hazy headlight assemblies

[Hank3]

Duplicolor has a nice kit as well with UV Clearcoat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beb-88hSGvU

 

[mp5la]

What is the lowes sealant trick??? What kind of sealant is used ???

Some have used spar urethane diluted 50% as a sealant. I've never tried it, but suposedly it works. I've always used opticoat 2.0, and now that there's a specific headlight formula I'll probably start using that when I run out of the old stuff.

 

[pcb]

It seems to me that the final stage of a lens cleaning process is the most important. The application of the protectant appears to affect the length of time your work lasts.

Wouldn't replacing the entire headlight assembly have the same problem with fading or do new assemblies last longer ???

(I personally would rather clean my faded headlights than replace them,... I don't replace my clothes when they get dirty either,... I just wash them.)

 

[Hank3]

The UV layer on new assemblies would last longer than headlights that were cleaned and not coated with protectant.

 

[mp5la]

Agreed. However the depo replacements seem to fade out quicker than the oems.

 

[protege3690]

took 10 years for my OEM headlights to fade and haze up. if i can get HALF of that out of an ebay set for half the price of OEM headlights. im a happy camper, again to each his own. its just my preference instead of spending an hour sanding and polishing. id rather spend 30 minutes taking my bumper off and putting new assemblies in and forgetting about having to clear them up for 5 years than polishing them up every few months to a year. jsut MY opinion

 

[Hank3]

I guess the jury is still out on how much longer these "protectants" will keep the hazing from coming back?

 

[CTt3P5]

Jury is still out on the kit I used as I just used it back in April. But they do offer a lifetime warranty (you get a free kit should your lenses cloud up). Sure you have to go through the motions again but they are willing to stand behind the product unlike many others where you have to do the process time and time again. Here's a snippet from their ad:

Permanent Restoration from the Lighting Experts at Sylvania
Unlike other lens restoration products designed just to remove the haze and yellowing, the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit restores the lens to like-new clarity and protection using our proprietary UV Block Clear Coat. This easy-to-apply durable coating has engineered polymers as well as active and passive UV blockers to protect the plastic from future deterioration. No other product offers this level of protection.

 

[Sean2010]

I found any simple Metal Polish will work wonders. Its slightly gritty, and does the job perfectly. It's all i've ever used on headlights and a single bottle (will last multiple uses) is only like 8-10 bucks. Don't waste money on a resto kit.

 

[Hank3]

I personally have been using https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned) by Kit for a year now on my headlights. Works as well as any other kits I've used in the past. I just want to find a complimentary UV protectant now to make the work last longer.

 

[pcb]

^I like the price,... If I just wax the headlights with that stuff every time I wash the car, I'm sure I could stay on top of the fading issue with little effort.

 

[Hank3]

^I like the price,... If I just wax the headlights with that stuff every time I wash the car, I'm sure I could stay on top of the fading issue with little effort.

That's what I basically do these days. Every time I wash my car, I assess how much hazing is on the headlights and re-apply the Scratch Out if necessary. I used to wash my car once or twice a month. These days it's every few months. I just don't care about a 10-yr old car as much. Part of the reason why I sold my '08 MS3...didn't have time to care for it as much as I would like.

And to be honest, 10-yr old headlights aren't going to look like brand new ones...ever, so I don't mind unhazing them every so often for about 5 -10 mins of my time. But I will continue to look for a UV protectant that I can apply just to see if it prolongs the hazing process.

 

[pcb]

I PM'ed mp5la to ask about the "Lowes urethane" and how to dilute and apply it. I am interested,....
I was initially shocked at the price of opticoat products but now knowing you only need a few drops of the stuff I'm "kinda" considering it (but like you said,... it's a ten year old car...)

I think I'll experiment with the urethane,... for $17 a quart,... I'll have lots of leftovers for other projects.
(I made my own undercoating too,.. a 50/50 mix of roofing tar and grease,.. I'm liking it so far.)



Re: About The Headlights...
Originally Posted by pcb
I googled the spar urethane in Mazdas247 and couldn't find anything. I then Googled it at Lowes and they have a quart for $17. Then I Googled opticoat 2.0 and it seems like a good product but at $70 for 10 CC's in a syringe,... that's on the verge of ridiculous to me. You could probably get your car repainted for less than coating it with that stuff.

You're supposed to dilute it with mineral spirits.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...lant-idea.html

That link is a reallllly long discussion over it, but it has the instructions on doing it with the urethane from lowes.

The opti coat is a little expensive, but I usually get it when I'm coating an entire car with it (one syringe can easily do an entire vehicle). Or I'll get it to do a lot of headlight restores (you can easily get 3 or more big headlights sealed with the small amount). Pretty much 5-7 drops will coat an entire fender or door once you've prepped the pad.

Let me know if you still have any questions and ill be happy to help.

 

[rit14623]

Hmm, I've been reading on other forums that once you sand the plastic to remove the yellowed layer, you have plastic that is going to yellow even faster without a UV protectant, regardless of what you use to restore the clarity back (wet sand, polishing paste, and/or both).

 

[mp5la]

It will degrade faster if no form of sealant or protectant is put on it after sanding and polishing.

 

[north42g]

Well, I've used two different brand headlight restoration kits. One was okay but did not last a long time. Another one was as good, lasted longer, but the headlights are hazy again and soon will be going to the yellowing stage.

Anyone had success with a particular brand headlight restoration kit?

i can professionally recommend the brand "3M" head light restoration kit. You will need a drill and some masking tape(blue painters type) I can attest that the business I work for uses this method on a daily basis to snuff up the cars before sale and they come out looking great! They started with the $18.00 kit you can get at Walmart.(google 3m headlight restoration)
they also sell it at auto parts suppliers, but we then started buying all the exact same stuff in bulk. I'm telling you, its the best in my opinion.

 

[north42g]

He has a P5, so cheap headlights are a lot harder to come by. I recommend buying your own sandpaper, wet-sanding the lenses, polishing them, and finishing off with a good nano coating or the lowes sealant trick. Once the headlights have faded it means all the plastic's UV coating is gone, so unless you reseal it's just a matter of time before they yellow again.

Yeah, I agree. apply a coat of regular car wax periodically after the headlight restore to help keep them sealed up.

 

[J_Naoto]

i used the sylvania headlight restoration kit this past weekend. before and after:

 

[CTt3P5]

^^^Looks good and same kit I used. Not hard at all to do and IMO well worth it vs. applying a coat of wax or re-doing them several times a year which I was doing.

 

[anthonyallred]

What attachment do i need for my drill / die grinder to make this easier and more effective? I have the solution but dont want to do it by hand. Let me know. Thanks.