Thread: Polishing head lights

Tweet

Today was a honey do list (only it was my list) ! So after tackling the backyard, and dog maintenance duty, I decided the wife's car needed some help. She left for a business trip to Frankfurt yesterday, and the head lamp lens on her car were completely opaque. So I decided that 1) it was unsafe, 2) will be using car to go Elk Hunting next week that the lens needed to be buffed out and refinished.
This is the fourth time I've done this to the 2003 Toyota Highlander. The last time I let the dealership do it and that was a big mistake as the job they did turned opaque after just 6 months. The 3m buffing kit from Napa did a good job several years ago so I bought another kit from them and thought that it did the job well. After finishing, I coated the lens with a UV protectant from Blue Magic Headlamp sealer. I was impressed enough to post the before and afters here.

Lookin' good! You could sell those photo's to 3M!!

I agree! Very impressive... good job!

sure you didn't just buy new lens and pull one over on us??? Looks good and i'll keep the 3m stuff in mind as my truck is starting to look the same way..

This could be a infomercial! Nicely done!

Looks great! My '07 RAV4 headlights are still clear but if/when they need the treatment I'll follow in your footsteps.

I have seen that kit advertised down here.. As a big chunk of NZ's autos are used Jap imports,,we have a lot of plastic headlamp lenses going the same way..Some have a real yellowish tinge to them,,and they look terrible..It is also a Warrant of Fitness requirement down here to have clear lenses..Your headlamps,Steve,,probably would have failed a WoF test.. A guy I buy a lot of my sandpaper,filler,etc,from,,has imported some other stuff,,a similar treatment,from somewhere in the US,,and reconditions those plastic lenses..Doesa really good job..Didnt know that they had to be done after the first time,though..Must be a bad grade of plastic.....But,maybe good for the guy who charges to redo them...

Thanks for the compliments, I figured most of us have non hotrods as our primary commuters, wife's car, etc. Seems it's really hard to get any newer vehicle with out these plastic lens. I asked at Toyota how much for new one, and about rolled over between the price of the covers300.00 plus, getting the new ones on require partial bumper removal and messing with airbag sensor area. So 16 bucks and one hour of my time with a cordless drill did the trick. They give you enough junk to do maybe two to three cars. The guy at napa suggested buffing them with Flitz Polish, said a friend who does it professionally uses it. I was also surprised that once you do this you end up going down the slippery slope of constantly redoing it about once a year. I think if your car is parked in a garage or away from direct sunlight and rain, they'd stay clear a lot longer!