I think the PlastX is best suited for maintaining the lenses or if there is only light hazing.

My car sits in FL sunshine, outside 24/7/365, so it catches a lot of UV.

Once I get them baked and do the projector retrofit, I'm going to see about getting them clearcoated. From what I hear, that's about the best bet for more long-term results.

 

^^^^ Ouch, yeah FL sun will bake those to a nice crispy yellow.

I wouldn't go about clearcoating them because if you catch a chip in the clearcoat, you have areas you can't easily polish anymore.

Get a clear vinyl with a UV barrier instead and make sure that the barrier is at least 5 mils. Polish up the headlights and IMMEDIATELY put on the vinyl. You won't have to worry about them again.

 

^I thought about doing that too...
Maybe I should go that route first, that would be more removable if it didn't work.

Any that you can recommend?

 

I can't recommend anything off the top of my head, but I can check with our vinyl guys. I took some remnants of a 3M film and used it on my last car and the headlights haven't yellowed. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the spec on it.

3M is always good, but it's also the most expensive. Avery-Dennison offers some good clear films, but I haven't tried their wet mounts yet.

Oddly enough, I had a rep come in today to talk with us about some print media that I want to order for a museum exhibit we're putting together and he mentioned a company that specializes in vehicle wrap and clear UV film, supposed to be about 60% of the cost of 3M.

I'll see if I can get a sample roll of it. The sample rolls are 36" x 12'. If I can get the right shape, I'll cut some out out. Might do some for coupes while I'm at it...

Hmmm....

 

^Nice. LMK if you do.

Actually, I'd be happy if it was just close to the right shape so I could trim it down to a perfect fit instead of trying to line it up (PITA)

 

I grabbed some vinyl today to get a template made up for the headlights. I'll fit it this weekend and get a vector shape of it next week. I can oversize it about a half inch all around so it doesn't have to be perfectly centered, just run an exacto blade along the edge and it should be all good.

 

^Sweet

 

I used this restoration kit and sanded for a long time...the results were ok, but I believe I have hazing inside because they were not clear. I will either have to replace or completely recondition the plastic housing again.

 

I had a little bit of that problem up on the top where the plastic is close to the "chrome" on the inside... Probably thanks to UV damage if I had to guess. I'm sure the AZ sun is even harder on yours
Another thing I noticed though, is even when the lenses are clear, there's a haziness to the "chrome" bezels. That'll be fixed when I paint them though.

 

The 3000 grit abrasive pad that came with my 3m kit started to wear out after only 3 headlights, by the time I got to the forth 5 passes on the headlamp wasn't really making a difference. Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

^I wouldn't doubt it... the kit only claims to do 1 set of lights.

 

makes sense but I have a ton of sanding disk left

 

^So do I. I don't know why they send so much

 

Hi, evryone just thought I could save everyone 20 to 30 dollars that these headlight kits cost.

Here is something that works and cost a couple of dollars at any auto store and it is called Nu Tone Scratch Doctor and is a compound that is used for light scratches on your car.

But when I noticed that the headlight covers on my car had become hazed over, I put some of that compound on a wash cloth and rubbed it all over the entire area and then I used a clean wash cloth and wiped off the compound and the headlight covers were clear like they were brand new.

So, save your money and get the Scratch Doctor, and it took me five minutes to do both headlight covers.

 

^I will bet you the price of a 3M kit that your lights were not nearly as damaged as mine.