Cloudy headlights

Hi Guys I have cleaned up a bunch of cloudy head lights lately. I figured I would share my easy money saving tip. No need to buy that expensive kit for this. Go buy some of that old fashioned bumper chrome cleaner polish in the metal can, make sure it's got some grit to it. That stuff just cuts through that haze on most of them. I will do several applications for the really bad ones.

My wife's 04 PT Cruiser has it bad.. I tried everything I have on the auto cleaners shelf (in the garage).. after about 30 minutes I have a nice shiny cloud !!!

I'm afraid I'm going to have to use the graduated sandpaper method.

I did try the old chrome cleaner too.. now I'm rethinking that.. maybe it loses potency over the years sitting on the shelf?? I remember it used to have a really heavy ammonia smell, and I don't recall that much this time when I used it.

Hey Steve

The stuff I have is like a watery version of the good old rubbing compound. Muddy brown in color and strong smelling. I just looked and it's a Simoniz product. The can I had before was Jax brand. I think the Jax was better but you just can't go wrong with any Simoniz product. I have seen some of those headlight that were yellowed really bad. Are yours more yellowed than cloudy? I have never used that expensive kit so I can't vouch for it's effectiveness. That might be worth a try before replacing the headlights.

before
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j293/airjer/HRleftbefore.jpg

after
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j293/airjer/HRleftafter.jpg

I start with five hundred and work my way through 800, 1000, and 3000 grit papers making sure to thoroughly clean the lense before each sanding and sand the lens liberally with each grit. Finish with a light rubbing compound and they'll look like new.

..Are yours more yellowed than cloudy?

Actually it looks like a thick crusty deposit, not really yellowed.. just thick.

Here's the right side, I've not touched it yet:
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9438/ptlensb41.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9438/ptlensb41.jpg) http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5417/ptlensb42.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5417/ptlensb42.jpg)


And, here's the left side, I worked it for awhile with everything in the garage: Nice and shiny :) ,still cloudy :(
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3857/ptlensftr1.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3857/ptlensftr1.jpg) http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9809/ptlensftr2o.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9809/ptlensftr2o.jpg)



..start with five hundred and work my way through 800, 1000, and 3000 grit...

Where do you find 3000 grit? I've been to lots of auto supply places, and hardware shops and the best I can find is 1000 :(

One of the old-time local mechanics has developed a cleaner specifically for headlight cleaning and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The product is PC-41; you can check it out at www.pc-41.com (http://www.pc-41.com)

Rich:biggrin:

Actually it looks like a thick crusty deposit, not really yellowed.. just thick.

Here's the right side, I've not touched it yet:
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9438/ptlensb41.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9438/ptlensb41.jpg) http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5417/ptlensb42.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5417/ptlensb42.jpg)


And, here's the left side, I worked it for awhile with everything in the garage: Nice and shiny :) ,still cloudy :(
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3857/ptlensftr1.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3857/ptlensftr1.jpg) http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9809/ptlensftr2o.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9809/ptlensftr2o.jpg)




Where do you find 3000 grit? I've been to lots of auto supply places, and hardware shops and the best I can find is 1000 :(


Once you get all the crusty flaky stuff off it will look like new once polished. I have done many that are way worse than what you have pictured and they look like new when done. The crusty stuff is degraded plastic and the sanding will remove this allowing the clear smooth plastic to be exposed and then polished.

3M makes a 3000 grit 3" disk made just for polishing