T cut and Dodo juice lime cleanser just keep rubbing and the scratches will disappear.

[Danny S]

I will go to an auto shop on the way home and see what i can pick up guys expect updates when i get home - with proper pics

[S3_Graham]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This, i've used it on aircraft windscreens and its great, only trouble is if the sctrach is too depp you can get it out, but end up with a dimple in the plastic. On a headlight i cant see it being an issue, but obviously it is on an aircraft!!

[Parrot of Doom]

Defcon5 said:

Parrot of Doom said:

however, they will soon return to their previous state.

Its simpler and more effective to just get new lenses.

Why would they return to their previous state? And if they would, surely new parts would just get scratched as well?

Usually the plastic dulls and yellows with age and sunlight. I shone mine back until they looked great, within 12 months they were back to how they'd been.

[Danny S]

Here are the two naughty lenses!






As you can see one is considerably worse than the other, but they both aren't upto the job imo!

[mattley]

I use AutoGlym Super Resin Polish on the Skyline, it needs doing every 6 months or so.

[Danny S]

Super resin made the second picture look like the first :/

[AddieB]

Nice bit of over spray there too!

[mattley]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Err .... dunno, it's not like I ever drive it fast or anything

Also they kind of haze rather than scratch as such so I assume that some kind of UV degradation is going on.


@OP that's odd, I got the heads up on SRP from the skyline owners forum and it works very well, I guess different mfgs use different plastic so different products are better depending on the type of plastic :?

[Danny S]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I know! basterds... the bumper covers that bit up though, although i think i should be ablet to get that red off

[Parrot of Doom]

Seriously though, those two pictures illustrate exactly the degradation I've suffered on my headlamps. Despite cleaning them for hours and making them look pretty, within months they were back to normal.

It'll cost me about £85 a side to sort them out, but on a Corsa you can buy the whole headlamp brand new from ECP for less than £30. I know what I'd do.

[Defcon5]

Ill have a go with my machine polisher if you want OP. Cant promise anything, but its worth a shot - Im only over in Whitwood