In this video I show you how to make your headlamps look new again!
Here is the DIY Kit:
http://3mauto.com/products/headlight-restoration
Here is the DIY Kit:
http://3mauto.com/products/headlight-restoration
come fix your car…
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Good Informative Video On restoring plastic Headlights Eric O @SouthMainAutoRepairLLC
Why not use a ceramic coating on it ? It is plastic like paint so it may work.
wouldnt it be cheaper to buy new ones than to pay you $100 an hour to clean them
on some headlights that are not too bad use g3 comound & finish with g10 & wax after .. try it
you for got your famous say eric
what eric !! you dont seal it ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
yes as you said sealing it with clear coat spray … but it have to be uv resisten spray !!! search for headlight clear coat…
at list put some Ceramic …… that is not lasting 3 years !!! maybe 1 year……… from factory the headlights is coated with some clear coat,…
I am in the auto body business and when my wife's wj headlamps fogged up I sanded and polished them. Same problem less than a year later. The thrid time they fogged I sanded them to 1000 grit and sprayed then with the same clearcoat I use on paint. They still look new 3 years later. The factory puts a light clearcoat on them that breaks down from the sun ,you need to replace the clear even with a spray can clear. No need to polish if you sand with 1000 or finer the clear will stick better. I just use regular sandpaper by hand with a squirt bottle of water with soap in it.
Love that kit, here at the shop we spray a coat of clear afterwards to protect the lens and keep it looking new as long as possible, Good job Eric O. Greetings from Los Angeles ✌
After polishing, put on a coat of the highest SPF suntan lotion you can find, it blocks the harmful rays.
The hillbilly way to clean headlights is with Deep woods off. Spray it on a soft cloth and polish in small circles.This works very well, and super fast. It will last 3-4 months or so. Dont get the spray on your paint it could eat it away.
Will this work on glass headlights to?
toothpaste will get you 90% there, and you have it on hand.
What tool (air tool) is that? I've got a right angle die grinder with Velcro and twist lock pads I use for gasket removal and such…. that work the same? Figure it's just paper, rubbing compound and then plastic cleaner/polish. Not against buying a kit, but if I've already got the stuff…..
The green 3M masking tape is water-resistant and will stay put while wet-sanding. The other types of masking tape will come off when wet.
Great job Eric'O . I did the same way you did and when my car was painted the guy wet sanded with green pad ( dishwasher pad) and gave two coates of clear coat . Did not get dull again .
As a 3M retiree, I appeciate the plug. 🙂
3M headlight kits now come with a clear coat for each headlight
My daughter still has a 2002 Ford Explorer that now has well over 100k miles on the clock. Since the day it was purchased new her husband, after washing the car, would buff the lights with Protectorant 303. There isn't a blemish on the lights and they look like they just came off the assembly line. No exaggeration! He also uses 303 on the interior and the car is in unbelievable like-new condition.
Apparently 9 people don't like their headlights restored/polished.
watch chris fix video.. trick is to not let them get yellow in the first place..
Meguires machine polish works very nice.
If your handy with a torch, you can light sand, wipe down with acetone, and go across the surface with a hot flamed torch(this is called a FLAME POLISH). The flame will melt the outer surface to where its clear. we did this on a daily basis at a plastic fabrication shop i worked at 30 years ago. Never tried it on a headlight but it should work unless the headlight cover is made of polycarb..
I have had pretty good luck with a air buffer and Meguier's fine buffing compound.
I need to buy this. The 06 Kia's lights are BAD!
I’ve used 5he 3M polish and it works great. Got another 2 years then had the bright idea to replace the factory headlights with some aftermarket… worst idea ever. They are crap…
I do a what some people say is a crud way, I wipe the surface with lacquer thinner and then clear coat. if you are not familiar with cleaning plastic with lacquer thinner I would suggest a junk yard sample first since you can melt the surface and make a mess but once you get it right it is very quick, cheap and nice.
When I was in the Navy, on fighter jets canopies a product called "canopy polish". The closest thing I have found in the civilian world is by Chemical Guys JetSeal. I do my headlights on my 2012 Tacoma and it has worked great. I just polish them every three months.
i like glass this stuff should be illegal to make its junk
Windex works great on my 1999 4Runner. The lenses are made of Glass. They never get cloudy.
Thanks friend.
Toothpaste doesn't do it. Thanks. Will try 3M if need to in the future.
I done it my way good oid sinatra.
Done one your way and one with mothers and 303 protectant and I can see know differnce will be using mothers now on.
The UV light in sunlight is what causes the cloudiness, if you use a UV protectant it should work well, I did it once, used formula 303 aircraft protectant and it lasts for years…. Thanks Eric for a great video!
Looks good, but for DIY'ers do yourself a favor and price a replacement housing first. On my GrandAm, they wanted 38 dollars each for new housings. Not worth the time to work on the old ones. A few minutes working the clips behind them and replacing the bulbs and baddabing. Brand new.
In my opinion, this is a huge safety issue that needs to be addressed by auto manufacturers. I believe a class action lawsuit should be filed and manufacturers need to go back to glass lenses. It is not right that headlights can lose over half of their brightness due to cloudy, yellowed lenses. This is a temporary fix at best.
should use a 2 part epoxy or urethane spray for the final layer of protection. otherwise you're doing this again in 6 months
i tried Crest toothpaste on the headlights of a 20 year old Volvo – it did not make much of a change.
Glass is class.
.
I do it old school with 2000 grit wet sanding paper. Buffing compound then wax it
I started buffing plastic tail and marker light lenses when I detailed cars. Red lenses that had turned white buff out to look like new. I still use a buffer and rubbing compound on plastic headlight lenses because it's fast and easy. I also use it on windows, especially windshields before applying Rain-X.
Thanks for the video.
All my cars haze over on the inside, not the outside of the headlight 🙁
Don't use clear coat on plastic lenses. It cracks and peels in a year or so and it is a mess to remove.
Missed "if I can do it, you can do it". :):):)
Meguiars makes a 4 ounce spray bottle that is clear headlight lens protectant… you use it once a year and it's good stuff.
Try this; after the 1000 grit clean lenses with alcohol, let dry and apply clear coat. Half the work and lasts for years. I use a 2 part clearcoat
I've used the 3M walmart kit and after a month, the hazing/fogging would start coming back. I'd imagine using a clear coat on the headlights afterwards would have helped, but I've not experimented with that. this was on a Lincoln Mark VIII I used to have.
That’s what I’m talking about