Restore headlights...

[Tazz]

I've seen several articles and threads about restoring headlights. Toothpaste, baking soda, Off bug spray, expensive store bought products, you name it. I stumbled upon a really easy way to restore them.

While lubricating my hood release cable on my MB wagon, I accidentally spilled some WD-40 onto one of the headlights. I took a shop towel and wiped it off. As soon as I made the first stroke, it was amazing how the light looked. I added more WD to the towel and did all of the lights. I was very surprised. Mercedes Benz are notorious for bad light lenses.

I did this about a month ago but didn't want to post about it until I saw some results. It works. I wash my car once a week and just wipe the lights with the WD after I dry it off. Like new. Has anybody else tried or heard about this?

HDD

One of my nephews told me about that just a few days ago, he has an old Nissan truck and wipes em' down about once a week. I have a '94 Toyota tiny truck I'm gonna try it on.

I use fresh cat crap. Gotta get it from a housecat that eats a lotta tuna.

Lmao!

I did my son's tail lights using a high speed polisher in a vice. They still look new 6 months later. Well, the one that didn't get launched across the garage still looks new, the new one I had to buy is, well, new. Keep a good grip when using this method.

Lol!

 

[staggerwing42]

Sand and polish will yeild the longest lasting results. They will still frost and yellow again after a while. Trick is to get all the original hard coat off the plastic lens especially if you clear coat them after polishing otherwise it will be noticeable.

 

[Ken Ford]

I haven't tried the WD40, but I have used sand paper on those that have a lot of yellow.
I would start with 400 grit and continue up to 1000 grit, then rubbing compound, and polish.
It all depends upon the severity of the fading.

Only lasting way to repair. Not easy or fast, but works long term.

 

[HoopDawg42]

I use fresh cat crap. Gotta get it from a housecat that eats a lotta tuna.

Somehow in my sick mind I see squeezing a cat like a tube of toothpaste onto the headlight.

 

[Boogerhook]

Somehow in my sick mind I see squeezing a cat like a tube of toothpaste onto the headlight.

Your method will take too long. I think the active ingredients are the bones from the tuna and the clumping litter. I can have my Chihuahua pick out some prime specimen for you, as he is the finest turdburglar in all the land. A connoisseur of you will.

 

[AuburnRunner]

I've done the mothers powerball specially made for headlights. Results were decent - however 6 months later noticeably hazy again. I've discovered replacing the old with another OEM pair of of lights off Amazon is the way to go and a huge time saver.

 

[Old_School]

Sand and polish will yeild the longest lasting results. They will still frost and yellow again after a while. Trick is to get all the original hard coat off the plastic lens especially if you clear coat them after polishing otherwise it will be noticeable.

Agree. However, the coating was extremely difficult to sand off/remove from my wife's Trailblazer. I finally purchased a couple of factory OEM (NOS) headlights off eBay for $69/ea. That ended up taking far less time. (Factory housings were $200+ each from various distribution channels).

As an aside, I first tried buying some "highest quality" aftermarket headlight housings off Amazon. That ended up being a cluster****. Looked like you were looking through a kaleidescope with all of the reflections on the road!

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

 

[backwoodsga]

Use the mothers powerball or something similar. Repeat and use a high quality wax to protect it from uv rays. This will probably give you six months or so before another application.

 

[AuburnRunner]

Agree. However, the coating was extremely difficult to sand off/remove from my wife's Trailblazer. I finally purchased a couple of factory OEM (NOS) headlights off eBay for $69/ea. That ended up taking far less time. (Factory housings were $200+ each from various distribution channels).

As an aside, I first tried buying some "highest quality" aftermarket headlight housings off Amazon. That ended up being a cluster****. Looked like you were looking through a kaleidescope with all of the reflections on the road!

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Agreed - there are some bad knock-off "OEM" housings on Ebay/Amazon. I got lucky with the headlights off amazon but went with true OEM taillights NIB from ebay.

 

[HoopDawg42]

Your method will take too long. I think the active ingredients are the bones from the tuna and the clumping litter. I can have my Chihuahua pick out some prime specimen for you, as he is the finest turdburglar in all the land. A connoisseur of you will.