I posted a thread a couple weeks ago showing pics of my newly installed lowering springs. I got all praise except a few noted that my head lights needed some work. So I picked up the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration Kit.
I couldn't believe how well it worked. It's a 4 stage process. You start with a 500 grit, then 800 grit, then you wetsand it and finally polish it.

Here's the driver's side before (not terrible really):

500 Grit:

800 Grit:

Wet Sand:

Polish:


This isn't a How-To or anything, the instructions are really easy to follow. The only thing you really need is a drill, clean rags, masking tape and a spray bottle.

 

The passenger side was more drastic.
Before (Blech!):

After:


It actually looks better in person. I was having a hard time getting a good pic because it was REALLY sunny out, so between glare and reflections, I was having a helluva time but, I think you get the point.

 

keep them polished. everytime i wash my car, i use mcguires plastix and it works wonders!

 

Parking in the shade when you can will eliminate the exposure to the sun, which help keep you from haveing to do this often...

 

What about that HOW to site Shift ice that show you how to get them cleared., It states something about putting them in the oven for 10-15 min and your headlights would be clear like new.

 

Huge difference....very nice. Definitely beats having to buy a new set if you don't have the money...

 

I used the same 3M kit... I love it.... My car is the same color as yours too :P

 

I just use the plastic x, every time I wash and it has really kept it up.

 

nice work

 

Same here

 

you could also wet sand them. I would personally use 1400 first to get blemishes out then i would go to 2000 to get out the 1400 scratches and then follow them up with 3000. Once done use some 3000 grit sctrach removal compund and buff it up. They come out extremely shiney. I hope i helped =)

 

I tried plastic x before and my headlights were just to far gone. Now that I put a few hours to bring them back to life, ill be polishing them on a regular basis.

It was funny my g/f noticed the difference right away and thought I got new headlights...but, when I lowered it she didnt notice, lol.

 

Not at all unfortunately.
The 3M kit is a wet sand kit. I used the same kit. Used a 3 stage grit and a power drill to do it.

Kthxbye!

 

ugh, if I could take ONE thing back that I did to my car, it'd be this. I'll take a tiny bit of pitting vs. having to polish my headlights every week when they turn yellow and disgusting.

 

Just gonna say this...You couldn't pull the 10mm bolts up top to pull the light to do this? Just sayin'


Anyways they came out great nice job on the restoration

 

I saw no real need to pull them honestly. It was easier just to tape it off. And thanks for the compliments.

 

I was wondering about this...I use Pittman alr but it only works for a few months before I have to reapply it.

Perhaps one could wetsand the headlights and then get clear film headlight covers?

 

Looks SO much better, I need to do this Asap, I did a quick job with a polish but your results speak for themselves. Well done.

 

Looks great. My 5.5's were pitted when I bought them. After I got them wired into my AE I used the 3M kit and it worked wonders. Look at my sig
v
v
v

 

looking sexy

 

I know this is a bump from hell, but I thought I'd add my input:

One of my buddies had badly fogged headlights, so we ran them through a similar four-step process. Didn't use the 3M kit, but close enough with a wet-sand and buffing.

In order to keep them from yellowing, we coated them with a light coat of clear coat.

Lenses still look practically brand new, 8 months later. Now he just waxes them with the rest of his car...

 

Yeah man there's more than one way to skin a cat (where did that saying come from anyway?!) the 3M kit just takes all the thinking out of it. Looking at this thread, they're prolly do for another wetsand and polish. Ill have to give the clear coat a shot.

 

that something bad about polishing them for the fisrt time, if u just wet sand them and polish them u would have to keep doing this cuz if u don't they end up worst than before in a couple of weeks or months, i own my own buffer and compunds so i don't mind buffing again the headlight any time im using the buffer, but yes its kind of a pain.

 

damn that looks great! i need to do this. polishing compound didn't cut it last time

 

You are referring to the "How to do" clearing on the turn signal which would involve baking them to open them them up. That process is not needed to bring clarity back to the outside light housing.

Very nice job at cleaning up the cloudy front lens, makes them look almost like new not to mention you will notice one hell of a lot more light hitting road ... nicely done.

 

Think I'll purchase the 3m kit. Seems easy enough and I definitely need it. My passenger light was stolen a few years ago so the driver side light looks pretty bad in comparison.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Headlight-L.../dp/B001AIZ5HY

 

looks great, I'm about to do the same with mine)

 

i like them dirty better.... lol jk

 

3M kit...why?

You can wet sand and buff to desired finish w/o it.

 

Brasso does wonders as well..

 

That exactly what I did. I used 1200, 1500 and lastly 2000 wersand paper. After that I used mequiars PlastX to polish them. They came out brand new then I sprayed three coats of clear, wetsanded the clear with 2000 grit then polished it and they still look brand new two years later.

 

i just claybarred, rubbing compound and a coat of wax...all i've done since all of that is wash my car, still looks like when i detailed the car.

looks good though man, even though this thread is 5 years old lol

 

Yeah, the problem with wet-sanding the housing is that you just stripped all of the protective coating applied at the factory. I'm not sure how clear 3M type films/bras will hold up over time, or putting clear coat on them, but there is definitely a second (third?) generation of headlight restoring kits coming out and I would wager that the need simply isn't there. The guy Nexus67 quoted already realized that, as soon as you sand that coating off, the lenses fog more and more quickly.

So what can be done?



Behold, a sales pitch for a product I have yet to use! ...but seen work miracles on six-year-old Freightliner truck headlights that fog to a color not unlike vanilla yogurt. Here is a housing in much better shape than the ones I saw it used on:
Cute, right?

The product is by a company called Search Automotive Technologies (weird name) and they call it (lame name) LightRite. The cheapest place I found the same kit we use at work is some crazy online store that sells only, uh, UV products.

Here's a cute fact sheet on the stuff.
How-to video

The single aspect of LightRite that distinguishes it from Meguiars, 3M, etc. is the fact it comes with a lifetime warranty. Yeah. Lifetime. We recently bought the stuff at my place of employment, Penske Truck Leasing, to see if it was any better than the other headlight lens restoring kits we've used before. The heavy-duty truck housings pit and fog at roughly quadruple the rate of normal consumer vehicles. I'm not sure if it's because International and Freightliner are incredibly cheap companies that don't use quality plastic and coatings in their lights, or if the whole "IT'S DRIVEN 200,000 MILES A YEAR, DUMMY!" thing applies.

It has been two months since two trucks had their lens restored by an amateur who refused to read the instructions and didn't do it quite right (the curing in the sunlight thing is CRITICAL), but they turned almost as clear as the other Freightliner lights shown on Search Automotive's website. Two months later, they are still as clear as they were that Saturday! We're talking maybe two washes of the trucks since then and about 42,000 miles driven at the rate these guys rack 'em up. Our trucks never, ever see wax or anything else to protect the clear coat or plastics. All these horrors notwithstanding, the lenses are still... clear. It's crazy.


I was about to pay $70 to have both my headlights restored by a guy who offers the same clarity as LightRite, but with a three-year warranty. You'd better believe I'm going to pay $30 to clear both housings with a lifetime warranty!

Where I found it the cheapest. It looks too new to have hit Amazon yet. I wish I could order it through Penske, as they only pay $18 per kit through their supplier, but that's a dead end. Bah.

I would have bought this stuff two months ago when I saw it work, but the wedding is now only 30 days away and my money is being spent in more, um, important areas right now. (Like end links and gear oil! ) I've used the 3M stuff before and was very impressed... for two weeks. Then it fogged back almost as bad as it was before being "restored." The next product I tried was PlastX and it did a worse job restoring it, but did a better job keeping it clear. I have consistently forgotten to reapply PlastX every friggin' week to keep them clearish and know I will definitely not be relying on any of these dumb, cheap, Autozone available kits anymore.

I dunno. Go to their website, look at those G35 lenses (is it a coincidence the early G35s are ALWAYS shown on headlight restoring boxes? NO.), and decide if you want to risk the $28 + shipping to give it a whack.

 

I'm very interested to see how this works. I haven't tried to purchase it yet, but I may pull the trigger after a little more contemplation. I found it here for under $20(looks like the same kit). It appears there are no restrictions for purchase from this site besides registering. Anyway, thanks for the heads-up about this product. I can't stand constantly maintaining the lights after they have been polished. I just don't have the time. If there is a product that can alleviate(or even minimize) this task, it should become very popular.

 

I may have to try this 3M one. I used the rainex headlight restorer kit and it barely seemed to help.

 

good job

 

That is very funny to me. I couldn't find it anywhere but two places online, then you go and find it being sold by our competitor for $19 + $8 shipping? Craziness!

I can't figure out if they would just sell you one kit, though. "Fleet services" and such high shipping costs that reference using your own carrier seems to imply that Ryder's selling to companies that would be purchasing in lots of 50 or whatever.

 

did you use a drill or by hand?

 

thanks i have to try this!

 

I believe this is the **** I've been waiting for.......................I'll be doing this......!!!!