I know that there's been much written about this problem, but I think I've reached the end of my rope.

I've tried virtually every product on the market and I've concluded that the clear lacquer on the lens has been removed. There's nothing left.

Now, my question......as I understand it, the entire assembly has to be replaced....correct????

If so, any suggestions as to where I may locate one? Since the Crossfire hasn't been on the market for 2 years, I doubt that Chrysler has any left, regardless of price.

Does anyone out there have any ideas as to where I may locate a right headlight assembly? Or, in the alternative, is there any way to replace only the lens?

Thanks........

Don

 

You do not need to replace the lamp. Just get the 3M headlight kit. Follow the directions and they will look new. I have sold cars for years and NEVER replaced the lens. They will be perfect.

 

Chrysler still has them. Just go to: Chrysler Parts Direct - Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Parts and accessories search your year and search for headlamp.

Composite headlamp, crossfire, right 04-05 $461.76
Electrical - Chassis electrical - headlamps - Composite headlamp

 

Don, once you have them polished "To the Nines", have them coated.

Automotive Protection Products from Lamin-x

Headlight Protection (XPEL)

It's worth the $80 to have them come to your home and install it! Foglights too.

 

I had what may have been the crummiest looking headlights in existance. I had tried to polish them with 2 different products and still no joy. I finally took them to my local body shop guy and gave him $200 to fix them. This was my last step before spending $900 for a set of new ones. I didn't expect much but much to my surprise they were able to make them look better than they had in years. I am not handy. If you are not handy either then take it to someone that is.

 

I used the Xpel film. After two years they look great.

 

My '04 coupe had the bad hazies.

I tried the Meguiar's PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish stuff, but it made very little improvement - and within weeks they were as bad as ever. Maybe I done it wrong...

Searched through the threads here and found a recommendation for the Crystal View kit from Walmart ($20), so I thought I'd try that one. Scary stuff, they actually have you SAND the lenses, using two different grits of wet/dry sandpaper - basically, just like rubbing out a paint job. Final step was wiping on a new sealer coat which came in the kit. WOW! Mine STILL look almost as good as new, a year later.

 

I have read posts about Meguiars and other products. It takes some elbow grease but seems to work. I've been lucky -- my roadster has always been garaged and the SRT6 joined her three years ago. But I have started to wax the lens covers whenever I wax the cars (which is a lot) and I believe it helps protect them.

 

I had the same problem. I even took my car to get a full on detail and they used the plastic x or whatever it is and sanded the crud outta my lense - they looked slightly better but still hazed. The guy even said "thats probly the last time you should do that, its about time for new headlights"...... So I just went to Wal-Mart and got their "headlight restoration kit" - it's not Wal-Mart brand - its in a silver pouch (usually located against the furthest wall in the auto-area) - and you wet-sand the lense with the first brown sandpaper provided - clean them off - then use Some chemical I think called CV-2 - and it LITERALLY forms a new plastic coating over the lense and fills it in. My headlights were done a year ago and they STILL look like new ones. Just take your time with the wet-sanding and it will last.

 

I have not had to do it but it looks pretty simple to me, as I always say `how hard can it be?'
3M video, YouTube - 3M? Headlight Lens Restoration System
Meguiar's video, YouTube - Meguiar's Headlight Restoration Kit

 

This is the 3M kit that I used! Just, as easy as, the video shows!!!! The drill does ALL the work!!!!

 

While having some cosmetic work done this past spring, one of the things on the list I asked the shop to do was wet sand and polish the lenses. They did, and the result was brand new looking lenses. The shop owner did mention he spent about 5hrs total polishing and buffing the lenses. Take it to a pro shop that knows what they are doing and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results!!

 

You used two different products which are formulated for two different purposes, one is for maintenance and the other for restoration.

 

got mine sanded and polisht looks like new any body shop can do it for u

 

I used the 3m kit yesterday, and it worked very well. It took a while to finish, but the results look great. Try it out.

 

If they're broken, buy new ones. If they're just a tiny bit cloudy or all the way to yellow, rough, crusty and looking like they're beyond repair, just sand 'em and buff 'em.

You can start as coarse as 320 grit dry (but the lenses had better be totally opaque before you have to go that far) then move to 500 and 800 dry, then 1000 wet and finish off with 3000 wet. Then polish them with anything from PlastX to almost any polishing compound and you're done. Which grit paper you need to start with depends on how far gone they are, but it's amazing just how far gone these things can be and still come back to life.

Once you've brought 'em back, either recoat them or just use some plastic polish on them once a month. It will take you a whopping 60 seconds per light every month to do this, so if you're too busy to give one minute a month to each headlight, well.......

 

After you sand and polish the lenses, you will have removed some of the original UV protection. You can replace that by shooting a couple of coats of clearcoat onto them.

 

Clearcoat works, but not as long as the actual UV coating that can be reapplied(after wet sanding Very very finely). Clear coat can and usually will seperate from the plastic over time from small rocks, etc breaking the clearcoat barrier. With that said, it does last a long time and if you spray it heavy enough to orange peal, it looks pretty cool. LOL The UV coating can now be bought at most auto paint shops for 80 bucks. Or, you can ask them what body shops and detail shops they sell it to and they will normally do it for you for 50-80 bucks or so. The kit comes with enough coating for 8 cars I think, so they make 640 for every 80 they spend, not counting time. Honestly, it is worth 100 though. LOL The actual UV coating has to dry in sunlight or under a UV light though, so if you do it yourself, don't expect to leave it in your garage overnight and drive it the next day. 4 hours in direct sun normally works fine.

 

Very interesting.

You wouldn't happen to have an actual NAME for this product, perhaps?

And BTW-I spoke with a good friend (plant manager in the automotive injection molding business. A pretty knowledgeable guy) a while back about this. He said the UV protective layer is applied (sprayed) into the mold immediately after the release agent and immediately before the hot polycarbonate is injected. It is not an after-manufacture treatment.

 

I worked in the injection molding industry (mold design) and the plastics have an agent in the material to delay damage from the suns rays. Without this the plastic would discolour through out and the lens could not be refinished. This damage will eventually occur as it is just a matter of time, plastic is poor in this regard, it will basically break down and get discoloured and brittle.
Any spray on agent with any depth would be subject to delamination and be obvious to the eye. Remember that the surface of these molds are polished to a mirror finish and any spray would have a lesser finish.
A frequent hand buff with a proper lens polish would keep the oxidation in check by removing the microscopic layer as it appears.
There are treatments for plastics that involve spraying on a volatile liquid that liquefies a very thin surface layer, the layer flattens out and the liquid evaporates leaving a better than molded surface. Expensive, as it requires a dust free environment, maybe even a near vacuum.
To keep the lenses in top shape keep them out of the sun. It is possible that some lenses were made using off grade plastic, or a poor molding process, these would be hard to prove and its too late now anyway.