anyone use those those headlight lens restorer kits? need opinions!

hey fellas, i was wondering if any of you guys have used those headlight lens restoring kits? if so, what are your opinions on them. do they work? which is the best brand?

i dont need it for my sport trac (crystal clear lens on mine!) but i just bought a 97 subaru legacy that will be our commuter car/grocery getter, and the lens on it are pretty damn cloudy.

opinions, thoughts and info like always, is greatly appreciated!

thanks.

 

[Maniak]

I have had good luck with just using Plastx. I have found some lights that were too far gone for it, but here is an example of it working...

It made a world of difference on our Honda.


Comparison of headlights - before and after polishing by maniak_az, on Flickr

I clean them every 6 months or so. I takes about 1-2 minutes per side so its no big deal to re-hit them. I pretty much just do it every time I change the air filter.

~Mark

 

[LONO100]

wow, nice discussion and good advice across the board. here's a few pics of the headlights im trying to restore.

 

[interscope8]

I use it when I detailed cars for a dealership. The 3M kit works the best IMO.

 

[LONO100]

Thanks guys, I'm going 3M, I'll let you know how it goes

 

[BigRondo]

Good before pics. Standing by for the after pics..........................

 

[Jason94sport]

My experiences have not been good with the kits. maybe I did it wrong maybe it's the FL weather, they looked great for 3 months or so Then started to yellow or haze again. I would just replace the lenses. You can get them cheap on Ebay.

 

[Anime]

Those don't look too bad, I'd probably use polish on those. Sanding seems overkill.

Don't use clear spray paint on headlights. The newer kits come with protectant, either stuff like the Meguiar's that you use like wax every so often, or UV protectant like in the Sylvania kit. I think the new 3M kit comes with some sort of protectant as well.

Either way, buy one kit and follow the directions. Results should be good if you take your time and do it right.

 

[LONO100]

ill be taking a crack at it this weekend, ill post pics of the results.

 

[toypaseo]

I polish mine frequently with PlastX, then follow that with a few layers of wax. I have a set of new OEM headlights awaiting installation when I get unlazy.

If you get the headlights to a stage where they are "perfect", you could consider getting a layer of clearbra on them. For my Paseo, I scored some Cynos (a Paseo in some other countries) headlights off eBay. The seller polished the clearcoat off, and left a perfectly clear lens. I knew they would cloud fast, so I talked to my tint/clearbra installer. He said he has clearbra on all his headlights, for numerous years, with no problems. So, here they are after clearbra...

Click on image for larger view.

 

[Anime]

Word on the Clearbra is that it causes micro cracks throughout the lens, due to the Clearbra retaining the heat. Some very expensive headlamps have been ruined this way.

Sylvania now has a UV protectant in their restoration kit, and Meguiar's makes a plastic protectant to use to prevent yellowing and UV damage, either on restored lenses or new ones.

 

[toypaseo]

Word on the Clearbra is that it causes micro cracks throughout the lens, due to the Clearbra retaining the heat. Some very expensive headlamps have been ruined this way.

Interesting... I'll have to stop recommending that on headlights...

 

[LONO100]

sorry it took so long, but here are a few pics of the results from using the 3M kit. the lens i used them on wasnt too bad to begin with, but these brought them back pretty good:

here's what they looked like before;

heres kind of a bad pic of one lens done

heres one of it finished. ill try to get an upfront pic of it tomorrow.

 

[BigRondo]

Looks good. Thanks for the update.