Cloudy headlights

A few months ago I posted my problem with clouded headlights that were once clear. I know that the responses I received were mainly telling me to replace the headlights. I did have some success in fixing the problem. First of all, I spent lots of $$$ on "headlight restoration kits" that did not work. What did work, although they are not perfect but at least Clear is; I sanded the headlights with "ultra fine" 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper. I kept the paper wet with water while sanding. I sanded each headlight about 15 to30 minutes. After that I used a buffing wheel and buffing compound (made for plastic) in my battery operated drill. I had to buff each headlight about 30 minutes. I also used "Bluemagic" Plastic & Plexiglass Cleaner. and after I was somewhat satisfied with the results I applied "Bluemagic" Liquid Metal Polish to seal and protect. I did this at the beginning of October and the headlights are still clear. I had trouble finding a buffing wheel and buffing compound. I ended up going to a hardware store but I now see that Sears carries the buffing wheel and compound. This is at least an alternative for those who don't want to spend the money on new headlights. Hopefully it will help someone else out.

Steve

Reply to
D H A C
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well to me i would ask yourself the question.. is it worth it and do you have the time.. a lot of us do not.

If you have nothing better to do then scrub foggy lights then so be it.. as for me ill go buy a new lens.

Enjoy...

Reply to
Ken Gallo Jr.

look for Meguires (sp?) plasic cleaner and plastic polish. I have only seen it at automotive paint shops. Two seperate products. The cleaner should get it done for you. With alot of elbo grease or a polisher wheel it will make it look like new.

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Reply to
Scott M

I'm glad you got yours clear again. Thanks for the update.

PoD

Reply to
Paul of Dayton

So what you are saying is that it is less expensive in time, money and labor is to just buy new ones and be done with it.

Reply to
Thomas Moats

No you are missing the point. I AM NOT SAYING " is that it is less expensive in time, money and labor is to just buy new ones and be done with it." It is true that I spent more time and money than I should have but, for me to replace my headlight assemblies it would have cost me $400 plus just in parts....and how much is it in labor to R&R and focus the new assemblies? With my method the costs are around $30 (probably less than the shop supply's and disposal fees for this job at the dealer) and yes it takes about 2 hours - It's just an alternative fix to a common and very expensive repair.

Reply to
D H A C

Why 600 grit sanpaper..... they make 1000 grit and 1500 grit sand paper and they sell it at auto zone by the cans of spay paint........ that would cut down on some of the buffing.. even with 1500 grit sandpaper you got to do alot of polishing with polishing or buffing compound to get the scratches from the sandpaper out of the plastic... i started off with regular Turtle Wax Polishing Compound, cost about $1.79 for a can of it... dampened an old facecloth and used that on each lense to apply and work the compound in, about 5 minutes each and then used a polishing bonnet on my electric drill for about 10 min. each and they looked great.... used some real powerfull magnifier to examine each lense to check out how the yellowing was coming off the lense as time went by.... i tried the sanpaper on some broken plastic lenses and found that it was too course to use, and you would just waste your time by using it...

Reply to
jim

Reply to
Thomas Moats

Reply to
D H A C

Ive done that on my 90 Taurus I only spent about a total of 30 minutes and they came out pretty good, Im going to do it on my 99 Windstar soon, dosnt take much time and its pretty cheap to do, the headlight assemblys from a junkyard are probably at least $90 for my van and will look the same, when I did it on my taurus i used 800 grit then something alot higher, 1500, maybe

16, then used the turtle wax polishing cream.

Reply to
Petebert

One can prevent clouding of headlamp lenses by doing a little preventive maintenance . Applying a polymer polish, like 'NuFinish,' three of four times a years will prevent clouding. Tail lamp cover should be preserved in the same manner

mike hunt

Petebert wrote:

Reply to
MikeHunt

speaking of headlights, any recommends on great headlight replacements for the 94 Taurus wagon model? My assemblies wobble if you touch them, guess the previous owner hit a deer or something. Cheapo plastic holders appear to be broken, although the wobble is minor, not noticeable when driving.

Reply to
John

I had the same problem with a Chrysler product. The lamp assemblies were not available aftermarket and dealer prices were $1,000 + (for both). It was pretty "clear" that I wasn't paying that kind of dough for stinkin' headlights. Thinking I was completely original, I used pretty much the same method as what I saw here.

Oh yeah, you should have seen what the junk yards wanted for them. They didn't take children in exchange. They almost took my wife, Cindy Crawford, but thought their headlights were worth more than her.

The lamps haze over due to UV damage. The problem is prevalent in the South. If the lamp gets too bad, sandpaper is the only way to go since the acrylic coating has to come off. I repaired mine two years ago and they are just about ready for it again. This time they just need buffing.

Reply to
JustAnotherGuy

I appreciate this info. I have this problem on my '88 Thunderbird and my '89 Lincoln, but unfortunately (unlike this joker Ken Gallo Jr.) I dont have

400 bucks laying around the house to save me 2 hours' work. Even at that, it would probably take 2 hours to unpack the new lights and make the exchange anyway, by the time you get them all tweaked into kelter.

Alden

Reply to
The Man of Steel

Anybody ever thought about using Jewelers Rouge??? It will polish glass so it should polish plastic.

Just a thought

Later....Jim from Texas

Reply to
jsellers

I have been doing that for a number of years on my '94 Lincoln. Bought a buffing wheel and a stick of white polishing compound at the local Home Depot. Mounted the buffing wheel on my drill and polish away all the haze that develops. Just remember not to stay too long in one area when buffing as heat is a concern. Makes short work of it.

Reply to
el lobo

If its plastic use 'T cut', the yellow stuff used to cut paint. I works a treat.

Reply to
Deadly

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