headlight lens cover

My neighbor has a 98 mustang that the headlight lens are clouding with a white film on the outside. I was wondering if anybody knew of a way to clean the lens or if he would have to get new ones.

Thanks

Reply to
pete
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Saw something about this in Mustang Times. I'll see if I can dig it up. Basically it's oxidation. There is a way to clean it. Check back later.

Reply to
joe

White polishing compond, and a foam pad on a drill will work WONDERS!

Reply to
Chief_Wiggum

For my plastic lenses I use polishing compound (jeweler's rouge) on a buffing wheel with a hand drill. They make several different grit levels. If they're really bad you might have to use something a bit tougher then polish it out with the rouge last. Kinda like a fresh paint job. just make sure you stick with the compounds suggested for plastic or you might melt the lenses from friction.

I've heard toothpaste and a soft toothbrush works too. It never worked for me though. It cleaned them, but didn't polish them.

Reply to
66 6F HCS

I've tried Bon-Ami cleaner and re-waxing on my '89's covers. It was perhaps

75% succesful, but the covers clouded up again within a year. Perhaps I should've been more aggressive. New covers went on, kept waxed no problems in ~ 3 years.

My '00 covers are just starting to cloud...

bradtx

Reply to
B2723m

The problem is they are plastic and have a hardcoat. As they are polished the hardcoat wears away. Once the hardcoat is gone then the plastic itself will begin yellowing. At some point replacement is required.

I've been polishing my '97's headlamps for a couple of years now. The hard coat is still there, but barely. The driver's side got damaged so I just decided to replace them both with '98 cobra replacement units. I got the reproduction/replacement ones. I figure they can't cloud much faster than the ford stamped ones do. I'll find out.

Reply to
Brent P

I have the same problem with one of the lenses of my '99 Crown Vic. You can apply a coating of RAIN-X or wipe it with mineral oil - what I do before I go in for annual inspection.

Reply to
avoidspam

Reply to
Chuck

On hubby's 88 F250 I used 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper, then buffed it out with rough cut polishing compound, then used finer polishes till I got down to just wax. They lasted a couple of years that way before they started hazing very much again.

Kate

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Reply to
SVTKate

They make a plastic polishing compound. I hadn't found it when I did hubby's lamps. It works great on some things though

Kate

Reply to
SVTKate

i have the problem on a 96 contour... went to parts store and bought a $1.59 can of Turtle Wax Polishing Compound... the paste in a can... got a wet face cloth and worked on the lenses for about 15 minutes each.. then did it again with a bonnet on the electric drill for about

10 minutes........ had some head mounted magnifing lenses so i could see where the haze was located... when finished it looked like new lenses... i also had the hood open and used duct tape to protect the bottom and sides of the lenses so the grit would not rub off any painted surfaces.. removed tape and then needed to use WD-40 to get the sticky stuff from the tape off the painted area(i guess bug and tar remover would work just as well for the sticky tape stuff... lasted about 6 months and the haze came back.... but it sure beats paying over $300 for new lenses.....
Reply to
dbird

Reply to
Chuck

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