How To: Clear up foggy headlights

[Midgear]

So i was browsing wally farts, looking for an accessory or two for my new olds, and i stumble across "5 minute optical polish for headlights".. I had my doubts but for a measily 10 bucks i had to try it.. Took it home, stuck it on the power drill, slapped a buffing pad on, gave it some water, and started buffing the crap out of the lights, and nothing.

So I figured id come here and look around for some tips, and i found that some have actually taken fine grit sand paper to their headlights.. I figured its worth a shot, went back to good ol' wally farts and bought some 1000 grit sand paper, came back home and started sanding away (using water with the sand paper).. when i got done sanding and looked at my headlight when i dried it off i was kinda shocked to see how hazy and foggy it was due to sanding, but i had nothing to loose from that point if the optical polish i bought didnt work.. so i started polishing.. and about 15 minutes later, heres the results..


http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/2416000-2416999/2416601_7_full.jpg


Can you tell the difference?

The smaller photo is the before shot, and the bigger photo is after the sanding and buffing. It actually made it CRYSTAL clear, I am very amazed.

[smlzalero]

chrome polish works best IMO, but you go head with the "Optical Polish" lol

[doubleN0alero]

it definately looks 100 times better than it did before

[jackal2000]

decent work!!

[p1mptress]

Yea it looks better. I kind of ran into something like that when i had the silicone all over the headlights from doing the clear corners. I found some rubbing compound and used it on my headlights to get the silicone off of them and the headlights looks really nice after. Good thing I have the rubbing compound b/c when i was at the auto store today to buy a bulb someone slammed their door into my car, so now i have a new project :(

[Midgear]

That sucks p1mptress.. hope you get that fixed!

[p1mptress]

That sucks p1mptress.. hope you get that fixed!
yea I was kindof upset since I just washed the car, so I knew it just happened! But oh well bitching isn't going to make it look better, i think this is a sign I should get a new paint job. Maybe when i win the lottery!! :lol:

[AftermathAlero]

Clear coat the headlights after wetsanding and polishing. That will fix it for a long time.

[Vtolds]

metal polish then plastic polish works good also.

[SweetNLow]

when using sandpaper on headlights.... you have to sand straight up and down across the entire lens......... then you have sand 90degrees in the oposite direction.

you should finsih with 2000 grit paper no matter what grit you start with. AND THEN YOU STILL HAVE TO USE PLASTIC POLISH.

the plastic polish removes any haze that is left. thats why they cleared up after you polished them again

[Oldsman]

using plastic polish with a buffing wheel works a lot better than any hand rub polish

[alero440]

i like the 3M plastic polish I bought. Works wonders on everything I have used it on.

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

either sticky this thread, or move it to the how-to. lots of good info here. (might need to edit with a couple little things...like the title. lol)

[doubleN0alero]

I went ahead and changed this to How To and moved it accordingly. You're right Randy, there is a bunch of good information in this thread, thanks to all those that contributed...

[eag182]

Post better pictures, I can't see crap in those.

[Midgear]

I'll get some pics a.s.a.p :coolio:

[Midgear]

Ok.. heres some -better- pics.. (i hope so anyways..)

This is BEFORE sanding and buffing..

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/2416000-2416999/2416601_5_full.jpg


This is AFTER sanding and buffing.. (i cant help the reflection.. their shiney now LOL)


http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/2416000-2416999/2416601_8_full.jpg


http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/2416000-2416999/2416601_9_full.jpg


http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/2416000-2416999/2416601_10_full.jpg


Love the results.. others should try this!

[MixtapeMessiah]

Im gonna be doin this tomorrow, my left headlight is fogged up rediculous style and mine should look good like that again with my clear corners. You just used 1000 grit sandpaper and 3M plastic polish?

[Midgear]

I used 1000 grit sand paper to get all the yellow crap / build-up and other fine scratches out of the lense (dont let the hazyness scare you when your done sanding.. it comes out after the buffing / polishing)

Go to wal-mart and buy "5 Minute Optical Polish for Headlights".. its in the accessories section by automotive.. the instructions are on the box, just sand the headlights down first! and be sure to use water when buffing the headlights.. my retarded ass tried doing it with the pad dry cause i didnt see anything where it said "add water" lol

ALSO: When you're sanding the headlights, be sure to use wet sand paper and use water while sanding, the sand paper will last longer too when its wet..

Hope this helps!

[MixtapeMessiah]

awesome, im gonna do that tomorrow and put my 3rd brake light alero cover i got for 10 bux on ebay on lol.

[Midgear]

Post pics :coolio:

[MixtapeMessiah]

alrite will do, gotta run to wally world real quick and ill post later on

[Midgear]

Anything on those lights?!

[MixtapeMessiah]

nope I bout the 1000 grit sandpaper and that 3m rubbing compound. For that 5 minute stuff u told me about i needed a drill and i aint got one of those, so I went with the compound, but it didnt work I sanded and waxxed the fuck outta it and its still a bit foggy, not too much though. Ill post pics later

[MixtapeMessiah]

My cars broke rite now so I gotta fix that shit : / fucked up man

[Midgear]

The buffing wheel does about 15 minutes of hand rubbing in about 5, so keep on rubbing those headlights lol

What happened to your car?

[MixtapeMessiah]

rear connecting rods fell off lol sucks ass but I fixed it this morning, Im gonna be puttin new brakes n shit on this weekend and painting my interior, fuckin awesome

[Midgear]

Groovy, my car decided it was time to start the LIM leak, so i have to put off the replacement of the wheel hubs and sterio system untill i get that fixed..

at least my headlights are shiney now lol

And for some reason, i looked at the front of my car today and noticed the passenger side headlight is sitting farther down than my driver side.. the entire piece that holds the headlight assembly on the car is cracked in between the pins you pull up to remove the lights.. never really noticed that before now..

[MixtapeMessiah]

yeah u need a new header panel, same with me since I rear ended sum fine ass girl lol, when I go over bumps in the road I can see it bounce up n down, sucks but Ill fix that once I do the HID conversion

[99redcoupe]

I am new to this so do you sand the inside of the lights and outside? and you buy 1000 grit sandpaper right?

[MixtapeMessiah]

I ended up buying that 10 minute optical stuff, just put it on a drill and wet sand it, it did the trick Ill post a pic later on.

[Satsuriku]

alright, time to bring up an old thread!!

ok, 1,000 or 2,000 grit sandpaper?? i never heard of grit that high, the highest ive seen is 250 (the really fine black sand paper)

someone care to enlighten me on this?

[MixtapeMessiah]

1000 and 2000 are used for auto body finishing, its hardcore fine grit, but what I used, go to walmart and get a thing called 15 minute optical len cleaner, hook it up to ur drill and wet sand it, it works wonders. and hella a lot easier than sanding it by hand.

[strtrydr]

Sat ... I think you are getting the grits confused.

The higher the number the finer the grit. And for anyone that doesn't wanna go thru the hassle of using sandpaper and all that nonsense ... just go buy some Never-Dull and that will take the color out of the lenses, although it will not remove the Haze/Fogginess.

[Satsuriku]

oh i understand how the grits work just fine, always have just that i cant fine anything that fine around here......well theres one place but i cant go there as the owner and his son are there ALL the time, and we just dont see eye to eye and bad shit happens. anyways, ill snoop through canadian tire to wally shack and see if i can find what im looking for

[zoL]

Just go to an auto body shop and ask for some.

[strtrydr]

haha ... 2000 being fine ... I can get a hold of 12000 :lol:

[Satsuriku]

ok so i was able to find 2000 grit and some polish (its called metal polish but it works on plastic to) and i got them done, theres a decent amount of difference but i think i needed to start at a lower grit then finish it with 2000 as i used 2000 the whole way through but im sure i could have gotten a better result if the grit i used to start was lower. oh well, ill post pics later