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Cleaning up manky old headlights......

foxwelljsly

foxwelljsly

Me too, I ate one sour too.
Quick Q for the PFM car massive.....

The surface of the plastic lenses on my car headlights is in a right old state. Google offers up a plethora of ways to polish them up - from coca cola to wildly overpriced drill attachments.

So, before I buy some random crap on the internet and bugger them up; has anyone here succesfully polished some old plastic headlights back to life?

If so, what's the best way to do it?

cheers
 
You'll need some basic cutting paste, cloth, water. Paste might need to be fairly aggressive but not such as to blur the surface, try a little first. t can be quite easy, try a little patch. Paste and be expensive (Farecla) probably some cheaper automotive stuff.
 
foxwelljsly said:
Quick Q for the PFM car massive.....

The surface of the plastic lenses on my car headlights is in a right old state. Google offers up a plethora of ways to polish them up - from coca cola to wildly overpriced drill attachments.

So, before I buy some random crap on the internet and bugger them up; has anyone here succesfully polished some old plastic headlights back to life?

If so, what's the best way to do it?

cheers
Click to expand...
It's the UV protective coating that's probably yellowed and taken a beating over the years with scratches/clouding etc. Once cleaned you can use a cutting solution to remove layers of the old coating (and fine scratches and any discolouration). However it's important that you re-do the UV protective coating once you've removed the old one, otherwise they will simply deteriorate again, only much faster.

Not used it myself, but something like this Philips kit: https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-headlight-restoration-kit
 
Couple of options clean first.
Toothpaste,
Bathroom cream cleanser.
T-cut or if u want to do it properly farcela g3 to get the worst off and then g10 to get any fine swirls marks.
On a damp cloth by hand or u can get the little bluffer pass that will fit a cordless/ mains drill ( slow speed tho)
 
I bought a 3M kit off amazon to do my BMW530 Tourer which was 20 years old and looking decidedly milky

Followed the instructions and headlights as good as new Just a warning the lights will look really milky white until the very last step where you apply the little sachet of liquid which I think is a bit of cyanoacrylate. Very pleased with theend result and being a bit abstemious with the stuff I managed to do my daughters 15 yr old Golf as well Think the kit cost about £20 A power drill is needed to do the sanding.

eddie
 
I have with 3 grades of wet and dry from B&Q (and a ton of water) and then a polish compound on a rotary buffer. They came up like new, about 30 mins per headlight all in. I think I'd have been there all day if I just used a polishing compound.

I did this becasue the kit I once bought had 3 grades of wet and dry in it and a load of unnecessary crap!
 
Polish won't do anything, it doesn't treat the underlying cause of greying/misting headlights. It just superficially makes the surface shiny.

As has been said, need to wet sand it with various grades and then compound it and finally polish it. Plenty of youtube videos showing how it's done.

Personally though, unless it's an "old banger" of a car, I'd be leaving it to the professionals to do. One slip and your paintwork is toast.
 
The Turtle wax kit works well. Cleared my 15 year old Civic's lights 3 years ago and they are still crystal.
 
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I used the tooth paste method on an old Renault.
It came up very well indeed, basically an MOT fail to a pass.
Not all toothpastes are equal for the job though. A simple white paste with salt as its abrasive base works the best.
 
Car polishes are abrasive, some more so than others, their job being to remove light scratches / marring & oxidation.
Car waxes are sealants, usually used after polishing to keep that shiny surface, made by removing oxidation.
There is a common Meguires kit which does work well, as well as Sonax which I have seen do a good job.
Headlight Restoration
 
Found this excellent for turntable lid, a light pad surface and a scratchy bathtub!:
www.greygate.com

Plastic Polish DTD770A - Greygate

Originally developed for restoring clarity to the Spitfire canopies and currently in use by the Ministry of Defence for jet fighters and helicopters. Manufactured to DTD770A specification to ensure the best results in the critical application. Size 100ml bottle this is more than enough for most...
www.greygate.com www.greygate.com
 
Flat and polish 2000 grit then 3m green top you'll have to keep doing them. Alternatively whip the lights out, flat them and laqueur. We do them all the time .....
 
Is there anything you can do to protect headlights once you’ve finished?
 
rbrown said:
Is there anything you can do to protect headlights once you’ve finished?
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I apply a wax sealant then buff off and finish with a dab of rain x.

It'll go cloudy again but takes a little longer. It's the plastic aging I guess.
 
I was hoping for some kind of stick on film that can replaced every year or so.
 
rbrown said:
I was hoping for some kind of stick on film that can replaced every year or so.
Click to expand...
You could try a clear aerosol lacquer. Anything that keeps the air, water and ideally uv light off will help. Realistically though you are going to be doing this to an old car and if you have to do it again every couple of years it's not the end of the world, because you won't be keeping it for ever.
 
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