Cleaning The Headlights

[GreenFence]

You may recall me posting last year in regards to headlights. I did upgrade the globes but light output is still insufficient (and frankly pretty dangerous) and I'm leaning toward the cloudy headlights.

What products do you guys recommend for a quick and hopefully cheap fix? 

Cheers

[campbeam]

I have previously used toothpaste on my headlights. Grabbed this idea from YouTube videos. No guarantee that this is going to work well on cloudy headlights. Ideally after cleaning the headlights, you also want to seal them.

You will be better off going to SuperCheap and getting a headlight restoration kit -currently on special $28 until 17.05.2020.

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/turtle-wax-turtle-wax-headlight-restorer-kit/283622.html?cgid=SCA01010401#start=1

If it is only mild yellowing [most likely in your case, then this product $13 on special

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/turtle-wax-turtle-wax-headlight-cleaner--and--sealant---266ml/346111.html?cgid=SCA01010401#start=2

Looks like I have got another item to consider when I go to SUperCheap this Saturday.

[LordBug]

I've been meaning to getting around to doing mine, but I believe for a long-term fix, you'd want to;

1. clean them up with wet sandpaper

2. paint them with a 2 pack gloss clearcoat

Not really the quickest fix, sandpapering the oxidisation off won't take long but waiting for the clearcoat to dry will take a bit, but the paper is dirt cheap, and the clearcoat shouldn't run you more than $30.

Though if you end up with runs in the clearcoat, that'd require extra sanding and then polishing on top, so potential for the time to blow out a bit 😛

[Tony Prodigy]

Don't paint them. No No No.

You can recover them. It depends on how badly oxidised they are. If they are rough to the touch, then you may need to wet sand them with 1500 wet n dry then 2000. Most times you won't even need to sand. 

If you can get access to a rotary polisher or a DA polisher with a sponge pad and some cutting compound you can make them look like new again. You will then need to put a coating of sealant over the plastic. Same as you would for paint. This will help preserve them for a while. It may require two or three passes to get them to a fine finish. If you lived close by I'd do them for you free of charge.

Best remedy is to try and park the car in the shade to avoid sun damage.

I had to do mine recently as my car spends a lot of time out doors and it's unavoidable sometimes. So I periodically get my Flex out and polish them back up and seal them.

This was my situation a little while back. I only have a 'before' shot of the drivers.

 

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Tony Prodigy

[campbeam]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Certainly setting a platinum grade standard.

Looks like I have got a lot more work to do to really clean the headlights before sealing them.

[LordBug]

Really curious Tony, why do you advise against painting them?

[Tony Prodigy]

3 hours ago, LordBug said:

Really curious Tony, why do you advise against painting them?

It gets messy over time. They want to try and sell you something for everything and usually the simplest methods can be the best methods I find. Youtubers are also scrambling to make extra content and try to convince you that you need to do this. I don't buy it and I don't fall for marketing hype either.When have you seen a youtuber do a video 6 months later, most likely never. They will show you how easy it is and and amazing it looks. Everything looks good in pictures and video but in the real world it isn't.

Removing headlights is fiddly and they will require prepping too. You will need a clean environment, have the correct temperature, apply the paint evenly and even when you have all this you will still get dust and other airborne contamination on the surface as the paint cures and it will look terrible. 2 pack paint is slow to cure. It doesn't flash off like acrylics do. Over time the paint will degrade too, and it will, and then the optical clarity will be affected. It will look fine a while, if you don't look at them too closely but you will start to hate it later.

For me, I prefer the natural plastic. It can be polished to a very nice finish, have optimal clarity, then you can simply apply a good quality sealant (the same as you would for your paintwork). The sealant will have U.V. blockers built in and it will be a periodic application. Nice and simple.

I did mine around 3 months ago and they still looks as good as the first day.

It's entirely up to you of course, but I'd keep away from paint.

 

[LordBug]

That's some solid input, and now I'm kinda glad I haven't done it 🙂

[Tony Prodigy]

10 hours ago, LordBug said:

That's some solid input, and now I'm kinda glad I haven't done it 🙂

Thank you Sir. Very happy to help Bertil. Like I said, If you lived near me, I would happily restore your headlights for you no charge. I get great satisfaction from restoration work, even down to the simplest things like this.

[Buddah Kahuna]

I was lucky my car came with head light proctors, which helped keep in good condition, but I bought the  turtle wax head light restore not the Kit,  and worked really well and bought them back to new,  was very happy 

[Tony Prodigy]

2 hours ago, Buddah Kahuna said:

I was lucky my car came with head light proctors, which helped keep in good condition, but I bought the  turtle wax head light restore not the Kit,  and worked really well and bought them back to new,  was very happy 

Hi Mark, Yes the headlight protectors will protect, but only from stone chips unfortunately. They are still exposed to UV which oxidizes the plastic causing them to fade and go hazy. The best cure is prevention, but as we need to drive our cars they are mostly exposed and we have to polish them back up periodically. I also apply a sealant coat which also protects them from UV.

[Jaggi]

Can anyone suggest me how to clean the low beam projector lens from inside. It’s getting foggy. I have put philips LED bulbs for better vision. I have restored my headlights from outside as they look nice but still not getting sharp beam angle & clear cutt off because the inside of the projector lens is foggy. Aurion ATX 2011

[campbeam]

Immediate thought is to remove the bulb then use a hair dryer to blow hot/warm air into the headlight housing to dispel any water vapour. Expect that you will have to use some flexible piping. Best to do this on a dry, low humidity day.