I have a 2000 Accord EX. The headlamp lens are discolored. The problem is not moisture inside the headlamp assemblies. Its not abrasion, either. There is some kind of change in the clear plastic surface of the assemblies. Any ideas?

I've heard that these can be restored with polishing compound. What do you think?

Take a look at the pics: C:\Documents and Settings\Gale\My Do...d\DSCN1945.JPG

C:\Documents and Settings\Gale\My Do...d\DSCN1946.JPG

 

As much as I would love to look a picture stored in your local computer's My Documents folder I can't. You need to actually upload them to the internet for users to view them.

You should purchase one of the headlight restoration kits from Advanced Auto or similar and read/follow the directions exactly. I recommend the one in the silver bag.

They work very well.

 

UV light degrades all types of polymers (Plastics)
It's normal sun damage. Polish them

 

try that headlamp polish from magwires or mothers products. they have kits at wallmart and maybe autozone for about 20 bucks. if you have the stuff in tha kit already like the microfiber towel and such, then you can buy just the polish bottle for about 6 bucks. on my integra though it didnt work on one headlight lens. but the rest looked great. maybe that one of mine was just too far gone to be revived LOL. try that stuff

 

i agree with Rick, i bought the polish bottle at walmart for $6 n worked wonders. i did the headlights on my cd5 n ep3 both look real good :-)

 

yeah that stuff is good huh LOL i got like all the mothers stuff from back when i was a dealer of thier products. but i have both mothers and maguires stuff to the max LOL i'll wax and polish and detail my rides for 10 hours with my E-Z-up LOL the rides look awsome though. i think that detail cabinet i have is filled with 800 bucks worth of products for detailing cars LOL

 

wow....hook me up with some of that product...lol...

 

if you have a cordless drill the 3M kit is awesome, you can get it at Walmart for like 20 dollars and you can do about 4 or 5 cars

 

When I did the headlights on one of my cars, I pieced everything together instead of buying a kit. First I got various grits of wet/dry sandpaper (600, 1000, 1500, 2000) and a 2-step 3M plastic polish (1st is a cleaner and 2nd is a polish).

Now you can more than likely get away without 600 but mine were really yellowed and I wanted to knock that down quickly.

 

damn i never thought about the sandpaper. i might try that with the one i have that looks like **** LOL i was just going to either order a new set if possible or get one in a junk yard LOL thanks for the idea

 

The Meguiars Plast-X worked better than the Mother's polish. Work it in with some foam applicator pad. It won't make it look like new, but pretty darn close.

 

yeah i used that with the applicator pad (i have like 120 left i think) but one of my lenses still looks like ****. the rest looked great. but maye that one of mine is just too far gone. i'm gonna try that sandpaper thing today

 

i got the 3m kit (i think, i know it's the one for the drill) and they look brand new since i did it before the winter, i definitely recommend it. it looks pretty cool too when they get all foggy from the sandpaper then you polish them and they get shiny :-) haha

 

yep, mine were horrible. Couldn't even see the bulbs it was so yellowed, I didn't let it get that bad, this was when I bought the car. Now they look and feel like new. Before the lens was rough to the touch, now it's smooth and clear. I did this 2 years ago and they lens still look and feel great. Wish I would have taken before pictures to show the difference.

just soak the sandpaper for a bit, and be sure to rinse the lens with soapy water as you are sanding to make sure you keep the lens and sandpaper clean. I just took a bottle with a nozzle on the end like an old bike water bottle or something similar and filled it with soapy water and squeezed that onto the lens while I was sanding to rinse it, worked great.