my headlight covers are cloudy. what can be used to remove and where can it be purchased.

 

You can buy kits that include the abrasives, compounds and buffing pads you need.

 

This is a new subject that has never come up before. You had better go here.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum/search.php

 

DOING NOTHING IS VERY HARD TO DO ! YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR DONE !! Am I done yet ?? Dont know !! Dam this is harder than I thought !!!!!! Mothers makes a good cleaner for headlight lense !!!!!!!

 

All you need to do is wetsand the crap out of them to make sure all of the UV damage is off, clean the lenses with soap and water, let dry, and then spray some clear coat on them. They will look foggy until you put the clear coat on. 2 to 3 coats should be fine.

 

This is poor advice, OK for some cheap old jalopy, but not on expensive headlights.

 

As long as you use very fine grit sand paper used for wet sanding it is perfectly safe( I use 1500 and then 2000). Its only plastic. Just dont use a heavy grit that could create gashes in the finish. I have done this several times and on several high end cars with not a single problem.

You can do google searches or even watch videos on youtube of this same procedure.. All those rubbing compounds and creams dont work for beans if the lens has extensive UV damage. You have to get passed those damaged outer layers.

 

Sadly, it is garbage advice as onehundred noted. If you used fine grit sandpaper that doesn't create "gashes" then there would be no need to clear the lenses because they are then foggy, right?

To the OP - A light wetsand with the appropriate polish should clear up any exterior blemishes. Wetsanding isn't for everyone and should be done with caution. Please note, your cloudiness may be on the inside, from condensation. If this is the case, no exterior polish will correct.

See here for an example of the wetsanding:

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ng-inside.html

 

You can also polish after wet sanding if you do not want to use clear coat. It will give the same finish. I use the clear to act as a protectant.

 

If you have ever wetsanded a heavily damaged headlight you would notice it fog over once its dry. For this reason you must pollish or use some sort of clear protectant.... e.g. clear coat

 

Actually, it is exactly what you should do. It is the basis for headlight restoration kits. You have to remove the damage using an abrasive. If the damage is heavy, you can start with 800 grit. You move up to finer grits to get rid of the sand scratches. You can buy a kit from 3M for a bit over $300 - it includes two tools (one for sanding, one for buffing), several grits of sandpaper, a couple of different compounds and buffing pads.

The part I disagree with him on is clearing over before you've buffed out the 2000 grit sand scratches using compounds. Being a headlight, you'd want to have the lens as smooth as possible (to avoid diffusing the light). You should have it looking awesome - polished and clear, when you finish with the compounds. The clear coat is to replace some of the UV protection you've just ground out of the lens.

 

For what it's worth, I have a fogged up passenger headlight which I replaced several months ago. If someone wants to try their specific remedy, I have it for sale.

It's absolutely complete, but foggy.

Any takers for $100????

Don

 

Originally Posted by onehundred80
This is poor advice, OK for some cheap old jalopy, but not on expensive headlights.

You say I am wrong and then go on to point out what I was commenting on. He was leaving it in a sanded condition and relying on a clear coat to rectify the fogginess.

If it's foggy under the clear coat the light will not be as sharply emitted as if was polished.
I would not add clear coat to my lenses as the coating will chip and be hard to polish out. To refinish them again would involve removing the clear coat and then refinishing the plastic.

 

I've seen it done at a crossfire meet by a guy that was using a Headlight Restoration kit from Walmart that consisted of 2200 to 2500 grit wet sand papers and a polishing compound. Turned out like new and no clear coat was used.

 

I didn't say you were wrong, I said sanding was exactly what needs to be done.

I think one of your eyes rolled under your computer desk. Take it easy on that stuff man.

We obviously completely agree on this point.

This goes either way. There is a UV protective coating on the lenses from the factory. When you sand, buff and polish to get rid of the cloudiness, you get rid of some or all of that coating. A high end clear, with a high solids content, will have a good amount of UV protection.

If you don't clear the headlights, they will cloud up again more quickly.

If you do clear them, use a good clear with built in flex additive, or add a flex agent, they shouldn't chip, and it should last a long time. I might even consider using a scratch resistant/self healing clear on them.

According to the 3M lab, it doesn't really make much difference whether you clear them or not.

 

Yup. The immediate results will be awesome. Depending on how bad they are, you might start as low as 800 grit. The clear might only make a difference in how long they stay that way, although, as I said in my last post, when 3M was working on their headlight restoration kit, they found an insignificant difference between clear coating or not.

 

Hi guys,

A detail shop buffed out my cars headlight lenses. I thought they did a crappy job so I used baking soda and toothpaste on them. No change. The lenses are nice and smooth but still clouded and marked up in certain areas. It looks like it's on the inside though to me.

 

Go to a more recent thread and get some more up to date info as this one is nearly twelve years old.
Done well they are almost as good as new.

 

Hey, Mikey!

You’re a new owner/member too huh!? As an old cop buddy friend of mine, John McClane, once said: “Welcome to the party, Pal!”

Youtube: Crossfire Repairs By Paul channel. “How to restore headlights FAST and EASY”. I JUST watched this yesterday. In it, he also says something along the lines of having to remove the headlight and cover do the inside too. If that has to be done, that’ll take some research on dismantling the headlight to get access. I bet somewhere in this forum someone has posted the repair manuals or even Google.

link:
hope this helps!

 

Thank you! I appreciate the welcome! I moved over to another thread as was suggested.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post954351