I was using Turtlewax Scratch and Swirl Remover trying to get rid of some fine scratches in the paint the other day when I decided to try it on the headlights. Here are the results, pretty impressive I must say.

 

not bad at all man....good tip

 

Oh wow. Turned out pretty nice!

 

Not sure if it is abrasive enough to remove the clear coat but they have been clear for 3-4 months now.

 

Looks great, great job

 

Looks great but just adding the method I used to clean mine up, tools required was a small air compressor, air brush gun (quite small), 500, 1000, and 1500 grit sand paper, and painters tape.

As for chemicals I have a sherrwin williams automotive finishes near me that sells a basic 4 to 1 clear coat mix. Easy process goes, tape off all the surrounding paint around the lights, wet sand the lights starting with roughest grit to smoothest till the look almost crystal clear when wet getting all the old clear coat off.

Then get them extremly dry with out towels just air dry with the compressor. Followed by mixing the new clear coat together via the instructions of your brand and throwing it in the air brush gun to spray it on nice and thick (2-3 coats should be nice) though watch for runs. Then let dry for a couple ours and then over night to cure.

Worked great for me and a gentleman around town that charges 120 to do this same process, (picked it up from one of his employees).

Attempt only if your decent with painting.

 

^ unless you have painted your lights like you did they dont have any clear coat to sand off from the factory.


I was in napa the other day and 3m sells a headlight restoration kit that comes with a small set of sanding discs for a drill and a polish head for it as well and compound for like 20 bucks for polishing headlights. It was a pretty neat kit.

 

why are you painting polycarbonate? looney I guess

 

Well I don't mean take off the old clear but take off whatever it is that turns yellow and nasty on most cars, don't know whether its a UV protection coating or something. This poly carbonate you speak of is that what the lenses are made of?

 

I think there is a difference between perfection (chemicals and powertools) and good enough (scratch and swirl remover). I love the way my TL looks but I don't need it show worthy. My original post was for folks like me that just want it better than the dull butter look. But hey, my hats off to the dudes that do the hard work it certainly makes a difference!!

 

you don't have a clue, there isn't anything on it other than what it's made of, polycarbonate plastic

 

The 3m kit is awesome. my headlights were horrible then i used the disks in a drill and wow brand new. You gotta wipe some caruba wax on them afterwards.

 

Sorry just looked to me, when I was sanding the multiple sets of lights I've done, that there was an outside layer of something that couldn't stand up to the elements. What explains why sometimes one lens will go bad and not the other?

 

I used this exact kit recently with pretty good results. Walmart has it in the automotive/body repair section too.

 

thanks for the idea! thisll be worth trying. im too lazy for the whole wetsanding idea haha

 

Nice.

NuFinish ScratchX works well too.

 

Have you guys tried rainex. I sprayed some on a paper towel and rubbed it on the headlight. it statred to remove the yellow haze. I reapeated with a the paper towel till it was clear and then buffed it out.

 

All automotive headlamps manufactured with Polycarbonate are hard coated from the factory. The hard coat acts in two ways first it prevent scratching and pitting. Without the use of hard coat the outer lens would look far worse than they currently do. In addition the hard coat does provide some additional UV protection, although the PC does include UV inhibitor by itself.

This does not apply to most rear lamps as they do not require the impact resistance that the front of the vehicle requires. As a result manufacturers are able to use Acrylic, which is less impact resistant but has more resistance to scratching.

 

Here's pics from mines, just did mines today. I used Turtle wax headlight restoration kit, its about 7 bucks @ amazon. I used eagle wax carnuba wax gel to polish it up and it came with this headlight sealer, works great.





Before




After

 

Buddy of mine just recommended this turtle wax for my headlights and he said it worked pretty good... he didn't even try hard and it worked....

I'm going to get a bottle of it at Walmart also... $8 bucks I think at most..

 

Saw on Trucks on the Spike channel where the guys used toothpaste (like ultrabrite I think) and a buffer as an inexpensive option. They also used a kit on the other headlight and it was hard to tell the difference.

I used turtle wax color back on mine (has a really fine rubbing compound in it) with the buffer and they came out great.

Like the rain-x idea, I think I'll apply that as added protection.

 

I want to use Turtle wax headlight restoration kit, but then where can you buy that eagle wax carnuba wax gel. How did you go about doing this instruction wise or step by step process.

 

I used the 3m kit but I have to say next time I will use the Turtle Wax ...it seems to do the job just as well for about $12 dollars less.

 

I also have used the 3m Restoration kit but it left thin swirl marks on the lens. Ill stick with the rain-x method. I have to do it about once a month but it only takes a few minutes. Apply rainex on paper towel let dry buff off and wash lens. Next apply polish and buff out. Wish i has some pics to show