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question for the car detailers


smokin5s

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my headlights have the typical older car yellow'ish foggy issue... I know there's a ton of products on the market, what do you recommend and have had good luck with? New headlights are almost 200 so I'd really rather avoid that if I can help it...

 

What works? what doesn't? Do I just need to bite the bullet and replace them?

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What material is the lens? Plastic, Glass?

 

I'm going to take a shot with plastic.

 

There are alot of OTC products out there, but to be honest all of them just cover the issue, you'll see it come back sooner or later.

 

The "correct" way to deal with it is to wetsand (depending on the extent of the damage) and polish it out with Meguiars Plastic Polish and a Rotary.

 

If you're in Cleveland, which I highly doubt, I'd tell you to swing on by and I'll do it real quick for you...but you're not sooooo that may not work.

 

3M has a kit out there that you can use your drill with. Don't know the results from that though. I'll do some research

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What material is the lens? Plastic, Glass?

 

I'm going to take a shot with plastic.

 

There are alot of OTC products out there, but to be honest all of them just cover the issue, you'll see it come back sooner or later.

 

The "correct" way to deal with it is to wetsand (depending on the extent of the damage) and polish it out with Meguiars Plastic Polish and a Rotary.

 

If you're in Cleveland, which I highly doubt, I'd tell you to swing on by and I'll do it real quick for you...but you're not sooooo that may not work.

 

3M has a kit out there that you can use your drill with. Don't know the results from that though. I'll do some research

where in cleveland are you? I might be willing to make the drive if you can make it look brand new... I hate the yellow look.

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I actually just did my brothers headlights today with some of the leftover 3M headlight restoration I had in the garage. I've used the 3M kits on 5-6 cars and I highly recommend them for the $20 it costs. It comes with 3 different sandpaper grits and a buffing pad with plastic polish you run off a drill.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=3m+headlight+restoration+kit&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5216201402521497911&sa=X&ei=TxIJT6iXI6SvsQLPmvyQCg&ved=0CIABEPMCMAQ#ps-sellers

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I actually just did my brothers headlights today with some of the leftover 3M headlight restoration I had in the garage. I've used the 3M kits on 5-6 cars and I highly recommend them for the $20 it costs. It comes with 3 different sandpaper grits and a buffing pad with plastic polish you run off a drill.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=3m+headlight+restoration+kit&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5216201402521497911&sa=X&ei=TxIJT6iXI6SvsQLPmvyQCg&ved=0CIABEPMCMAQ#ps-sellers

is it pretty easy to control with the drill so that you don't end up scratching your paint?

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where in cleveland are you? I might be willing to make the drive if you can make it look brand new... I hate the yellow look.

 

I'm working this whole week and going back to School on Saturday, so it won't work anyways.

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Didn't get any before pics of the headlights I just did but the looked a little better than these fogs which I'll do when I get some more sandpaper

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k204/stangsn95gt/6244714b.jpg

 

 

But now the headlights look like this

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k204/stangsn95gt/6a28e0b5.jpg

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I bought the 3M product today and gave it a shot... I got rid of all the yellow that was on the headlights, but it still has a bit of a haze look to it. I don't know if I should do it again or if it's as good as it's gonna get.
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I've done a few different kits over the years and the 3m was the best. My dad didn't have a drill while I was down last month and we did my uncles car with the hand kit and it did the job. It doesn't get all of it out, but they where clear as can be. Just make sure to get the first step done as good as you can cause that is the step that fixes everything.
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Wetsand 1000, 1500, 2000, polish with PlastX, and then whatever other polish you have laying around. I find that it's easier to remove the headlights instead of wetsanding them on the vehicle. After wetsanding I'll put them back on and use a buffer to polish.

 

It takes a couple hours but they'll come out looking new, without any yellowing or haze at all.

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Passenger headlight is before, driver's side is after.....

 

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c295/skoval25/Car%20pics/May12011.jpg

 

I did it with the headlights on my truck too but didn't spend nearly as much time wetsanding as I should have, and they still turned out great

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