neeed help polishing headlights

Bill D

Bill D

Hooked For Life
Hi,



Attached I have a photo of a headlight of my 89 caddy coupe deville. The headlights are a bit cloudy and need a good polishing. I have tried 0000 steel wool which did nothing. I also tried Klasse which didn't help ( It did brighten the softer plastic turn signal lights though) In the past I've tried plastic polish but I don't think it's strong enough. I haven't used Plexus yet and am hoping this with the 0000 steel wool might help.



If you have any suggestions, please share. Thanks.
 
After you do use the Novus and get the lens clear, do yourself a favor and have Amorglove film installed on them. This will protect them from that point going forward. I have it installed on my lights, hood, bumper, fender by headlights, door cups and rocker panels. Lexus paint on an SC seems brittle and chips easy!



I've tried Megs Plastix on other plastics and it works well on hard plastic. Did nothing for Armorglove that I scratched with the edge of my PC ( I know I should have taped, but didn't have it at the time).



Regards,

Deanski
 
Thanks



I didn't even realize my post went through because I tried attaching a photo and ran into complications. I will try the Novus and will attempt again to post pics, maybe before and after.



Thanks again!
 
My brother-in-law has a '94 Ranger we were working on yesterday, and I decided that I would try to get the yellow off of his headlights. Well, 3M Machine Polish and FCRC didn't do the trick, I was about to give up when I saw my can of Mother's aluminum polish. I thought, what the heck, I can buy him a new headlight if this messes it up. After about four passes on each light, there was no yellow haze left and the headlights were as clear as they were nine years ago. I was quite impressed. I don't know if it was because of the abrasiveness of the polish, or a chemical reaction with the plastic, but the lights look great. Just something else to try, but the Novus should take care of it for you.
 
Wow, Indigo! That's brave and gives me hope. I assume you do mean the plastic headlight covers, and not the actual bulbs, right? Mine are just as you described, yellow and all scratched up, and I just might try your creative approach.
 
hmm... now that you mention that Indigo I do remember seeing that Zaino's glass polish mentions also being good as a metal polish, perhaps this is just true the other way around as well for a general rule?
 
Lynn said:
Wow, Indigo! That's brave and gives me hope. I assume you do mean the plastic headlight covers, and not the actual bulbs, right? Mine are just as you described, yellow and all scratched up, and I just might try your creative approach.
Click to expand...



Yes, I did mean the plastic headlight lenses. I have also heard that toothpaste would do the trick, but haven't tried that yet. I have also heard of several instances where acetone has been used successfully. Now, I used to build and repair golf clubs, and we used acetone to smooth the ferule to match the diameter of the hosel of the club (the part where the club shaft enters the clubhead, the ferule is the little trim piece). I have seen how fast acetone can "melt" plastic, and would be leary of using it on expensve plastic headlights.



Bill, be sure to use the least abrasive product to start with and move up until you get the desired results. And as always, YMMV.
 
Thank you everyone for the informative discussion. I took a look at the Novus website and I'm very interested in it. Fortunately these headlighs aren't yellowed, just not as polishedand smooth as I would like them. In the meantime, I too will try the Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish and see how it goes. I also have Flitz. I am assuming everyone is polishing by hand? Otherwise, would using my PC with 4 inch pad--I have a foam orange power pad-- be sufficient? At what speed? I'll try these techniques first and then order the Novus if necessary. Thanks again for the tips.
 
You can get a Novus kit for $11.95, with free shipping. The kit includes: Novus #1 (2oz), Novus #2 (2 oz) and Novus #3 (2 oz), plus some polishing cloths. I've heard that you don't need that much product to get good results. So you might save $$ buying this kit, instead of purchasing the regular 8 oz bottles. Here's the link: http://www.spadepot.com/products/005novus.htm
 
hmm...i have some of that stuff laying arround...



Last time I polished them, I used something like Blue Magic Plastic Polish. Worked great....but not as much as I wanted.



Jon
 
I used Blue Magic also & while it removed the hazing well, it did nothing to remove yellowing. If Mothers aluminum polish does in fact remove yellowing, I will definatley have to try this. I always thought the yellowing was throughout the thickness of the plastic though, including the inside which is essentially impossible to get to on some cars.
 
I just tried the Alum. Polish, did 2 times on both signal lights (those are what needed the work).



Came out looking GREAT. Look clearer than the headlights now! I still need to do it ever 2 months or so, but looks great



jon
 
IndigoGTI said:
My brother-in-law has a '94 Ranger we were working on yesterday, and I decided that I would try to get the yellow off of his headlights. Well, 3M Machine Polish and FCRC didn't do the trick, I was about to give up when I saw my can of Mother's aluminum polish. I thought, what the heck, I can buy him a new headlight if this messes it up. After about four passes on each light, there was no yellow haze left and the headlights were as clear as they were nine years ago. I was quite impressed. I don't know if it was because of the abrasiveness of the polish, or a chemical reaction with the plastic, but the lights look great. Just something else to try, but the Novus should take care of it for you.
Click to expand...



I tried the Meguirars polish, but with my hand and it didn't work. I will try with a machine tomorrow.
 
i used 3m's plastic cleaner and then their polish on my lens and iam amazed they look brand new!!!...gave the final touch with some 303 aerospace protectant
 
Yep, did try the Novus and worked well, my Harley place only had #1 so I had to order the rest online
 
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