Headlight Restoration: How to

[mczimer]

So, as some of you may recall I tinted and wetsanded my LED tail lights a while back. Basically, the process is identical for retouching headlights as well.
*Note: you can buy a Sylvania headlight restoration kit which contains all of the following except masking tape and ScratchX, and it comes with a Lifetime warranty if you screw it up too

To do do this yourself you will need the following from your local AutoParts store:

• Wet-sanding Sandpaper: 400 grit, 1000grit, 2000grit (does not have to be exact, but you need to go low to high, with 2000+ needed for finishing)
• Polishing compound: ScratchX 2.0 or other polishing compound (I highly recommend ScratchX over anything... has given amazing results every time)
• UV Seal/Clear Coat- this stops oxidation from returning and protects lights from scratching
• Tape (electrical and masking tape)
• Lint free towel
• A roll of quality paper towels which will not leave debris
• Spray bottle of soapy water

Step 1:
Soak sand paper in water. Open hood and clean headlights and surround area with water/soap, then rub off with rubbing alcohol

Step 2:
Mask off around the lights using electrical tape (this will stay in place from the water later). Make sure to get slightly under the lip of the lights as well-slightly press down on the bumper to get some space.

Step 3:
Spray the lights with soapy water and then sand the lights using 400 grit with slight pressure going in circular motions. As you do this you will see yellow and white oxidation start running off, make sure to keep spraying lots of water as you go. Do this for ~5min, or until you feel a uniform & smooth surface across the light. Now spray the lights down with water and dry them off with paper towels to inspect the sanding for a uniform hazy look (you will see if you did not do it evenly, or if you need to do more).

Pic after starting 400 grit:


Pic after done with 400 grit:


Pic after done with 1000 grit:


Pic after done 2000 grit:



Step 4:
Repeat step 3 with 1000 and 2000 grit. At the end of each grit process you should see uniform white/cloudy appearance.

Step 5:
Apply ScratchX compound to your buffer or your paper towel and rub the hell out of the lights. The more you do this, and the more you work it in, the clearer your end result will be. Do this ~3 tmes per light, about 5min for each round of polishing.


Pic after polishing with Scratch X:



Step 6:
Your lights will look great now, but you want to keep it that way. Remove all the electrical tape and spray the lights down afterwards to remove any debris, then dry with paper towels.
Now apply masking tape where the electrical tape was, this will protect and allow you to apply the clear coat/UV without worrying about touching any paint.

Take rubbing alcohol and rub the lights down to prepare them for sealing with a paper towel.



Step 7:
Fold a piece of the lint free towel into a 2 inch square.Take the Clear Coat/UV sealer and liberally apply it to the lint free towel's folded edge, soaking it pretty well.
Now for the fun part; swipe the light with the soaked edge, starting from the top of the car's light and in a continuous/steady motion go towards the wheel. You want to go top-down, taking about 4 swipes to get the whole light, slightly overlapping each prior swipe. Now, look at the light for any running (should not be any) and walk away, DO NOT apply more.. you will mess up your new lights. The lights may look strange, but give it a minute and watch as it goes clear as glass.

Step 8:
Let the UV cure in shade for 4-6 hours, undisturbed. Remove the tape & wash the car the following day...DONE

Pic after applying clear/uv sealant:

[JAGspeed6]

Thank you mczimer. I need to do this badly.

[NCZ13]

Nice write up. the outer layers of plastic are starting to peel and get hazy, so theyve been due for a wetsanding. will probably be my next project.

[mczimer]

Here are some pics in daylight, still not cleaned up, but you get the point. Once I get some Windex on these the bitches be comin'...

[Uberfly]

@mczimer

what do you recommend for a UV Seal/Clear Coat? i've never been able to find a decent supply of it that didn't cost me a boat load.

[mczimer]

Originally Posted by Uberfly @mczimer what do you recommend for a UV Seal/Clear Coat? i've never been able to find a decent supply of it that didn't cost me a boat load.

I used what came in the Sylvania kit, but any clear coat should work fine. I do not recommend using a spray though, unless you want to do more wetsanding to remove orange-peel.

[J'sSpeed3]

OK so here's some pics of what have been happening to my headlights lately. They feel almost like tinny little scratches. I tried to get some good pics of the headlights, will this Sylvania kit help with this??

[mczimer]

Originally Posted by J'sSpeed3 OK so here's some pics of what have been happening to my headlights lately. They feel almost like tinny little scratches. I tried to get some good pics of the headlights, will this Sylvania kit help with this??

Well, it will not get any worse, it can only get better. What you have is micro cracks in the plastic. This is usually just on the surface, so if you do a good job of sanding you should hopefully get rid of it. Give it a go...

[Haltech]

Damn, using a Brillo pad to wash and dry the car?

[J'sSpeed3]

Originally Posted by Haltech Damn, using a Brillo pad to wash and dry the car?

lol i use a water blade and a shammy, it's weird it came out of no where really, I didn't even notice it until @slikr mentioned it, not it drives me insane

Originally Posted by mczimer Well, it will not get any worse, it can only get better. What you have is micro cracks in the plastic. This is usually just on the surface, so if you do a good job of sanding you should hopefully get rid of it. Give it a go...

thank you! how much was the kit? did you just get it at autozone?

[mczimer]

Originally Posted by J'sSpeed3 thank you! how much was the kit? did you just get it at autozone?

Kit is under 20 bucks, from any AutoParts store, wallyworld, sears, ect..

[Haltech]

Micro fiber to dry bro... Water blades are dangerous if one spec of dirt gets embedded into the silicone.

[J'sSpeed3]

Originally Posted by Haltech Micro fiber to dry bro... Water blades are dangerous if one spec of dirt gets embedded into the silicone.

So shammy then microfiber or no shammy at all?

[Haltech]

No spammy period..

[J'sSpeed3]

OK so i just finished the whole process with this kit and it looks amazing! I highly recommend this kit even if your headlights aren't too bad. You can see my before pics above with the micro scratches and here's some of the pics now during the curing phase

[mczimer]

Glad this helped you

[SofaKingAwesome]

I'm probably going to have to do this, my fucking 2011 already looks like this. Too lazy to try and go after new ones under warranty, though I did hear rumors on other sites that there was a TSB for them.

[J'sSpeed3]

Originally Posted by SofaKingAwesome I'm probably going to have to do this, my fucking 2011 already looks like this. Too lazy to try and go after new ones under warranty, though I did hear rumors on other sites that there was a TSB for them.

Just do it this weekend, the process takes an hour MAX if you take your time, you just gotta have another means of transportation for 6 hours after lol

[Dash08]

Excellent thread and how to.

I'll be doing this immediately. My headlight housings are proper fucked.

[Boosted Beluga]

mine are messed up but I think it's mostly from my 55w hids. I heard they could melt the housing and i think they are. I could get a pic up later if anyone is interested.

[BZiggy10]

Originally Posted by Boosten Ya(josh) mine are messed up but I think it's mostly from my 55w hids. I heard they could melt the housing and i think they are. I could get a pic up later if anyone is interested.

I know this was a while ago but when I bought my car in 2012 the headlights were perfectly clear. Now looks like shit inside and out of the lens after the 55w HID. Did you have a conclusion to whether or not it was from the HIDs or what you did to fix the issue.

Seems like most people say to bake the headlight but I am going to try using a heat gun and putty knife tonight to remove the lens and hopefully clean and buff the inside.

[Boosted Beluga]

Originally Posted by BZiggy10 I know this was a while ago but when I bought my car in 2012 the headlights were perfectly clear. Now looks like shit inside and out of the lens after the 55w HID. Did you have a conclusion to whether or not it was from the HIDs or what you did to fix the issue. Seems like most people say to bake the headlight but I am going to try using a heat gun and putty knife tonight to remove the lens and hopefully clean and buff the inside.

I haven't done anything as of yet because lazy. I want to take some compound to it and see if it makes better.

[BZiggy10]

Originally Posted by Boosten Ya(josh) I haven't done anything as of yet because lazy. I want to take some compound to it and see if it makes better.

Some of the local Nator guys had the drill kit with the spongy head and some type of compound and did their lights at my house. They did mine also and the outside looked great but the inside was still pretty hazy. After a week the outsides went right back to the way it was if not worse.

I am going to try wet sanding over the weekend and try something to cover the inside to protect from the heat.

[mczimer]

always a good feeling to make people happy...

[TrePaul86]

Originally Posted by Boosten Ya(josh) mine are messed up but I think it's mostly from my 55w hids. I heard they could melt the housing and i think they are. I could get a pic up later if anyone is interested.

If you could post up the damage that would be good info.... As I've recently thought about converting from 35w factory to some 55w'ers as well as upgrade the projector itself.

[Boosted Beluga]

Originally Posted by TrePaul86 If you could post up the damage that would be good info.... As I've recently thought about converting from 35w factory to some 55w'ers as well as upgrade the projector itself.

I'll take some pics tomorrow. My car is dirty so it looks worse then it is.

[aggierandy]

I have seen another user @S-hendrix with this exact problem. I have it too. I believe it to be severe UV degradation. We are both here in Bryan/College Station. Numerous days over 100 F. Neither of us had a garage. He had one side that was worse than the other. I'm gonna pick up a kit and give it a shot. Ill post up some before and afters for everyone.
@mczimer, you said you used this on your tail lights, any pics? I just painted mine with the tamiya paint and they are pretty foggy. I was hoping to attempt something similar for those.

[mczimer]

i was referring to wetsanding. I tinted my tail lights and used wetsanding to get them glass-clear. You could use this procedure to "seal" them once completed.

[Uberfly]

Originally Posted by mczimer i was referring to wetsanding. I tinted my tail lights and used wetsanding to get them glass-clear. You could use this procedure to "seal" them once completed.

put a shirt on! lol, pretty impressive i can see your reflection in the plastic.

[mczimer]

Thread updated with more pics after doing this again on another ms6

[SIXual Panda]

posting up my results with the sylvania headlight restore kit..

my headlights were really about as bad as they could possibly be before i did this. every time i went to a meat, that is the first thing that people would say.. they just stuck out like a sore thumb. i was worried how much the kit would do, because my headlights were not just fogged, but they had 1000's of scratches on the surface. but i figured, it definitely wouldnt hurt it.

and this is my results.

[Don06speed6]

You can do mine when I get home?

[SIXual Panda]

Originally Posted by Don06speed6 You can do mine when I get home?

maaaaaaaaaaaybe.. if you ever decide to visit me down in lancaster!

[mach6]

i'm definitely gonna do this, but after it's all said and done, do you think there's an advantage to laying down some Lamin-x overlays? Figure they should last a bit longer than just the clear coat by itself.

[Don06speed6]

Consider it a date filled with lots of unicorn jiz

[SIXual Panda]

Originally Posted by Don06speed6 Consider it a date filled with lots of unicorn jiz

DONE!!! ill supply the unicorn jizz!

[Don06speed6]

I'll have my own to supply!

[SIXual Panda]

Originally Posted by Don06speed6 I'll have my own to supply!

cant wait!

[cessnan1315efw]

Nice writeup im doing this the next sunny day we have

[btstarcher]

Just finished headlight number 1...so glad I did this!