Aurora40
08-18-2018, 04:20 PM
Sometime in the 2001-2004 timeframe I applied X-Pel`s 3M clear film to the headlamps on my 2002 Olds Aurora. They have been on there ever since, until today. The car was garaged for about the first 10 years of its life, and then was parked outside for around the last 6-8 years.
35260
^--This is pretty representative of what both lights looked like. There is some hazing of the plastic as well as some checking/crazing. And the adhesive had pulled away around the edges, retaining dirt. On this light you might make out three horizontal lines/scratches in the projector beam area, they are arranged like a pyramid. I assume something impacted the lens here. After removal, there were lines in the polycarbonate housing of the headlamp. Presumably the 3M film reduced the damage to the headlamp, though.
I tried removing the film by pulling at an almost 180-degree angle with no heat, and also at a narrow angled (probably 30-45 degrees) with heat and stretching the plastic. It made no discernible difference in the amount of glue left on the headlamp. Here`s what it looked like after pulling the film off --v
35261
To clean the glue off, I first tried some Goo-Gone. This seemed to have no effect at all, other than to make the glue not grab things while actually coated in it. It`s possible it would have worked given enough time, but I decided to try something else. I had some Meguiar`s Body Solvent that I`ve never gotten around to using up. I sprayed this on. From past use, I recall it takes a while to start working, so I let the headlamp sit for about 5 minutes. Even when the glue got soft, it was much too thick to just wipe off. I ended up using a metal putty knife. This was probably a bit harsh, but a plastic putty knife was very slowly making a dent. Plastic razor blades might work better and be safer if I`d had any. Here are the headlamps side-by-side, the passenger one still wearing the film and the drivers one freshly cleaned. I removed the headlamps to clean them, FYI, so no risk to the bumper/etc. --v
35262
Hopefully no one went into shock from the state of the engine bay or paint work! Here is a closer shot of one of the headlamps after cleaning. You might see the horizontal scratches by the projector beam. I didn`t notice any cuts/scratches from the putty knife, but it may have left a few small marks.
35263
All in all the film seems to have protected the polycarbonate headlamp lenses wonderfully. They show no hazing or yellowing from UV, and really look almost as good as new. There is still film on the fog lights, but I will likely leave it. They are harder to remove from the car, they suck as lamps anyway, and they are not nearly as hazed and show no peeling away at the corners (likely because being under the bumper significantly reduces the sunlight they get). I don`t think I will replace it on the headlamps, only because the car is so old. But I dunno, if they are cheap I may change my mind...
I do not know how different this film is from the film they sell now for coating paintwork with. But I would not want to deal with removing that adhesive from a painted surface. Perhaps if one doesn`t wait so long it wouldn`t be as bad, though.
35260
^--This is pretty representative of what both lights looked like. There is some hazing of the plastic as well as some checking/crazing. And the adhesive had pulled away around the edges, retaining dirt. On this light you might make out three horizontal lines/scratches in the projector beam area, they are arranged like a pyramid. I assume something impacted the lens here. After removal, there were lines in the polycarbonate housing of the headlamp. Presumably the 3M film reduced the damage to the headlamp, though.
I tried removing the film by pulling at an almost 180-degree angle with no heat, and also at a narrow angled (probably 30-45 degrees) with heat and stretching the plastic. It made no discernible difference in the amount of glue left on the headlamp. Here`s what it looked like after pulling the film off --v
35261
To clean the glue off, I first tried some Goo-Gone. This seemed to have no effect at all, other than to make the glue not grab things while actually coated in it. It`s possible it would have worked given enough time, but I decided to try something else. I had some Meguiar`s Body Solvent that I`ve never gotten around to using up. I sprayed this on. From past use, I recall it takes a while to start working, so I let the headlamp sit for about 5 minutes. Even when the glue got soft, it was much too thick to just wipe off. I ended up using a metal putty knife. This was probably a bit harsh, but a plastic putty knife was very slowly making a dent. Plastic razor blades might work better and be safer if I`d had any. Here are the headlamps side-by-side, the passenger one still wearing the film and the drivers one freshly cleaned. I removed the headlamps to clean them, FYI, so no risk to the bumper/etc. --v
35262
Hopefully no one went into shock from the state of the engine bay or paint work! Here is a closer shot of one of the headlamps after cleaning. You might see the horizontal scratches by the projector beam. I didn`t notice any cuts/scratches from the putty knife, but it may have left a few small marks.
35263
All in all the film seems to have protected the polycarbonate headlamp lenses wonderfully. They show no hazing or yellowing from UV, and really look almost as good as new. There is still film on the fog lights, but I will likely leave it. They are harder to remove from the car, they suck as lamps anyway, and they are not nearly as hazed and show no peeling away at the corners (likely because being under the bumper significantly reduces the sunlight they get). I don`t think I will replace it on the headlamps, only because the car is so old. But I dunno, if they are cheap I may change my mind...
I do not know how different this film is from the film they sell now for coating paintwork with. But I would not want to deal with removing that adhesive from a painted surface. Perhaps if one doesn`t wait so long it wouldn`t be as bad, though.