Thursday
31Aug
Lights Stuck On Dim
Aug 31, 2006 at 11:02AM
When my Daddy died a couple of years ago he left my mother a beautiful full-sized Mercury Marquis-- the top of the line car from Mercury. The car is a '98 model and was Daddy's dream car-- the car he waited a lifetime to own.
Now I know the car is a gas hog when compared to many other cars but it's driven so rarely that it's only got 60,000 miles on it and over 50,000 of those miles were before Daddy died. It was only recently that I replaced the original factory installed Michelin radials and they were far from being worn out I simply felt concerned about Momma driving on old tires.
There is a problem I've been concerned with for quite some time, that being that the plastic headlights are really faded. It's gotten so bad it's as if they're stuck on dim. I thought about replacing them but that could run into hundreds of dollars even by doing the work myself. I know some people polish headlights with a buffer but 1. I don't own a buffer, and 2. it's really easy to ruin the lights if you don't know what you're doing. Besides, have you priced a buffer?
Anyway, I was looking around this morning when I found a company just down the road in Charlotte, North Carolina that sells a product they claim is the best in headlight cleaning and restoration. Is it any good? I don't know but for $15.99 they claim your old faded headlights can look like these:
Now I know the car is a gas hog when compared to many other cars but it's driven so rarely that it's only got 60,000 miles on it and over 50,000 of those miles were before Daddy died. It was only recently that I replaced the original factory installed Michelin radials and they were far from being worn out I simply felt concerned about Momma driving on old tires.
There is a problem I've been concerned with for quite some time, that being that the plastic headlights are really faded. It's gotten so bad it's as if they're stuck on dim. I thought about replacing them but that could run into hundreds of dollars even by doing the work myself. I know some people polish headlights with a buffer but 1. I don't own a buffer, and 2. it's really easy to ruin the lights if you don't know what you're doing. Besides, have you priced a buffer?
Anyway, I was looking around this morning when I found a company just down the road in Charlotte, North Carolina that sells a product they claim is the best in headlight cleaning and restoration. Is it any good? I don't know but for $15.99 they claim your old faded headlights can look like these:
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Reader Comments (2)
Ok well I saw there were a few threads about cleaning headlights but I haven't found one that compares different methods, and since my headlights are way over due for a good cleaning I thought I'd make one. First We'll start with supplies reccomended.
Method 1 (AKA the Wet Sanding)
-Wet Sandpaper (Reccomended 450 Grain+)
-Polishing/Rubbing Compound
-Towel
Optional:
-Microfiber cloth
-Lower Grain Sandpaper follwed by higher grain sandpaper finish
-Simple Green or similar (amonia based) cleaning product
-Clear Coat (in a spray can)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/P8ntballing890/DSC00023.jpg
Method 2:
-Nail Polish Remover
-Towel
-Simple Green or similar (amonia based) cleaning product
Optional:
-Polishing/Rubbing Compound
-Microfiber cloth
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/P8ntballing890/DSC00022.jpg
Method 1:
Step 1: Clean any loose residue off the leanses.
Step 2: Wet lenses and begin sanding lenses. (Use lower grain sandpaper if you have it) After sanding a bit, wipe off lens and get a fresh piece of sandpaper. Repeat this method until you have reached desired cleaness.
Step 3 (optional): Use higher grained sandpaper and repeat step 2 a few times (4-10 depending on stinginess)
Step 4: Wipe some Polishing/Rubbing on your towel or microfiber cloth. Rub back and forth until Polishing/Rubbing gets used up. Wipe on some more and repeat until lense is smooth and scratchless.
Step 5: You can use your cleaning product to get off any excess shavings/compound/whatever.
Step 6 (optional): You can now apply the clear coat, be careful not to spray your car.
Step 7: Your light should now be done.
Method 2:
Step 1: Clean any loose residue off the leanses.
Step 2: Poor some Nail Polish remover on your towel. Rub onto lense quickly until it get hard to wipe. Repeat until lense is clean.
Step 3 (optional): Wipe some Polishing/Rubbing on your towel or microfiber cloth. Rub back and forth until Polishing/Rubbing gets used up. Wipe on some more and repeat until lense is smooth and scratchless.
Step 4: Your light should be done. You can use your cleaning product to get off any excess shavings/compound/whatever.
Conclusion: As you can see there is not much difference. I personally prefer the nail polish remover (Method 2) over the sandpaper method because you get the same results with a lot more ease.
The products and methods used can be interchanged. I actually used a little bit of nail polish remover on the left headlight, too after taking the pics although I didn't notice much difference.