Best Restoration Kit Youve Used Recently

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Yup

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Name it. Need to unfoggify my headlights so the deer see me before I hit them.
 
I've had good luck with the 3M kit that has varying grits of sandpaper included with it. I just use a little compound every so often to get them looking nice again.
 
You need a kit with a few grades of sandpaper. And some liquid polish.

You also need to get some headlight protectant spray to keep it new looking. It's in some kits. 3M sells some.

Once you start polishing you will probably have to do it yearly.
 
Once they fog it's a good time to replace them as the overall optics including the reflector experience degradation too. New oem (not aftermarket) housings will last longer than you probably plan on keeping the car.

Once you sand the lens you completely remove any remaining UV coating and you'll need to sand them fairly often to keep up with it. I had one re fog in less than 30 days when I tried to do that on a Ford Taurus.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Once they fog it's a good time to replace them as the overall optics including the reflector experience degradation too. New oem (not aftermarket) housings will last longer than you probably plan on keeping the car.

Once you sand the lens you completely remove any remaining UV coating and you'll need to sand them fairly often to keep up with it. I had one re fog in less than 30 days when I tried to do that on a Ford Taurus.



Agreed.

If you do sand them down, I suggest visiting your local window tint shop to have them do a clear vinyl over them. If you don't, they'll yellow again very fast.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Once they fog it's a good time to replace them as the overall optics including the reflector experience degradation too. New oem (not aftermarket) housings will last longer than you probably plan on keeping the car.

Once you sand the lens you completely remove any remaining UV coating and you'll need to sand them fairly often to keep up with it. I had one re fog in less than 30 days when I tried to do that on a Ford Taurus.



Agreed.

If you do sand them down, I suggest visiting your local window tint shop to have them do a clear vinyl over them. If you don't, they'll yellow again very fast.


You can spray a clear coat on top but i think new is way to go..

The 3m kit with drill attachments is decent or you can try a DA or orbital with a compound or polish depending how bad they are.
 
I tried a hand sanding kit last year. The Turtle Wax brand for $10. They're yellow again. So if I do the 3M kit with a drill, every few months how do I upkeep them? Wipe them off with alcohol and spray the UV protectant? The car is 15 years old, they started fogging pretty bad a few years ago, now I'm just trying to keep them relatively clear. I've watched YouTube and read some forums and saw the Bug Spray thing LOL The plastic trim on my door is all messed up from spray on sun block.

Is there a brand of the UV protectant that lasts longer than others?
 
Originally Posted By: Yup
I tried a hand sanding kit last year. The Turtle Wax brand for $10. They're yellow again. So if I do the 3M kit with a drill, every few months how do I upkeep them? Wipe them off with alcohol and spray the UV protectant? The car is 15 years old, they started fogging pretty bad a few years ago, now I'm just trying to keep them relatively clear. I've watched YouTube and read some forums and saw the Bug Spray thing LOL The plastic trim on my door is all messed up from spray on sun block.

Is there a brand of the UV protectant that lasts longer than others?

My 2000 E430 was very bad some years ago, I used 3M kit and about twice a year I used Kit Scratch Out applied by hand and buffed by hand for few minutes. The headlights are looking good as of now.

There is nothing you can do to keep the plastic headlight becoming yellow for longer than a year or two.

Applying some chemical and Buffing few minutes twice a year isn't too bad.
 
Bought a 3M kit and found some RainX paste in a box in garage to hand restore. I also bought some Blue Magic UV protectant stuff for once the buffing and such are complete. I might use the RainX stuff on a drill with a cloth and then use the lens UV stuff and see what happens. Save the 3M kit if that doesn't work.
 
I attempted the Arm & Hammer baking soda with vinegar restoration last night. I used a piece of chamois to massage one lens. It removed all of the yellowing and none of the scale/pitting. I think I'll work on them some more but i'm going to substitute water for the vinegar(Farm Girl used water)
whistle.gif


Does baking soda remove all of the UV protection like sand paper does? If so, I'll have to get the protectant stuff.
 
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I used the 3M kit on my wife's car and it did well. We sold the car about a year later and they hadn't significantly yellowed again. All I did was wax them to prevent further yellowing.
 
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