Headlight cover restoration

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Denvermike

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I did this on a non Mopar so I hope this is the right place. My wife has a 2001 Chevy. The plastic headlight cover were getting very cloudy. The price for the "Headlight restore" kits seem awful high. I had an idea and it worked pretty well. I just used plain old Turtle Wax Polishing compound. Used a piece of foam rubber to put it on . Easy on and easy off.
What have others used?
Mike
 
I have used tooth paste and a buffer. Works good.
 
I buy new lights. too important to have not perfect. IMO
 
Mopar Tim's got it right. when "plastic" (polycarbonate) headlamp lenses are yellowed or clouded or fogged, it's time to replace the lamps with new original-equipment ones. There are various polishing/restoration kits and techniques on the market, none of which will do anything but postpone your need to install new headlamps because what you are doing in "polishing" the headlamps is scrubbing off the anti-UV/anti-scratch hardcoat that was applied and crosslink-cured under cleanroom conditions when the lamps were manufactured. With this coating gone, the degradation will come back faster and worse than before. Many of the kits contain what they claim to be a coating, lotion, wax, protectant, sunscreen or other such goop; none of these does anything to slow or stop the degradation. There is no field-applicable coating that can come even a little bit close to duplicating the factory coating's performance (which itself is inadequate to the task, as a walk through any parking lot shows -- the regulations are too lax), but if what you need is to buy yourself some time, use UV-stable urethane spar varnish (link is to how-to thread).

Also, a headlamp that is not in as-new condition is not worth using. Optical degradation of the reflector is grossly advanced well before you can see it with the naked eye; by the time it's progressed far enough to be described as "just a little imperfect" the lamp is dead. Remember, even the most costly, beautiful show chrome (the kind that looks a mile deep) is only 67% reflective, not nearly enough for optical purposes. An as-new headlamp reflector is over 99% reflective. The takeaway message here is that even if the reflector looks OK, its optical efficiency is way down if it's got some years on it.

Replacement headlamps need to be original-equipment items (automaker's own brand, genuine parts) because all(!) of the aftermarket off-brand items (TYC, Depo, DJAuto, Eagle Eye, Helix, etc.) are garbage, despite spurious claims of "OEM quality", "SAE/DOT approved", "CAPA certified", etc. This is worth a careful look at your present headlamps, too, in case the car received aftermarket replacement headlamps sometime in the past.
 
slantsixdan said:
Mopar Tim's got it right. when "plastic" (polycarbonate) headlamp lenses are yellowed or clouded or fogged, it's time to replace the lamps with new original-equipment ones. There are various polishing/restoration kits and techniques on the market, none of which will do anything but postpone your need to install new headlamps because what you are doing in "polishing" the headlamps is scrubbing off the anti-UV/anti-scratch hardcoat that was applied and crosslink-cured under cleanroom conditions when the lamps were manufactured. With this coating gone, the degradation will come back faster and worse than before. Many of the kits contain what they claim to be a coating, lotion, wax, protectant, sunscreen or other such goop; none of these does anything to slow or stop the degradation. There is no field-applicable coating that can come even a little bit close to duplicating the factory coating's performance (which itself is inadequate to the task, as a walk through any parking lot shows -- the regulations are too lax), but if what you need is to buy yourself some time, use UV-stable urethane spar varnish (link is to how-to thread).

Also, a headlamp that is not in as-new condition is not worth using. Optical degradation of the reflector is grossly advanced well before you can see it with the naked eye; by the time it's progressed far enough to be described as "just a little imperfect" the lamp is dead. Remember, even the most costly, beautiful show chrome (the kind that looks a mile deep) is only 67% reflective, not nearly enough for optical purposes. An as-new headlamp reflector is over 99% reflective. The takeaway message here is that even if the reflector looks OK, its optical efficiency is way down if it's got some years on it.

Replacement headlamps need to be original-equipment items (automaker's own brand, genuine parts) because all(!) of the aftermarket off-brand items (TYC, Depo, DJAuto, Eagle Eye, Helix, etc.) are garbage, despite spurious claims of "OEM quality", "SAE/DOT approved", "CAPA certified", etc. This is worth a careful look at your present headlamps, too, in case the car received aftermarket replacement headlamps sometime in the past.
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Technically correct. Alot of the hazing is the uv coating delaminating, but some of the newer cars oem lights are approaching $6-800 or better. Quite a chunk to get through inspection . To the op I just use some regular rubbing compound followed with some polishing compound on a mini buffer. $5
 
If the light is $800 each, must be a luxury car. You should be able to afford the maintenance of the vehicle. Do you get new tires when the are no longer doing there job? Replace the worn out parts, in this case the headlights. You need to see in the dark. And your family member driving the vehicle does as well!

Edit: I just replaced the headlights on my wifes 2010 Edge, new OEM parts, less then $300 from Ford, For both of them. Shop around for the best price.
 
OEM HID headlight assemblies easily can run from $700 to $1200 not including the power module or bulb! LED tail lights are not far behind....

After trying a few products and even compound buffing I just bought some new headlights for my 2006 Magnum from 1A Auto at $159 a pair delivered. They should be here today so I'll post before and after shots.
 
Just looked 2001 silverado, 136 dollars each from GM. NOT 1600.
 
mguner said:
OEM HID headlight assemblies easily can run from $700 to $1200 not including the power module or bulb! LED tail lights are not far behind....
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They are expensive. My wife's Focus was in the 250 range, each.
 
And a brand new incandescent is way better than a fresh h4 behind a polished lens
 
But a 2001 chevy did not have these expensive headlights! This is what we are talking about.
 
All of the aftermarket lamps (such as those ones from 1A Auto), whether they're original-looking or restyled, are trash. The low price is attractive, but the quality, performance, and durability are all substantially and dangerously inferior to the genuine items.

There is no optical engineering behind any of these; they are trinkets made from physical copies of the originals, which is not even close to adequate. One might as well make a mould of your eyeglasses lenses and expect to be able to cast new working eyeglass lenses from the mould. The level of shape precision required to accurately focus the beam can only be achieved with optical engineering. Copies don't even begin to get in the ballpark. Light distribution is way, way out of line with what it should be. Usually the DOT and/or ECE safety approval or certification marks are fraudulent or counterfeit.

"Perfect OE fit and performance" is often promised in the ads for the copycat lamps. This is an out-and-out lie. Take a look at this, which is the report on a large, formal test of OE vs. TYC and Depo versions of simple, cheap American-vehicle headlamps. Even though TYC is widely regarded as the least-awful of a pathetic bunch, still a complete failure by the TYC & Depo units (see page 21 and 30 if you don't have time to read the whole report).

And that report comes to you from the website of the "CAPA Certified" people pushing this garbage. That's right: on the website of the lobbyists pushing your insurance company to install this junk on your car is a report showing that it's junk. Which should give you a clue as to how out-to-lunch they are.

Parts quality matters. Especially on life-safety equipment like lamps.
 
Agreed, the adjusters don't always work properly either. So even if you get them fitted properly, might not get them adjusted.
 
Dan, how about the Dorman replacements? Are they junk as well?
 
Rusty, aftermarket lights can be of varying quality, so save up some jack for the oem units. Just keep in mind that opposed to riding around with hazed out lenses, polishing them up in the meantime, may be hazardous to your health and your familiy's well being.
 
When Kitty hit the deer earlier this year, I replaced both hers with Dorman replacements. They work good and seem to light the road just fine.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Dan, how about the Dorman replacements? Are they junk as well?
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Yes, all of the aftermarket lamps are knockoff junk from China. You're asking whether Golden Retriever shìt is less stinky than German Shepherd shìt.

I replaced both hers with Dorman replacements. They work good and seem to light the road just fine.
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The difficulty is, what we feel like we're seeing isn't what we're actually seeing. The human visual system is a lousy judge of how well it's doing. It's not just you, it's everyone. We humans are just not well equipped to accurately evaluate how well or poorly we can see (or how well a headlamp works). Our subjective impressions tend to be very far out of line with objective, real measurements of how well we can (or can't) see. It's not because we're lying to ourselves or fooling ourselves or anything like that, it's because our visual systems just don't work the way it feels like they work.
 
Let's say I buy a new car, can I put that UV Spar Varnish on the headlights from the git-go and prolong the life of the headlights?
 
slantsixdan said:
Yes, all of the aftermarket lamps are knockoff junk from China. You're asking whether Golden Retriever shìt is less stinky than German Shepherd shìt.
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lol Thanks Dan.
 
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