my 5th gen headlights are all burned up on the top part...i used PlasticX and it helped claer it out a bit. would it be a good idea to wet sand it to take that burned layer of plastic off and then plasticX or will wet sanding the headlight mess it all up and leave streaks? thanks

 

you could wet sand with a really high grit.. then they would need to be repolished to get the plastic clear

 

could i use PlasticX to polish them after? or would i need something special?

 

never used plastic x... don't know what it's about.. might work

 

Is the burned up stuff on the inside or the outside of your headlights? 'Cause I have the same problem on the inside of my headlights, and I was just going to get some used units off a junker.

 

first determine if its on the inside or outside. if its on the outside, get some very high degree sandpaper such as 1000-1500-2000 and wet sand them. ALso it would be helpful if you had a electric drill and you picked up a headlight restoration kit from Autopia or autogeek dot com and it will really help with rejuvinating your lenses

 

if it's a burned up spot and it's from the bulb, then it's all on the inside of the lenses, but if it's just starting to turn yellow and hazy, you'll need to wet sand the lense. When wet sanding, use 2000 grit paper and keep the lense moist. No need to wet sand the whole lense, just do the part that you need. If it's really deep, then move down to 1500 grit, then back up to 2000 grit afterwards....

 

The following is what I did to get rid of my ugly yellowness, I used slightly different products, including 3M scratch removing stuff. Good luck.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Somewhere on HT, forgot where &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You are going to have to remove the lights from your car to do this and it WILL take quite a bit of time and elbow grease. In fact, it's just plain tedious. But here are the steps and things you'll need.

Things you'll need:

1. Bowl of water
2. 2 Sheets 400 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
3. 2 Sheets 600 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
4. 2 Sheets 1000 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
5. 2 Sheets 1500 Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper
6. Turtle Wax No. 5 (heavy duty/red) rubbing compound
7. Turtle Wax No. 7 (light/white) polishing compound
8. McGuire’s Clear Plastic Cleaner
9. McGuire’s Clear Plastic Polish
10. Soft terry cloth towels

Steps:
1. Remove lights from car.
2. Use the 400 grit sandpaper and start sanding the surface of the lights lengthwise in only a side to side motion. DON'T CHANGE DIRECTIONS (up/down or circles). At first don't use any water, but add water as the clear coat starts to come off. You'll be able to tell where it is and isn't coming off.
3. Repeat above procedure with the 600 grit sandpaper after all of the clearcoat is removed (use water).
4. Repeat using 1000 grit sandpaper with water.
5. Repeat using 1500 grit sandpaper with water.
6. Now use a soft terry cloth towel to work in the Turtle Wax heavy duty rubbing compound using same side to side motion. Work that in for about 5 minutes and rub clean and dry.
7. Get a new terry cloth towel and work in the Turtle Wax Light Polishing Compound. Work it in for about 5 minutes and wipe clean and dry.
8. Examine the lights and see that all of the clearcoat is gone and that most of the hairline scratches from the sandpaper are gone.
9. If it looks pretty good, apply the McGuire’s Clear Plastic Cleaner with a clean terry cloth towel. Work that in until it's clean and dry.
10. Now apply the McGuire’s Clear Plastic Polish with the same towel. After being rubbed in thoroughly, use a clean towel and wipe it dry. The light should look close to brand new.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

I wouldn't suggest using 400 or 600 grit paper, cause that's just too rough for a small job like this. Defenitly start off with 2000 grit paper and if necessary, use 1500, but sometimes you don't have to

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by prelude1897 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wouldn't suggest using 400 or 600 grit paper, cause that's just too rough for a small job like this. Defenitly start off with 2000 grit paper and if necessary, use 1500, but sometimes you don't have to</TD></TR></TABLE>



Yeah, should have taken that out, I used from 1000 to 2000. Also, this only seems to be a temporary fix, I have to do it once a year even with no winter driving.

 

I have used 1500 wet sand on mine. It worked really well. All the yellow came off. It's a little scarry because they go all cloudy from the sanding, but after I polished them with the Plastix all that came off. Just make sure you keep the sand paper wet and then polish them well. They look great now.

Hope this helps.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by maks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">



Yeah, should have taken that out, I used from 1000 to 2000. Also, this only seems to be a temporary fix, I have to do it once a year even with no winter driving.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Get what's called Lamin-x/Headlight protectant...You can get it on ebay or can go to http://www.lamin-x.com and get some. Just polish your lights again, then put this stuff on, and you should be good

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by prelude1897 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Get what's called Lamin-x/Headlight protectant</TD></TR></TABLE>

Mmm, that's a very good idea, thanks!