Clear coating on car headlights

victorludorum

My wife's inherited her mum's car as she can no longer drive. One of the headlights is yellow and foggy, and on closer inspection I can see there's a clear coat on there that is now peeling off. I presume this is a standard thing on all cars nowadays, but it's not something I've ever noticed before. Does anyone know if it's possible to remove what's left of the old one and then just leave it, or will it need to be re-coated?

RaymondLin

victorludorum said:

My wife's inherited her mum's car as she can no longer drive. One of the headlights is yellow and foggy, and on closer inspection I can see there's a clear coat on there that is now peeling off. I presume this is a standard thing on all cars nowadays, but it's not something I've ever noticed before. Does anyone know if it's possible to remove what's left of the old one and then just leave it, or will it need to be re-coated?

I thought this is useful a watch, it breaks down which one are best for sanding down, ease of application and effect. 

Dominic

I've heard that Deet .....the insecticide will clear old headlight lenses without any sanding and restore them like new

ElectricXII

The kits are OK, and some contain a buffing foam pad for a drill, which is useful if you don't have one. Sand it off using a cordless drill with increasing grits of wet and dry sandpaper stuck to a buffing wheel. Then buff with T-Cut using a foam buffing pad on the drill. Then clear coat with pretty much any clear rattle can. 

Kittyfrisk

Dominic said:

I've heard that Deet .....the insecticide will clear old headlight lenses without any sanding and restore them like new

Will it stop midges from accumulating after application?

Kittyfrisk

The restoration kits look fun, but could be a pain to use.
Could be worthwhile trying to find a replacement headlight unit.
From experience, if it is a vaguely modern car it is easier to swap out a light unit rather than try to change the bulb... 

Haych

IME clear coating will always chip and eventually come off, even if you use the right stuff for it.  Then another year down the line the headlights are in a worse state than they were to start with.

 For best results, restore the headlight lenses and then have paint protection film applied.  That will stop any UV degradation and stone chips, scratches, etc, and is much more robust than applying clear coat over the lenses.

A good detailer will be able to restore the lenses and apply PPF, had mine done for £60 per headlight - the PPF was laser cut to fit the specific headlight unit of my car and looks better than new.  Well worth it IMHO.

guitartango

Lots of crap on YT/Tik Tok

Toothpaste : Didn't Work
DWD40 Works for a day or two
Kit: Kind of works , but not 100%

My headlights always pass but with a slight smear !!!!!

victorludorum

Cheers for all the tips, chaps, it's appreciated as always. I'll let you know how I get on...

bluecat

A pall of mine had an old style Merc, the headlights had gone opaque, he used Dura Glitter on them, came up like new.

bluecat

Edit. It should have been Dura Glit, the tablet was thinking for itself again.

victorludorum

Dura Glitter went out of fashion around the time of Operation Yewtree I think.

Petepassion

Cut them back with 1500 wet ‘n dry(wet) then buff with an electric mop and polishing compound.
takes 20-45 minutes to do the pair, depending on the state of the lenses.
  Then they will look like new.
 Will need doing every year or two unless you apply a suitable protection 

Wazmeister

Kittyfrisk said:

The restoration kits look fun, but could be a pain to use.
Could be worthwhile trying to find a replacement headlight unit.
From experience, if it is a vaguely modern car it is easier to swap out a light unit rather than try to change the bulb... 

This. Wisdom.

m_c

If you're going to buff the existing lens, then a key thing is to not rush it.
It's very easy to overheat the lens and end up smearing plastic around, rather than polish it, so don't concentrate on any one area for more than a couple of seconds especially if using mechanical assistance.