Those 3m headlight repair kits work!

Tip - buy them one Ebay brand new for about $13-14 instead of the $25+ they want at autoparts stores

 

One kit did both headlights and I polished up the foglights, marker lights and tailights with it too. Best $14 and 35min I ever spent. Was considering buying the Ebay replacement housing for about $100, but then I'd have to install, aim and obviously they probably wouldnt be the same quality, not to mention something rusty breaking in the process. Damn shit ass rusty steel and bolts and brackets everywhere in the engine compartment...

 

Nice job OP..considering on doing these to my commuter car.

 

Just an FYI. I would be saving up for new headlights. Those kits are a temporary fix. Your headlights will turn yellow and hazy again. And if you polish them again they will do it quicker because everytime you do it you are thinning out the plastic lens. I have never seen a headlight last past a year after being polished.

 

I redo mine on my Sequoia about once a year. The 1st gens are really bad about it. I hit them with wet 2000 grit, then 3000, DA polisher with cutting compound, then DA again with wax. I pull them out when I do this so the polisher doesn't shake the mounts around. Probably takes about 15 minutes each light including removal and reinstall, I've got it down pretty fast now. I tried 2 different replacement lights on Amazon and they shook all around like crazy, just garbage lights. Go OEM or clean them.

 

perhaps so, but I'd bet it'd be a couple years until it'd get as bad as it was beforehand. Wonder if there's a miracle wax protectant that would alleviate the clouding? Some of their kits include a wax protectant of some sort - maybe that's the secret to a longer lasting restore.

No need to take them out to use the 3M kit though - it's just a 3" wheel on a drill - no vibrations, just light smooth direct pressure.

 

After restoring keeping them waxed helps keep them from clouding. Or you can use a plastic safe clear coat spray to stop the effects of the suns uv rays.

 

I was about to say the same thing. I did the 3M kit this past February and my headlights are already starting to discolor again. But it only cost me $11 and bought me some time while I figure out what I want to do next.

 

The trick is to use the Sylvania kit..

$23 SYLVANIA Headlight Restoration Kit - Long-Lasting Headlight Repair Kit for Restoring to Like-New Condition - Surface Activator, Exclusive UV Coating, Clarifying Compound & More - No Tools Required

https://www.amazon.com/SYLVANIA-Hea...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

which includes a UV blocker clear coat as the final step and then install these..

https://www.weathertech.com/lampgard/

2 years out on my Wife's 2005 Mazda 3s and they are still perfectly clear.

hth,
B

 

Agree ... had the very thing happen on a car I used to drive. Had to end up replacing the head lights with OEM. A friend at a body shop told me that some OEM headlights have a "clear coat" kind of material on them and when you sand it to remove the hazing you also remove that clear coat. So... I tried buying some "clear coat" in a can and reapplying it. Didn't work too well. I guess that is why I am not a painter.

 

Just an FYI - Sam's club will do this service for $39 and offers a 5 year warranty. I had them do my Chevy a few years back when they were only charging $25 for this service and it was money well spent.

 

Wow..sounds like a good alternative!
B

 

Especially when time is money. When I was younger, I had less money and more time so I would do it myself but now that I am older and have more money and less time; it's well worth it. I had a few friends take there's in and here are the results. Granite, his were pretty roached and I would have probably just replaced them but for what they started as, they cleaned up pretty damn well I would say.

 

The perfect solution already exists, and it was around for many many years, but manufacturers figured and are counting on the yellowing to simply sell new headlights. The solution is simple bring back glass headlights, done and over with. Am quite surprised as to why some third party vendor has not jumped on all over it.

 

I'm not sure whether I'd trust Sam's to properly mask off the adjacent sheet metal (2 layers tape, etc.) Having just done it myself, there's a fair amount of opportunity to toast the paint with the sanding pads or edge of the disc if you're not paying a lot of attention to avoid it.

 

Make sure you clear coat them after you’re done or they will go yellow and nasty real fast

 

This is a picture I found on another forum of what they taped off. My truck is knocking on almost 20 years old and it has the body to prove it lol. Half the reason I have this truck is so I don't have to worry about it getting dents/dings and my Duramax can sit at home.

 

Polish is a one and done fix IMO. Trust me on this.

Buy new ones and they’ll last another 10 years.

As for the fogs assys. You can clean up the lens, do a light sand, and spray them with acrylic spray and they will look new again. The headlamps and side markers are a different story. Buy new.

 

This is the way to go. If you're paying $20 every year to redo your foggy lights, the ROI on a new set will be a number of years but, they'll pay for them self and you won't have the labor of taping off and sanding and polishing every year.

 

Yep. I did the 3M kit at the beginning on 2019 and my lights already look bad again. It's time for new ones but I'm not ready to fork out the cash just yet.

@Professional Hand Model did you score your new assemblies off eBay?

 

Remove the freshly restored lights and speak with a 2k automotive clear. Use 2k clear it will last for years and years. You could do a few coats and wet sand in between and polish smooth. If you don't use some kind of UV protection varnish or 2k clear they will go back to looking like crap again very soon

 

I’ve done mine in the past and followed the instructions using the 3M kit. They looked way better, but didn’t last. I hear you on the protective coating, but after cleaning they still didn’t have that fresh hot new model crispness that everyone wants. These new housings are fairly cheap at around $115 from Big Gurrl by Akkon.

These come in a few darker shades just like all really really really good looking models should.