OT .... Cleaning headlights

[Dave Smith]

One night last week I watched as my wife pulled in at night and noticed
that one headlight was very bright and one was dull and had a yellow hue
to it. I went out in the morning and checked it out and saw that the
plastic cover was discoloured. The other one had been replaced about
two years ago after I hit a dear. Last night I decided to deal with it
and went online to see how to clean it up.

There were lots of methods and products mentioned but one of the videos
used the Turtle Wax Headlight Restoration Kit. It looked easy enough. So
this morning I went over to Canadian Tire and picked one up.

It was easy enough to use. I cleaned and tried the exterior and laid
masking tape around the outside of it. The first step was to apply the
lens clarifying compound with a cotton cloth, let it dry and then wipe
it down with a terry towel. That alone made a huge difference. The
next step was to apply the lubricating spray to the coarsest scrubbing
pad and wipe back and forth with slight pressure for about a minute.
Then turn the pad over to the next finer grit and repeat. Then repeat
with the next two grades of grit. Wipe off the lubricant and then apply
more of the restoration compound, let it dry to a haze and wipe it off
with the terry cloth. Then there was a pad with base coat to wipe on
followed by a pad with sealer.

It was less than $20 for the kit and about 10-15 minutes work. The
headlight looks like new. Money and effort well spent.

[Bruce]

The perfervid blabberings of an obtuse pensioner...

<yawn>

[Bruce]

Some people's life is one big adventure!

[Thomas]

I have used toothpaste with good results. 3 cars. They need a refresher after 2 years so I will do it again when I think about it. The newest car is 2012.

[Ed P]

Sounds like a lot of effort. Would be easier to just buy a new car.

[dsi1]

I just bought new headlights on eBay. They were pretty cheap and women go crazy for sharped-dressed car.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pzYiRUJsPzsAqK9L7

[Bruce]

Plus, when you buy a new car, you can be certain that the bum warmer
will work.

[Bruce]

On Wed, 2 Aug 2023 17:20:35 -0700 (PDT), dsi1 <dsi...@hawaiiantel.net>
wrote:

Do you buy your car part by part?

[Dave Smith]

Not really. It took less time to clean the headlights than it would to
go through the paperwork of a purchase.

[dsi1]

Indeed I do. I used to buy many parts for that VW. I have to buy parts for my RAV4. The rear bumper cover is just mangled because my son backed into a stone wall. I also need to buy a new tail light. He should have never driven up that driveway. It's a very tricky driveway!

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

I've watched several of those videos and some are a bit complicated
while others are simple. I can't say all of them, but it seems most need
a repeat polishing about every 2 years or so. Glad you are happy with
your results.

[Hank Rogers]

Next, you'll be shaving your crotch and crowing.

[Dave Smith]

FWIW, the car is 10 years old so it's hard to say how many more times I
will need to do it.

[Bruce]

My car is 40 years old and I've never done it.

[Michael Trew]

On 8/2/2023 6:04 PM, Dave Smith wrote:

I've never tried a kit, but someone once told me that bug spray will
clear the haze off of plastic headlight lenses. Sure enough, it does,
but because it doesn't have a sealer, they haze over again.
Fortunately, most of the cars that I've owned have clear glass headlights.