Good rubbing compound for headlights?

[mike_b_svt]

Ok fellahs,

I was polishing up my lights last night and I found that most of the "haze" seems to be on the inside.

I know our lights are supposed to be "smoked", so is this the haze I'm seeing?

 

[clbailey]

Ok fellahs,

I was polishing up my lights last night and I found that most of the "haze" seems to be on the inside.

I know our lights are supposed to be "smoked", so is this the haze I'm seeing?

I think yours have a leak somewhere wehre moisture is getting in and the mixture of the light moisture and plastic is hazing your lenses. You can bake them and take off the lens and polish the inside of the lens and put it back on with RTV, and get a better seal.

 

[DuffManRHA]

I think yours have a leak somewhere wehre moisture is getting in and the mixture of the light moisture and plastic is hazing your lenses. You can bake them and take off the lens and polish the inside of the lens and put it back on with RTV, and get a better seal.

Yea, mine have a bit I can't get rid of and yes, its on the inside. You can disassemble yours using some heat, a sharp knife, and patience. When you put them back together, use butyl tape exclusively - it works the best IMO and has the added benefit of being easier to use than RTV sealant.

 

[mike_b_svt]

Yea, mine have a bit I can't get rid of and yes, its on the inside. You can disassemble yours using some heat, a sharp knife, and patience. When you put them back together, use butyl tape exclusively - it works the best IMO and has the added benefit of being easier to use than RTV sealant.

That's what I figured :-/

My passenger side light has all sorts of "crackles" in the coating, so it is gonna take some serious work to bring it back. Might as well pop it open and do the inside too, while I'm at it.

Drivers side really isn't that bad - not nearly as bad as the passenger side!

Baking them open...

From what I've read it is basically a few minutes in the oven at 250, then take them out and do some gentle prying. Yes, no?

 

[DuffManRHA]

I can't say for sure, but I'm sure there is a video on youtube on how to open them by heating/baking them, even if they aren't Mustang headlights.

 

[mike_b_svt]

Well, broke out the 1500grit, spray bottle and elbow grease last night just to see what I could accomplish on a few of the worst spots on my passenger side light.

Ended up sanding down through the outer coating (UV coating?), and the "scratches" or cracks / crazing turn out to be pretty darn deep.
Polished it back up but I can still faintly see the original scratches. They are much improved, but still there. Not a good sign.

Think I'll give it a week or so and see if I think it is worth-while to do the whole light. So far though I'm leaning toward just replacing them at some point in the future :-/

 

[Black4VPower]

I think yours have a leak somewhere wehre moisture is getting in and the mixture of the light moisture and plastic is hazing your lenses. You can bake them and take off the lens and polish the inside of the lens and put it back on with RTV, and get a better seal.

I did this with my previous GT which had a Cobra front bumper and fog lights. I took the fog lights off the bumper and pryed them open and cleaned the inside of the lens with windex and polish and they looked like new. I mad the mistake of using red RTV after and it reflected off the inside of the light so all you saw were red reflections when you looked at it. I took them back apart and used the lightest RTV I could find which appeared to be a light gray and they looked perfect after.

 

[DuffManRHA]

Well, broke out the 1500grit, spray bottle and elbow grease last night just to see what I could accomplish on a few of the worst spots on my passenger side light.

Ended up sanding down through the outer coating (UV coating?), and the "scratches" or cracks / crazing turn out to be pretty darn deep.
Polished it back up but I can still faintly see the original scratches. They are much improved, but still there. Not a good sign.

Think I'll give it a week or so and see if I think it is worth-while to do the whole light. So far though I'm leaning toward just replacing them at some point in the future :-/

Might want to try wetsanding some 2000 grit, and then hit it with the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound again. Are you doing it by hand or with a buffer? If you are doing it by hand, def get an orbital buffer and it will make a huge difference, not to mention being quicker both for the headlights and for the whole car! Another option if you are thinking of replacing them, is to send them (or do it yourself) and do a smoke/tint job on them. There is a thread of a guy offering his services and he did my 3rd brake light and it turned out awesome.

I did this with my previous GT which had a Cobra front bumper and fog lights. I took the fog lights off the bumper and pryed them open and cleaned the inside of the lens with windex and polish and they looked like new. I mad the mistake of using red RTV after and it reflected off the inside of the light so all you saw were red reflections when you looked at it. I took them back apart and used the lightest RTV I could find which appeared to be a light gray and they looked perfect after.

I used the SAME stuff when I did some similar work on my Fox headlights and had the same result. Even if you have to get it from a dealer (which you shouldn't have to, especially if you order online), get butyl tape and you won't have any problems.

 

[SJ SNAKE]

I'll be doing this on my DD shortly... Thanks for all the info and advice DuffManRHA :beer:

 

[DuffManRHA]

No prob! If you get the opportunity, can you take some pics before and after and post them up? I am making a How To section on my own site and I didn't get a good before shot, so I was hoping to get someone that can get some high-res pics of the before condition and the results. A lot of the before/after I find come from a company that makes various headlight restore kits, so I'd love to get something more unbiased.