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.
12. Reapply Plast-X from time to time to keep the UV protection going, or add a few coats of clear. Your choice.



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. 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

 

Great write up. A word of caution, this does not work on all vehicles.

My friend read of these write ups and tried this on his BMW X5. This did not work and ended up costing him an arm, leg, kidney, and lung for a new light. Some higher end brands coat the lights with who knows what. I checked out his head light after he did the job and it was strange to say the least!

I'm sure we don't have to worry about this with our domestic cars though.

 

Thanks for the heads up about the headlights. I agree it depends on the vehicle, but I will put a warning in the OP regardless.

 

I have done many of these and the only issue I have ran into is some have issues with the inside of the lights have peeled from the heat.

 

domestics have the same coating and that is the cloudy, yellow you see.

IMO, your friend didn't sand his enough to get off the coating and that is what he ruined.



What is missing in this write up is the very last step. You are sanding off the yellowed coating and smoothing the plastic. But where is the protection?

The lights will fog up again unless you add a clearcoat to the freshly buffed plastic.

 

You're right--I went out later that day and put the clear on. Just forgot to edit it into the write-up. Added it as the last step-thank you!

 

try toothpaste...does wonders on headlights!!!

 

i did my sisterd camry like this..only i used the stuff from walmart..turned out the same

 

Good job! Lights look great. Nice write up.

I used this on my kids Hyundai with similar results.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...PartType=C0171

 

Glad to hear the Meguiars Headlight Restorer works well. Is it the same process of Sanding and Buffing. The commercials make it seem so easy, like you just put it on a powerball at the end of a drill.

 

You mean clear coat spray? Trying to edumacate muself. :o

 

Yep just clear coat spray. Being transparent it won't affect the light output and it gives the added protection to help prevent the fogginess from coming back. I just put on two light coats. Didn't worry about sanding the clear coat--it was smooth enough.

 

OK, thanks man. I have an old set of Depo lights that got crazed and leaked. I think I'm going to crack them open and experiment a bit on the inside, then try repairing the lenses.

Thanks again.

 

No problem. At least you figured out there was a problem on the inside. Lots of my buddies want me to do their headlights, but their problem is not on the outside--it's condensation on the inside. Not much to do there besides cracking them open or replacing them.

Post back with how it goes!