Anyone know if it’s possible to renovate a hazed headlight?
I’ll add a photo later, but wondered if it can be polished out or if it is internal and would need replacing.
I think it is plastic rather than glass but let me check.
It’s an old blob-eye Subaru Impreza, if that matters.
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Yes, reasonably easy to rectify. Some fine wet and dry to remove the UV induced “yellowing” and then polish back up with a rotary and some car polish. Www.detailingworld.co.uk will have lots of examples and I believe that Meguiars actually make a kit designed exactly for your type of issue.
If it's plastic - there are a load of polishing kits available for around £15 to £20 - there are also ways of doing it with items you may have in your kitchen or shed at zero cost ....... but the finish won't last as long as that provided by the pro polishing kits
Toothpaste.
Yes it is, I have done it myself. As previous posts, wet and dry with lots of water. I started at 400 grit, then 1200 and finished on 2500, then used some Brasso to finish.
I don’t know if you can see any difference but I could :).
Autoglym offer a kit for this. Their products are generally very good and used by professionals , so, may be worth a try.
If you have a cordless drill and THIS KIT you’ll achieve the desired result, assuming the hazing is on the outside of the lens.
Plenty YouTube videos demonstrating.
No relation to the firm but we use their stuff .
https://www.autoglym.com/headlight-restoration-kit
Just a bottle of T-Cut and some elbow grease is all thats needed on plastic headlights ... done mine last week, brings them up a treat
For those that have done it before, is there the need to lacquer/coat them after sanding and polishing?
No real need to do so, but the lights will start to deteriorate faster if you haven't used an appropriate UV coating - but it shouldn't be a problem if you are expecting to get shot of the car in a couple of years.Originally Posted by Tahiti
Elbow grease (or a polishing mop) and an abrasive such as brasso, toothpaste etc should get a car through the mot. It's akin to polishing an acrylic watch crystal. There are loads of tutorials on you tube.
I need to do it on my e class but I think I will simply change the headlight cover. It's not that hard to do once the unit is removed and then it really is as good as new.
I did from this ...
To this ...
At the weekend. It wasn't quick so be prepared. Used Meguires kit from Halfords.
I use thin coat of polyurethane varnish (solvent based varnish not so easy to find nowadays but ‘yacht’ varnish with uv inhibitor best).
Can end up doing this every year, some makes seem more prone to fogging than others. Honda bad, Ford good in my experience!
When new they generally have a uv coating, as this wears away the uv yellows the plastic, in an ideal world once you’ve polished them you’d get a coat of plastics friendly lacquer on it but masking and spraying the lenses is a pita. Best to get a couple of coats of hard wearing wax on them and keep topped up to slow down future degradation.
This is why some folk complain that the yellowing returns relatively quickly after being ‘restored’
Last edited by Captain Morgan; 31st March 2020 at 21:27.
Use denim as the cloth. Great job!
Jim
I've done a couple of cars just using brasso, although it takes a bit of effort you can 'see' the improvement\work needed as you go, similar with t cut
That’s fantastic, you even managed to turn it from an offside headlight to nearside! :)I did from this ...
To this ...
At the weekend. It wasn't quick so be prepared. Used Meguires kit from Halfords.
I did this on my old S3, used some UV protectant on them afterwards and they were still fine 3 years later when I sold the car.
Noted! :)
Cheers all.
How do I get the stains from the polish out of my denims now? ;)
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Quick solution
Acetone FREE nail polish remover - soak a cotton wool ball and GENTLY WIPE (do not rub) to remove yellowing.- one or two max wipes per piece of cotton wool - do not press hard.
Wipe any residue on lamp with damp cloth
when dry
Silvo fine silver polish wadding - gentle polish over the lamp ; polish off and final polish with a microfibre and there you go.
10 minutes most. I use this method on my Lexus when required at the beginning of spring and after the summer when the sun /UV yellows them
B
Last edited by Brian; 1st April 2020 at 21:12.
I used Magaires headlight restorer in my 17 year old Mazda MX5, the headlights came up like new, astounded by the result and they stayed looking diamond bright afterwards (don’t use toothpaste)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meguiars-G2.../dp/B01M75GUJB
Another Meguiars user here, brings the lamps pretty much back to new on my 350z and I use just an old rag and elbow grease, there's no need to use the drill attachment.
Do invest in some UV protection for the lamps after though, the reason why they faded in the first place is because the original UV resistant surface had broken down over time. It only takes a few weeks for them to cloud over again in the summer, in my experience anyway.
I don't know what you mean.This ....to this.
I'm getting quite obsessed. Bongo van next.
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