Headlight restoration

kenwoodIS · May 24, 2016

Hi had a quick look on the forums not found a post for this,apologies if it's been asked before. Things is I have a is220d, the headlights are now going foggy/opaque. I know the headlights on this model are not the best to start with but has anybody tried restoration? Trawled the net there are plenty of kits,some abrasive some not. Anybody out there used one on their lexus? Would be pleased for some feedback as I will be attempting this myself. Just don't won't to waste money on the wrong kit.

robski · May 24, 2016

1 hour ago, kenwoodIS said:

Hi had a quick look on the forums not found a post for this,apologies if it's been asked before. Things is I have a is220d, the headlights are now going foggy/opaque. I know the headlights on this model are not the best to start with but has anybody tried restoration? Trawled the net there are plenty of kits,some abrasive some not. Anybody out there used one on their lexus? Would be pleased for some feedback as I will be attempting this myself. Just don't won't to waste money on the wrong kit.

I've just bought a Quixx Headlight Restoration Kit on eBay for my 2005 RX300 as the lights are looking a bit yellowish. I can't comment on its effectiveness as I've not used it yet but it's not too expensive at £10.74. Plenty of youtube videos on this one.

There are plenty of kits available but, in my opinion, for them to be effective they need to be abrasive in order to remove the damaged surface of the plastic headlight cover. I'm no expert but I'd imagine that this is also where any UV protection was to be found when the light was new. As the surface of the headlight is already damaged I think the only protection it has is the degraded surface layer! Most of these kits come with a 'sealant' which I imagine is just some kind of protective wax / polish. It stands to reason that this will need to be reapplied on a regular basis in order to maintain some level of protection from the elements but it's never going to be as good as a new headlight.

I'm sure that some wet sanding paper / rubbing compound / t-cut of varying abrasiveness and a decent wax / polish is going to do the same job but I thought I'd give the Quixx kit a go. However, I'll probably not get around to it for a few more weeks as I've got a few other priorities.

Not sure that I've been of much help but I'll report back when I finally get around to giving it a go.

In the mean time I'm sure some of the other folks here have done a 'headlight restoration'...

lockeyboy · May 24, 2016

Hi

You can try toothpaste or vinegar mixed with sodium bicarbonate. they do work, but it's a lot of elbow grease. There are a lot of videos of youtube, I've personally found it takes more effort than it appears to on the videos.

kenwoodIS · May 24, 2016

Thanks for the replies. Think it's a case of pays your money take your choice. Will post my findings when I do the job.

Soulfiremage · May 25, 2016

I've done some of this kind of work on several cars,though not a lexus yet using a combination of fine wet and dry, micromesh and autosol metal polish. The headlights in question were very opaque and would not pass an MOT, I had to start at 400 grit! Most cars on here probably wouldn't start at no coarser than 1200 Grit.

I used a polishing head on my dril and cut micro mesh to fit - if you do this use a slow speed and water, otherwise it can melt the abrasive a little marking the surface. Once I was done with the meshes, I'd use autosol with a polishing head and if I was feeling very OCD, finish with Peek polish. The process took two hours for both headlights. I'll add pics if I can find them for you.

Micromesh cloth is good, starts at 1500 (roughly 400 grit wet n dry), finishes at 12000 grit, which I believe is where Autosol paste starts (then breaks down to finer grits),

Whilst the coarse stuff works well on badly damaged light covers, it's a trade off as you make lots of scratches that have to gotten out as well - the finer grade you can start with the less work you'll create but of course, this can mean it takes far far longer to remove much of the blemishing.

Lastly, I mentioned a drill - this was a Battery drill, but I also used a sponge backed bodyworkers sanding block.

Linas.P · May 25, 2016

Just copied from another topic:

20 hours ago, Linas.P said:

It depends what is actually causing your headlamps to become foggy/opaque. Some can be restored and some not, the ones which can be restored varies as well e.g. if the outside surface is scratched, then polishing will do the job.

Option "0" - I guess what you referring as "non-abrasive" are waste of money. In fact it is still abrasive kind of very fine polish paste with fillers and sealants. You waste time applying it and week later they look the same as before.

First option. Get any polishing kit if they are hazy because of scratching and polish the scratches out, it might help as well if they are "oxidated" from sunlight (yellowish) but effect will be short lasting, because that is second option...

Second option - depends on how many times they were polished already .. and importantly by whom and with what kind of products. If the layer of protective clearcoat was previously removed, the oxidation would be in plastic itself now and much harder to remove. In such case you would need to wet-sand all oxidation off, re-apply UV protective clearcoat and polish. That would make long lasting "like-new" effect, but would be much more expensive then polishing alone (probably not DIY as well).

The third possibility (not even an option), where plastic is "micro-cracking" or hazed from inside and are actually non-"refurbishable". Obviously, polishing and applying new coat would make them better, but they will never look as good as new.

My car was mainly used in southern seaside most of the time and I had 3rd option... (sadly). My headlight have kind of micro cracks deep in the plastic and were slightly yellow at the top, near the bonnet. I guess 3rd option only possible if somebody have previously done the job wrong i.e. removed the protective coating and then left the car outside to all weather condition and especially direct sunlight without re-applying it.

That said I have used some polishing paste and power-polished them (you die before finishing the job with hand). DO NOT use polishing paste with fillers (like silicon or even wax), they will give you "fake" results e.g. after 15 seconds you laps will look shiny as new, but that shine will fade in a week (option "0"). That is because fillers will so what they do - they fill the scratches and leaves shiny surface. You will need some kind of sealant to protect headlamps after, but only apply it when you sure the job is done.

I have used Gtechnic P1 nano paste, which doesn't contain fillers and is one stage paste as well (usually pastes are few stages Coarse, Medium and Fine). You can as well use glass polishing kits which are more abrasive and then finish with something like P1 or other paste. Obviously, my lamps looks much better now, especially in the dark and from far away but in the bright sunny day I can clearly see small cracks and haze... Only replacing the headlamps "glass" would make them better.

Finally, I believe specific kits are waste of money and some not even do the job right e.g. T-Cut (and majority supermarket brands) contains mineral oils and silicon fillers/sealants and gives fake short lasting results. It can still be used, but it hard to tell when you have done the job... and costs more than 2 components you need - good "straight" paste and good sealant (assuming you have DA or at least battery powered drill with polishing adapter - without which I do not recommend to even start).

Kch · May 25, 2016

1200 grit sand paper £1

2000 grit sand paper £1

spray bottle with water £1

alcohol cleaner £3

uv clear coat paint £3

This is the stuff that worked for me and looks brand new, it's scary at first but it turns out beautifully

wet sand > alcohol clean > clear coat (uv protected)

you might need a few coats of clear coat to even out the small imperfections but it fills out nicely.

took me 45 mins per light

my advice is to look on YouTube there's plenty of DIY vids that will help out.

killer_gwai · July 30, 2016

I find using headlight restorer is only temporary fix since I have to do it again say a month or 2 time, when I do restore it, it does look new and clean ! I did consider sanding it using different grades of sand paper then someone told me it would make it worse ! As it removes the UV coating ?? So would I have to use some UV clear coat as the above post stated ?? Cheers

killer_gwai · July 30, 2016

On 24/05/2016 at 2:17 PM, piasek said:

I've used kit from Turtle Wax. As the headlights weren't to bad I didn't have to even use abrasive pads. I bought one of those polishing pads that you can attach to the drill and removed slight fogging from headlights in matter of minues.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351491983967

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162021734806

Before:

And after:

Looks good and clean ! with the Turtle Wax kit do you find you need to repeat the process say in a month or 2 time ?

killer_gwai · July 30, 2016

13 minutes ago, piasek said:

It slowly starting to be milky again but it's been about a year since I 've done it.

Well it is lot longer than lasting for just a month or two, so not too bad doing it once a year I suppose :)

Verbout · July 31, 2016

Superb

Yorkie740 · November 6, 2016

I used mothers headlights restore I picked up from motoworld worked a treat with a polisher

gabs888 · November 13, 2016

Some great results shown here lads, spot on.... Am booked in to get mine buffed on tuesday, but what I really want is a complete overhaul to include drl's. Does anyone know of anywhere local to Liverpool that could modify the existing lights to a high standard. I have seen complete new headlight kits online that look superb, although they are £600+ so bit pricey and am concerned that the tone of the light will look bad. I have passed a few cars recently that have had work done on thier lights and they look terrible.

is200 Newbie · November 14, 2016

Impressive results for the polished lights - has it made a difference in the headlight beams?

scoobysn7x · November 15, 2016

I used some Farecla scratch remover on my IS220D (after trying it on the girlfriends Yaris first) and it was really good, wet the light, apply the paste, bit of elbow grease, and they come up a treat. It's been a few weeks now and they stlll look like they did when I did them, mind I put a coat of polish on after. I've heard that toothpaste works just as well