[ledsled]

I've read of a lot of different ways to remove oxidation from your headlights and a lot of different products that are also supposed to do this. Anyone got any tips on what works best and how you restore your sun damaged headlights like new again?

 

[Dustan]

Well what i do is take either 1000 or 1500 grit sandpaper and wetsand them down, takes a little time then after desired affect is achieved i take my orbital buffer and some light polishing compund and buff em out..aprox 750-1000 rpm or so

 

[Dustan]

Where you at in Florida? i see BFE and i think thats where i live lol

 

[JD94SS]

Mr.Clean magic eraser, some elbow grease, and a bucket of warm soapy water worked real good when I did my Riviera headlights. Just waxed them after and they were like new.

 

[wagonss]

headlight mask

After you sand them down and polish them, be sure to put some headlight mask (I used the clear, don't like tinted headlights.) Once you sand and polish them, they're more susceptible to UV damage.

 

[DropYurz]

Although I have never used it, Meguiars make a headlight restoration kit.

http://www.meguiars.com/estore/product_list.cfm?sectionname=Consumer%20(Meguiar's%20Brand)>Clear%20Plastic%20Care&sectionID=15101

 

[Nine Chuck One]

you gotta try the 3M kit. i have used it and have great results.

I took each lamp out off the car, I filled down the alignment pins so the whole headlamp is smooth. makes it much easier to sand. (I use a different way to adjust my headlamps)

http://www.google.com/products?q=3m...a=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4

 

[dope92cc]

Wet sanding would be the last resort.

That resto kit should suffice. GM actually knew what they were doing in the 90's:
do it after a wash! Mask off everything around the lens, use a some pressure on the first few passes then ease up on the final passes.

If you have to wet sand before polishing. TAPE OVER THE SOCKET HOLES. Use 2000-3000 wraped around a soft rubber sanding pad and sand in straight lines going the same direction.

I used only a mothers mini powerball with meguiars plastX. It worked great on my 92.

 

[Dustan]

ill post pics of my old camaro lights when im not on a govt computer that blocks photobucket

 

[dope92cc]

GM probably used ****tier plastic in 01. My brothers 00 and 02 silverados had some very badly oxidized taillights that actually needed wetsanding. Compounds wouldn't faze them.

B Bodies have better plastics than that and require much, much less work to restore... But we have no idea of the condition of the lenses being questioned. So you could be right... For all we know it could just be a layer of dirt.

Thread starter; post a pic of a headlight!!

 

[Dustan]

Before:

After:

 

[ledsled]

Thanks for all the help on this thread guys!!! I knew there was different ways so wanted to find out how guys on the forum tackle it. Thanks again!!!

 

[Squirrelee]

I used Meguiar's PlastX on the wife's FoMoCo product. You can find it at WalMart, auto stores, etc. The lenses were so cloudy I'm surprised she could drive at night. They do cloud up again within a few months, though, so a clear coat after cleaning does seem to be a necessity.

PlastX also did a nice job cleaning up my RMS guage plastic.