Hazy Headlights!

P

pmanliu

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Car
2017 WRX
Hey all,

So my headlights are yellowing and hazing (replaced my 2008 ones with an older pair that was blacked out) and its been bugging me lately.

I've been looking into DIY kits such as the 3m one that uses a power drill (see below) but hesitant to pull the trigger because the surface on our lights is not exactly smooth with the weird shapes and bump near the turn signals.

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on how to go about this? The 3m one requires a drill but if anyone has had good experience with a sanding process by hand. If anyone in the tri state area can recommend a good detailer to do this also, that would be great!

Lastly i understand that you have to wax the headlights after the process to prevent it from crapping out again, so any decent wax should work right?

Thanks all!

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Usually cloudy headlights are a sign that the UV coating on them from the factory is no longer on there. Polishing will remove them, but eventually it will just come back again. Even if you just wax it. That's what happened on my old Altima.
 
Yeah, been researching and looks like no fix is permanent and this will require continued maintenance.

Was thinking of spraying a clear coat on the headlights after the polishing is done. Maybe this can act as a uv coating?
 
You could clear coat em, that would def protect them and stop it from comming back, I had the same problem but I just buffed mine out with 3m compound and they look great. Crossing my fingers, it's been 2 months still good. If they get nasty again I'll prob Clear em
 
Slamming45 said:
You could clear coat em, that would def protect them and stop it from comming back, I had the same problem but I just buffed mine out with 3m compound and they look great. Crossing my fingers, it's been 2 months still good. If they get nasty again I'll prob Clear em
Click to expand...

summer will be a good test. We haven't really seen too much sun the last 2 months.

Wouldn't clear coating them after buffing them out be the best thing to do? Then maintain it with some uv aero protectant or something similar?
 
they can be wetsanded & then clearcoated, probably pays to do a very light tint at that point too. you would clearcoat them while there sanded, not after polished, once you shoot the clear they'll look crystal clear & you won't see any sanding scratches. if you polished them then cleared it won't stick well, chip & peel. to clear the headlights they should be removed really

you can def polish them with the drill kit though, the trick to the bumps is to not wetsand right up to them, only wetsand the flat areas, then polish everything & you'll be ok. you could them hit them once a month with a plastic polish by hand & they should be fine for a while really too...
 
Clear coat after refinishing is the way to go. I did exactly what turbo recommended on a different car: removed the lights, refinished the surface, one coat of spray tint, four coats of spray clear coat, sanded them down with progressively finer sandpaper (800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 grit), then finally a polishing compound, then a swirl remover and finally a sealant. They look like they came from the factory that way. Since they are painted with clear, I wax them when I wax the rest of the car.
 
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Just read an article in the latest consumer reports and their top 4 headlight refinishing systems are (in order):
Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit
3M Headlight Lens Restoration System 29008
Turtle Wax Headlight Lens Restorer
Fast Brite Auto Headlight Restorer Kit
 
With my G35 coupe I had the same problem. If they are really bad you might need to wet sand them and if you are doing that make sure to mask off all the painted areas around the headlight. If they are just starting to yellow and get cloudy then just use the 3m rubbing compound and it will get them pretty clear. Then finish it off with the 3m plastic polish. The plastic polish will make them crystal clear again and also protect them for about 2 months. Then about every 2 months i would just hit it with the plastic polish when i finished washing my car.
 
I always hit my headlights covers with Meg's Ultimate Compound on a Griot's DA Polisher with a 3" pad. It buffs them clear and keeps them looking new. I give them a quick polish every time I do a full buff on the car which is about once a year and they stay crystal clear. I imagine if they were in bad shape, you might need a full restoration kit, but try one of your polishes first if you have some laying around... Could save you some money and time.
 
Simple thing that worked my cars: rubbing alcohol, and car wax. rub the alcohol into the headlight making it look dusty. then apply wax n let it sit for about 4 mins. rub wax off. enjoy!
 
I use Meguires Scratch X works great but has to be redone every couple of months.
 
Excellent, got some ideas for what to do with Pat's headlights now. Will have to see them in person first to decide if it's worth dealing with though, at least the inside part.
 
Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish works pretty good, followed by a application of plastic polish. You could then protect the headlight with a thin film from Lamin-X. You won't have to reapply the plastic polish any more.
 
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