How to polish plastic headlights?

[71T Targa]

The headlights on our 2002 Toyota are getting cloudy and I want to bring them back to life. What's the best way to go about polishing them? They are plastic, or polycarbonate or something like that.

Thanks.

[KNS]

They're never going to look new but Meguires and others have a kit for just that purpose, it will certainly improve the appearance.

[VINMAN]

Mothers makes a polishing/ restoration kit. Used it on my truck, works great Ultrafine polishing compound might work too

[71T Targa]

So the 'kits' that are for this actually work?

Should I plan to do this by hand? Any issues with a buffing pad in my drill?

[dtw]

Originally Posted by 71T Targa

So the 'kits' that are for this actually work?

Should I plan to do this by hand? Any issues with a buffing pad in my drill?

The kits in the checkout line at Autozone are no good. However, I've used the 3M kit with great success.

Yes, pad mounted in drill. Requires careful masking of the areas around the lights. On my 530i, I just removed the headlight assemblies - it was much easier.

[tchanson]

I recently used the 3M Headlight Restoration kit with pretty good results.

Its a little disconcerting in the first steps when you sand the lenses with your drill until they are a completely opaque white, but it works well.

Available at Advance Auto, among othr places.








Tim

[krystar]

the way i've done it is progressive sanding 600-2000grit finished with plasticX. makes it nice and clear again.

[rnln]

sand it with fine grit sand paper. Use polish to polish it, best with a buffer machine. I use wheel/metal polish called blue magic. Works great.

[Hugh R]

if you use a drill, go slow. The stuff has lubricants for hand polish, not a drill. You can "burn" the surface.

[71T Targa]

I'm going to give the 3M product a try. I'll post back with my results.

[dtw]

Originally Posted by 71T Targa

I'm going to give the 3M product a try. I'll post back with my results.

One other thing - watch the price. I had CarQuest quote me $45/kit, which seemed outlandish. My local body shop quoted less than $15. Exact same p/n.

It is basically what someone described above....coarse to fine grit sanding discs, polishing compound, drill-mounted buff. The value they provide is putting it all together in one kit.

[syncroid]

I recently used the 3M kit on my 2001 Tacoma headlights. I used the finest of the scuff pads. The other ones are too harsh. The lights came out great. Just take your time.

[carambola]

or you are feeling cheap, a little toothpaste and some elbow grease

[m21sniper]

Plastic polish works great.

[Por_sha911]

The medium grit polish for plastic convertible windows works great to get the yellowish color off. Follow up with the fine polish to get crystal clear.

[71T Targa]

I went with the 3M Restoration kit. I picked it up for $18 at WalMart. It didn't take long, but as syncroid said, I probably could have skipped the first two sets of buffing pads. I'm not sure how well the pictures will show the difference, but it's really night and day.

Before:


After:


And when my wife came out to see what I was doing to her car:

[pwd72s]

LOL! Bet you had some fast explaining to do when she saw the bottom pic!

[71T Targa]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

LOL! Bet you had some fast explaining to do when she saw the bottom pic!

Yeah, she was not thrilled with what she saw. She was very happy with the end results though.

[berettafan]

used the 3m kit myself, amazing.

doubt that any kit that does not include abrasive pads would be worth a darn. have seen one advertised (Mequiars?) that looks like it's just a puff ball and some polish.