Need help fixin Plastic scratches

FocusRun · 06-02-02, 09:06

Hello again. I kinda need help with the clear plastic of the headlights. (I hope I'm not confusing you I don't know if I'm describing this right, it's the exterior plastic that's part of the the body).

Anyways, I'm driving a Focus (as the name suggests). This car's a second hand. It had scracthes and dings all over the body. But I think I can fix them from what I'm learning in this forum.

However, there's a lot of fine scratches on the left headlight plastic. You could feel it when you run your fingers on it. It's like some someone used Brillo pads on it. It annoys me so much co'z it ruins the optical clarity of headlight. And I could actually see at night driving that the left headlight brightness not as bright as the right one.

I've run through the post and these are the products that could be used.

#17 Clear Plastic Cleaner- Takes out scratches.
#10 Clear Plastic Polish-Restores Optical clarity and provides protection
Plexus plastic polish/protectant
Mothers plastic Polish

Will any of these products take the scratches out permanently?
How can I fix this thing? I WANT MY SHINY HEADLIGHTS!!!!
Also, I was told the headlights are made of the same plastic technology that's used on Air Force aircrafts. So you could smash your skull on to it and it won't crack. Apparently, it'll just ... scratch.

Thanks guys

BradE · 06-02-02, 09:10

If you can feel them with a fingernail nothing will totally remove them, the best you can do is try and reduce their apperance. Plexus will do nothing for you problem so don't even waste you money on that. The others you mentioned are O.K. but not likely to help very much. Your best bet to reduce them would be using a rotary buffer (at very low speed) and a series of compounds.

Redcar GUY · 06-02-02, 09:12

Looks like yo may be out of luck, I have used Plastic polish in the past to get out Light scratches in plastic and it did good but, it you can feel them with you finger I dont know if it will work or what to try for that matter........?

FocusRun · 06-02-02, 09:25

Oh Woe is me! Woe is me!

This car use to be owned by a driving school. That would explain the scratches..

bretfraz · 06-02-02, 11:01

If it were me I'd go to a junkyard and buy a headlight assembly off a wrecked Focus. I imagine a new one from the dealer will be astronomically expensive.

Heck, go around the car and make notes of what little trim items need replacing. Then just raid the wrecks for replacement parts and get everything done at once.

PathfinderGuy · 06-02-02, 11:19

Well buddy, i went out, and did a search for you, and came up with the following.

Ford Focus Headlight Assembly (Right)

Ford Focus Headlight Assembly (Left)

If you ever need anything, ALWAYS check E-Bay.. you never know what you might find for your car!

Intel486 · 06-02-02, 11:20

Yhea a junkyard is probably a really good thing to do.

Can't you sand plastic and then polish the scratchs out? I know people do it to the inside of headlights but what about the outside? If you headlight is smooth, then I'm pretty sure you could do it but if they have texture then you gonna lose it.

Lost Pup · 07-28-02, 06:55

Our 96 Van had deep yellowing and scratches on the lenses.

I wetsanded the lenses with 3M 2000 grit sandpaper followed by Meguiars Plastic cleaner and then the polish. I did it by hand and the results were good.

Huy · 07-28-02, 11:54

I would also suggest wetsanding with a very fine grit paper and then following up with a plastic polish such as Novus. I have done this to a few of my friends' headlights on the Supras and all have come out very smooth and clear.

Hope this helps...

Adamah · 07-28-02, 12:24

Huy is right, you can make a huge improvement by wetsanding the plastic. Depending on how deep your scratches are you may even get them looking like new. Flame polishing is also an option. I've had to do this on a few really deep gouges from what I assume were rocks. Takes a little practice but the results are very good. A piece of lexan is handy to practice on before you take the torch to your car.

4DSC · 07-28-02, 12:54

This isn't really the right thread to say this, but if you have an older car dirt sometimes works its way into the inside of the headlight housing. You can remove the whole assembly, wash out the inside with soapy water/alcohol, dry out, and reinstall. Maybe follow the soapy water with alcohol since the alcohol will absorb the water and dry out quickly - common practice in lab glassware cleaning. This can make a big difference depending how dirty they are.

Pats300zx · 07-28-02, 01:04

You might want to try some Novus products. They have a three step system that is a polish etc. I have had some pretty good success with it getting out scratches.