Faded Headlight Restoration

[Jasta11]

Hi All

Just wanted to share with you what I got up to on the weekend with a DIY restro on my faded headlights.. After years on the road your polycarbonate plastic lights dont look as clear as they could from dirt and sun damage.

Here we have the before and after shots of my Pajero head lights. As you can see the lights were rather sun faded.

Step 1: Mask off around the headlight with some tape to protect the paint.

Step 2: A quick clean with soap and water I gave them a rub with 1500 wet and dry to get out the hard scratches and stone hits. As you are sanding you MUST use lots of water to keep the paper clean. Sand in any direction you want using the flat of your hand or use a sanding block.

Step 3: 2000 wet and dry was used to sooth out the finer scratches. At this stage the light looked worse than when I started.

Step 4: Using a cutting compound and a electric buffer start buffing the light. As you buff keep a spray bottle at hand to keep the polish wet. With even pressure polish the light to its original condition.

Step 5: Final step is to seal the light with a good carnauba wax by hand...........

This was the result..... Easy and looks a bit better then before. Don't know if this has been posted before of if anyone has a better way of doing it, but this worked for me.


Forgot to mention tat it only cost me $1 per sheet of wet n dry and $20 in polish that I needed anyway. So if you have the polish, $2 bucks and 45 minutes = great looking lights.

Thanks

Jas

[pajeroexceeder]

Wow that looks magnificent!
Good job

Pajeroexceeder

[Aumissions]

Fantastic!
Guess what I am going to do this weekend?

Thanks for this.

[jjacer]

I did the same a while back and it lasted about 2 weeks before discolouring again unfortunately, however I accidentally spilled a coupla drops of metho on one of the headlamps and guess what..completely clear!..I got brave and decided to go nuts and wipe them both with a metho soaked cloth and the orange stain came away easily leaving the lamps crystal clear.
Now I don't know what the long term consequences will be but it has been a month so far and the discolouring hasn't reappeared-I'm stoked-not recommending just sayin what I did seems to be very effective.

[Bennyboy]

Have done similar, but using a kit available from auto parts shops, from memory has about 4 or 5 steps to it. That was at least 18 months ago and still looking good....

[BrisVegas]

Nicely done Jas.

[Steve_H]

Good job. Just be prepared for the lights to fade again unless you put a good UV sealant on the lights, a wax most probably won't be good enough. Some headlight restoration kits come with a sealant but I did a mates car with some Klasse Nano Sealant last week and that should last for 6 months I hope.

[Lance]

Yes, I'm also a bit concerned that you may have broken right through any protective coating of the face of those lights.
I'd be getting some form of UV protection onto them quickly before you have ingrained grit and grime to contend with.

They lasted 7-8yrs first time round, not sure you'll get that from them after the restoration.
But yeah, they do look nice.

[luvthatpaj]

I did the exact same on my KJII Verada GTV healights, they were shocking when I got it. Only difference in the steps I took was instead of a cutting compound I used Mequiars PlastX (about $18) to finish them off, by hand. And the "foggyness" has not returned.

[Snapcatcher]

Did mine with metho and a rag last week. Took less than five minutes. Wouldnt mind if I have to do it once a month.

[House]

Just tried out the metho rag but on closer inspection mine seem to be cracking and getting a kind of orange peel effect going on. Any ideas? It seems to be happening on the inside. Can this be fixed??

Sorry don't mean to hijack this thread.

[Pauly Faulkner]

Just beware of using Metho or any alcohol products on any type of poly as it can crack and dry out the Poly lens in the longterm.

House you need to take the light out entirely and use something to clean the light out internally most likely.
Shower power is probably a good solution, i've used it on acrylic and polycarb many times and works great, takes off some hazing as well.
It's a mild citrus solution that's safe to use on chrome, silver, Alu, copper, glass and plastics.

[GHendo]

When I bought my NP in 2003, the dealer offered to put headlight protectors on and they turned out to be stick-on ones - comes like a piece of thick (5mm) contact that is supposed to absorb any stones etc. that hit the lens.

The stuff proved very successful and I bought some myself and put it on my spotlights when I got them a little while later. It was fine up until about 2 years ago (ie. it was getting up to around 7 years old), when I noticed the glue was breaking down and eventually I removed it from the headlights and spots - was quite a job getting it off actually.

I have noticed however, that my original lens in the headlights are as good as the day they went in - no discoloration or anything. The chap who sold this stuff around here was a plastic welder but has moved from the area. I think I may try and chase some more up as it appears to do a good job in more ways than one.

Cheers

Geoff

[breadman]

I got the same results using a drill powered buff (small one) and Meguiars Plastx, That was 12 months ago, maybe once a month I'll wipe a small amount of Plastx onto the light, Let it dry and wipe it off and the lights still look as good as new.

[luvthatpaj]

PlastX is gold. For the price, amount you need and size of the bottle. Can't beat it.

Will be hitting the new Paj tomorrow with a dose. I'll post before and after shots....