did your headlights look like mine? if so, the mothers plastic polished cured this?

let me tell ya, i tried applying some water onto the headlights...and the cloudy-ness all of a sudden disappears ....wtf?? then I wipe it down with a towel and it stays clear for a few seconds...then all of a sudden, you see the cloudy-ness come back...wtf is up with this?

 

Haha, use your noggin. The water (or polish, or wax, or oil, or any liquid), when applied to a surface that is smooth to the naked eye but on a microscopic level is rough, will fill the pits and crevices and make the surface appear much smoother and mirror-like. The smother the surface, the more light gets reflected in a predictable way. And when the surface dries, the rough surface returns and you lose the shiny/mirror look.

Why does human skin look shiny when it is wet or slathered in oil? haha. For the exact same reason.

 

haha, sorry...I never really put any thought to this...it's just i am SUPER frusterated at this damn headlight....I put in at least 3hrs into this project (over a course of few days)....and spent so much money...and this thing still isn't shiny...I'm sure you felt the same too...when stuff like this happens, you just don't think right...

so what can I use to cure this?? it seems like the scratch-x is not strong enough to keep this headlight shiny...did anybody else use plastic polish from mothers?

 

Dude, you need to buff. If you don't have or know someone with a power buffer, go to Walmart or an auto parts store and spend $20 on a Mother's Powerball, which works in any 3/8" drill and buffs pretty well. The only way to get polish deep into all those tiny holes is to use a machine. If you look back you'll see I had the same problem as you until I used a Powerball.

I used Scratch-X with the PB and it came out pretty well, although not like new. I'm going to resand with 3000 grit and maybe try some different polish. You can see they're not perfect (esp driver side) but they aren't cloudy:

 

It wasn't as cloudy as yours, but it was noticeable. After applying the plastic polish, the lights looked very close to new. I also hand buffed them for a few minutes afterwards to get them extra clean.

 

since it was a sunny and beautiful sunday...I decided what the heck...I'll go give this a shot...ran to pepboys to purchase this $7 product....and tried it on my car...

Alright guys, I have OFFICIALLY GIVEN UP trying to fix my damn headlights...the plastic polish from mothers didn't change a thing...all I have to say is, !&*^*&@^%%@&

I still haven't tried the powerball route...but right now, I dont have the money to spend on a powerball + 3/8th drill at the moment....first off, I spent $35+ on all the products...6 different grits of sand paper at $3/piece....scratch X at $8 a bottle...and the plastic polish for $7 a bottle....plus sales tax...you get the idea...with all that money spent, my headlights are nowhere near what I started with....what pi$$es me off the most is all that elbow grease I've spent....the scrubbing and rubbing was not easy, even in the shade, in 100 degree So CAL weather....I seriously have no clue how whazzuupp was able to get his PERFECT the first time out (and multiple times later, performing it on other vehicles)....maybe it's the detailer's skill that counts....if it is, I am never going to tackle something like this again....oh well, you learn from your mistakes...if it ain't broke, don't touch it....just like in my case, my headlights were completely fine...I just thought I could make them a bit shinier...I was wrong, and made them 2x worse..

 

Someone had suggested (when they read this thread) to use a wax like carnauba or even a varnish (very thin coat) and it should net you the results you want.

Once things get back to normal for me, I am going to give another go at removing my headlamps and will try to document everything I try to polish mine up. For the record, they are some what hazy, even after I used Meguires Plastic X by hand on them.

 

..... (sorry wrong thread)

 

Well it's either under $25 for a Powerball, or hundreds for new headlights....

 

Wow... I just completed this project the other day before I even read this thread.

I was trying to clean the bug splatter off my headlights and nothing seems to work. I also noticed the lens was quite rough to the touch. I got some 2000 grit sandpaper and put it in a bowl of water. I cleaned the headlight with 409 and glass cleaner to get all the crap off. I then proceeded to wet sand the entire lens. The plastic turns very hazy immediately but I could feel a difference in the surface texture. I continued to sand in random patterns slowly reducing pressure.

After I felt as though all rough spots were removed, I cleaned the lens with a very damp towel. I had a lot of white residue from sanding all over the bumper of my car. I dried the lens completely.

I then used heavy amounts of Mothers Plastic Polish and the stock 5" white pad on my PC 7424 to polish the lens. I started at the lowest setting to evenly distribute the polish. This does nothing to remove the haze but it does keep the polish from slinging all over the place. I slowly increased the speed. At level 3 or 4 I begin to notice a slight difference but still nothing to be proud of. I finally increased the speed all the way to 6. At level 6, the polish and the buffer are working the most efficently at clearing up all haze. In just 5 minutes at level 6 the lens is very clear. I continued to polish the lens looking for any defects.

In the sun with one lens sanded and polished and the other lens only cleaned of bug splatter, the results were amazing. I asked my wife to look at them (not a car person) and she was even amazed at the difference.

I repeated the process on the other light.

Once I thought I was done, I found a spot that needed some more work. The surface was fine but there was a slight haze from where it was not thoroughly sanded. I wetsanded, cleaned, and polished. With such a small area, the total time spent repairing this spot was less that 5 minutes.

In the end, polishing the lights produced better results than I could have ever expected. The lights are smooth to the touch and water sheds right off of them.

 

Anyone ever use rubbing compound with a buffer to clean up the lenses??

 

I brought a heatlight restoration kid from autozone....it came with the sandpaper and polish...I sanded the same way you did ..kept the lights wet...polished..and in the end..I had nice ****ed up foggy head lights and had to order new oem ones off ebay :-(

 

I have done the wetsanding method for headlight cleaning and it worked like a charm


However, recently I used a new product to me called flitz. It seems to be a metallic based polisher. I used it on the headlights and I was impressed how well it cleared them with out using a power buffer or polisher of any kind. I just used a cotton towel and elbow grease. I am sure the resulted would have been fast with one but it sia good alternative to wet sanding. It did a great job in less time. I would go over it with strachx and wax after you finish then seal it up with some Meguiars Sealant for a great job.

 

So i followed the steps and they came out great. But one thing i noticed was that i have little droplets of water in my headlights. I guess a little bit of water got in through the hole where the bulb goes. Am i screwed? Because its night time soon and i need to drive somewhere, and im worried if i use my lights that the droplets will turn to vapor and **** something up.

Help?

THanks

Justin

 

sick writeup man.. i need to do this on my dads 2003 max.. i would do it on mine but my headlights are perfectly fine on my 06 ;D

 

very nice'''''''''

 

I just did it and it worked excellent for me. You got to use the sandpaper very lightly with just enough pressure. Afterwards you take your time with the scratchx...........

 

Also you got to buff buff buff......

That doesnt mean wipe wit the same old dirty towel for a while. It means buff! It takes a lil longer than 25 minutes.

 

i dont have pics but the headlights on ours, have a haze towards the top of the light, as well as cloudiness, pretty obvious IMO thats theyre scratched up, but im kinda 50/50 on doin this after seein some of the members having cloudiness problems.
what do you guys think

 

Well, I was kind of hesitant as well, but I went ahead and did it, and man, my headlights came out great!

First of all, my headlights were in pretty bad condition. Cloudy, hazy, scratched, and yellow. At first, I simply bought a polishing kit from autozone, it comes with 6 pads with adhesive on one side with the polishing compound already on them, and the part that you would fit into your drill. It actually gave decent results. So if your headlights are just a little bit cloudy/hazey, use this, you'll be very happy.

Well, I wanted to go all the way, since my headlights were awful. I used 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper. Soaked the paper in a bowl of water and dish soap. As I wet sanded I was constantly wetting the paper and the headlights.. make sure to cover all the surface of the headlights at each step. I was also using light pressure the whole time. This is key!

After the 2000 grit sand paper, I used plastic x and a powerball on my drill. Just go for the powerball first time through, it worked excellent for me. capped it off with a layer of wax.

Here are pics throughout the process, between the different grits of sandpaper.

 

Good job, Mad A!

 

Thanks!

It was an awesome write up, just what I had been looking for. Saved me from buying new headlights!

 

After reading this write-up I was inspired to fix my dingy headlights. I bought a headlight restoration kit at Pep boys and went to work. Three hours later I ended up cruising to autozone, buying a Mother's powerball and was able to marginally improve my headlights. From the experience, if I were to do this again I would 1) remove the headlights (a little work in the beginning will make things MUCH easier later). 2) Although the kit from Pep boys was OK, the professional stuff recommended earlier is probably much better (or at least use some plastic x after using the kit). 3) Purchase a Mother's right off the bat. Honestly, I would have burned out my arm had it not been for the powerball.

 

Is it possible to do this to the inside of the lense too? Both the inside and outside of my headlight lenses are cloudy and scratched...

 

Have you opened up your headlight for another mod and found the inside scratched? Or do you just think its scratched from the inside as well? I say just do the outside first, then see if it really is scratched from the inside as well, because chances are, its all on the outside.

 

Hi all I just had some sex with my fogs Here's some pics

 

I definetly just did this yesterday. I used some meguiars scratchX. $8 worth of work and I have only done the headlights as of now. I love the outcome...much clearer and shinier. I didnt even sand, but I know if I did, I could clear them like glass, but for a bit of elbow grease and some time, it was worth it.

I washed the car, then I used scratch X. Then I used some polishing compound, and finished of with some megiaurs gold class wax.

 

those look amazing!

 

WTF?!?! I can't believe the mixed results you guys are getting.

STEPS TO CLEAN THE HEADLIGHTS:
1. Clean the headlight thoroughly. Dawn and hot water. For the uninformed, Dawn will strip off your wax on the paint.

2. Put 2000 grit sandpaper in a bowl of water. Use a heavier grit ONLY if your headlights are in real bad shape. I wouldn't use less than 800 or 1000 though.

3. Sand the headlights. I don't think the pattern matters. Always have lots of water on the headlights while sanding. After all defects have been removed, continue sanding but reduce pressure.

4. Wash the headlight with dawn and rinse. Dry the headlight and all edges. Water will hide there and mix with the polish applicator.

5a. Hand method - put lots of Mothers Plastic Polish and start with light pressure. Start with a circular motion and continue to increase pressure. The polish is a fine swirl mark remover and it will take a lot of effort to get the lens clear again. The results will be amazing. With the hand method, I became worried after 15 minutes that I couldn't get the haze out. 30 minutes later I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

5b. Machine method - PC 7424 with a white pad. Put liberal amounts of polish on the lens. Spread the polish evenly with the machine off. Start on level 2, and slowly increase the speed. At level 6, the lens will start to clear up quickly. With 7424, the lens was clear after 10 minutes.

Results: The lens will feel smooth to the touch, water will bead on the lens, and it will be ultra clear. If any defects still exist, repeat the process on the just the affected area. If the lens is not clear, continue to polish but do not go back to sanding. The heavier the grit, the more you have to polish.

Hope this helps.

 

Great Thread. Will save people a lot of money. Restoring your headlights can be done on any car it seems like to get that new look back in them. Thanks for the info.

 

Will this work just as well on a 1995 Max headlights? My lights have seen quite a few bugs since I do a lot of driving at night and I live in Arizona?? So will it work anyone know??

 

It should work fine on any plastic headlights.

 

1995-1996 Maxima headlights are glass.

 

Oh...So the 5th gen headlights are plastic?? I didnt know that thanks for the info! So then we can only wax and hope for the best outcome ? Right

 

I didn't say that. The early 4th gens had glass, the 97-99 4th gens and all Maximas since have plastic.

Definitely don't try to sand your glass headlights. Do a google search on "polish glass headlights" or something like that and you'll probably find some advice.

 

This has been very educational. Thanks to all those who posted. I am going to give this a shot as soon as I get all the necessary supplies.

Best,

Mark

 

Is the haze on the headlights only on the outside or is it the inside too?

 

If the headlights are factory sealed, and have not been damaged or altered/modified in any way, then the haze is strictly on the outside.

 

where do you get 1500 /2000 grit. i could only find 1000 at homedpot.

 

Try autozone or any auto parts store.