Since I'm home for the week I decided to clear up the headlights on my mother's 2001 Toyota Camry. I know a lot of us have newer vehicles and don't have to worry about this (yet), but many of you own several vehicles. This should help if your headlights have that nasty, yellow, "cloudy" look, as such:



Disclaimer: Neither I nor F150Online.com are responsible for any damage done to your vehicle in the case of anything going wrong. That being said, you really shouldn't run into any problems if you follow the directions. See post 3.



Before I start I'll just say that if your stock of detailing supplies is low don't worry. You can do this with a limited number of supplies. All you really need you can buy at Wal-Mart. The bare-bone essentials are: some rags, 1000/2000 grit sandpaper, and polish (Meg's Ultimate Compound @ Wal-Mart). I will list everything I used, though. Some of it probably wasn't necessary, but I did it anyway.

The entire process would have taken me 20 minutes tops had I not stopped to take pictures several times. The headlights aren't big at all so it doesn't take long to get them looking great again.




(again, this is what I used)
Materials:
1. Bowl or bucket filled with soapy water
2. Some old rags (type doesn't matter)
3. 1000 grit sandpaper
4. 2000 grit sandpaper
5. Masking tape (I used blue painter's)
6. DA polisher
7. M105 + heavy cut pad
8. M205 + light cut pad
9. Plast-X + foam hand pad
10. Latex Gloves







(I did one headlight at a time to get some before/after shots. Feel free to do both at once.)
My Steps:
1. Put the sandpaper into the soapy dish to soak for a few minutes while you prep everything else.





2. Use the masking tape and tape off areas you don't want to accidentally wet-sand or have polish get into.





3. Wet sand with 1000 grit first. Work in straight lines, first horizontally then vertically. How much you need to sand depends on how bad of shape your headlights are in, but it's mostly a feel thing. Just do what you think is enough.





4. Now wet sand with 2000 grit using the same method as the 1000 grit.
5. Wipe off all the water with a rag.
6. Use the M105 with a heavy-cut pad. You shouldn't really worry about screwing anything up since headlights are far less prone to damage than paint. Put a few drops of M105 on the pad.





7. Spread it around by hand first to prevent slinging the polish everywhere. After spreading it around by hand use a low-speed setting (2 on the PC) to spread it evenly.





8. Turn the polisher up (5 on the PC) and go to town. Work it around evenly and slowly. No need to go fast as there isn't much ground to cover. After working it for a minute or so go ahead and wipe it off to take a look.
9. If it looks pretty clear (mine did after the M105 alone) use the M205 the exact same way as the M105. This time use the light-cut pad. If it still looks pretty foggy from the wet sanding then do another pass or two.
10. Wipe off the M205 and put a small drop of Plast-X on the foam hand pad to work in by hand. Spread it around and rub it in.





11. Follow steps 1-10 again for the next headlight.



Here are a few comparison shots after the first headlight was finished (I did the passenger side first, obviously):








Before and Afters:











Final thoughts:
I feel I could have gotten away with using just 2000 grit and M105. If you're short on stock or cheap feel free to try it this way and report back to us. After I used the M105 the headlight was pretty clear. I just used the extra stuff because I had already taken the time to pack it up and take it home in the first place.

You can do this by hand and without the M105/205, though. Go pick up some Meg's Ultimate Rubbing Compound from Wal-Mart. With the foam hand pads you should be able to get out the 2000 grit marks no problem! It's easy to do by hand because it's such a small area to work. Hopefully this helps some people--I know my mother appreciated the early Christmas gift.



Merry Christmas, guys! :santa:

 

Excellent job Matt!

I don't have a DA yet. I have Plastx. Is there a way of doing this w/o the DA and M105 and M205?

I know Meg's sells a headlight restorer kit

 

Yeah they sell the kit, which I think you can use with a drill.

You can do this by hand, though, easily. Go pick up some Meg's Ultimate Rubbing Compound from Wal-Mart. With the foam pads you should be able to get out the 2000 grit marks no problem! It's easy to do by hand because it's such a small area to work.

edit-added to OP

 

Good to know.. thanks bud

 

Yea, 105 will pretty much "get it there." 2000 grit + M150 was how I cleaned up a pair of fogs I got from ebay.

I've found 3M rubbing compound to work as well. I'd guess Megs Ultimate Compound does as well.

Nice write up, with pix, BTW

 

Yeah I was surprised at how well it did on its own. Great stuff.

Thank you. I saw a few things after a search but nothing with lots of pics.

 

Awesome How-To, my wife has a 1997 Camry, I'm going to check out her headlights before I go to work, because at night you can barely see the lights on the road. I just don't have really any of those things listed.

 

Like I said, no worries. You can get everything you need at Wal-Mart. Pick up some old 1000/2000 grit sandpaper, Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, Plast-X, and some small foam hand-pads. All of that is back in the car care section. It's a little more work by hand but definitely doable!

 

Checked out my wife's headlights last night, and yes they were pretty fogged up. I'll see if she'll let me do this to her car.