McGuiars polish works the best that I have seen so far. Use it 2 or 3 times for really bad headlights. Then put a coat of regular car wax over that to help prevent them from fading again.

 

I used the Meguires on my Sons Bronco and after a while of scrubbing found out the same thing Manfred did. Water on the inside will not Buff out. I used the stuff on my DD Tundra "Fabulous". I used it on my Wife's Town Car, once again "Fabulous". The 74 has sealed beams no worries.

 

Depends on what type of sealed-beam lamp you have. A standard sealed beam lamp will fail just like any other lamp that has the envelope ruptured. (sealed beams don't implode like other light bulbs because the glass is so thick).

However, Halogen cycle sealed-beam lamps can have the outer glass damaged and remain operational for a short period of time because the halogen lamp is actually a smaller glass envelope INSIDE the larger sealed-beam glass envelope. The life of the lamp is still severely shortened because the inner halogen-filled glass envelope will not last long at all when exposed to the elements. The same is true for modern halogen cycle lamps that have the plastic lenses and reflectors that they are encased in leak as has been discussed in this thread.

 

I tried restoring my headlights a couple times and it did make a slight improvement. But they were still discolored (yellowish) around the edges.
I ended up buying new OEM headlight and sidemarker housings from tascaparts.com. It looks much better now. I did this a couple months ago and don't have any up to date pics with the new housings yet. I'll get some soon.

 

Oh ok thanks for clearing that up. The reason i asked was cause i had an 82 mustang with small chevy like rectangular sealed beams and one had a hole punched in it. I don't remember if i ever tried to see if it worked i think i just replaced the whole unit.

 

I have heard the Meguiars stuff is good to use for headlight restoration, but it was around $30 for a bottle here. I looked on ebay and got a set of crystal headlights for $50 and they look much better and are brand new so to me, the $20 difference was well worth it. Also, I think I saw a couple sets of standard replacement headlights (new) for $30 on ebay so I really recommend replacing them if you are OCD like me. They are pretty simple to replace, it can be a pain to get the top clips off though since you need a special clip remover pliers.

 

I concur I also used the Meguiars polish and it worked wonders. I highly recommend it over buying new lights.

 

Yeah, i just hit it with the buffing ball once in a while to keep it looking good...

 

whenever I try those kits it cleans up a little bit for a while, but then ends up worse than it was in the beginning only after a couple of months. My Accord had slight fogging in one section, used one of these kits and cleared it up, then a few months later it was completely fogged over.

I think it has something to do with whatever sealant they use on stock headlights.

 

It has to do with the simple fact that the plastic vitrifies and begins to get hairline cracks, scratches, and crevices in the surface. These pick up dirt, dust, WAX, and any other compound that gets onto the lenses. The so-called "restoration" kits apply a thin coat of clear polymers that will fill the cracks and polish clear initially. The problem is that they won't hold that polish and they will dry out and sift out/off the surface of the lens whereupon the dust, dirt and crud will fill in again. The more layers of this that build up in the cracks, crevices and scratches the harder it is to remove it. Since the crud that does accumulate expands and contracts differently than the plastic the lens is made of, the crud actually serves to make the hairline cracks and crevices deeper and wider, further dulling the appearance of the surface. Replacement becomes the only viable option after a while. If you can find a GLASS lens to replace what is there, this will not be an issue. The problem is that very few OEM manufacturers ever made a glass version and finding an aftermarket glass replacement is all but impossible.

One alternative would be a clear acrylic coating that would seal the surface once you had cleaned it. However, the cost and technique required to properly apply a UV-stabilized acrylic sealer gets pricey in a hurry. Any sealer that might be applied to a surface that is exposed to continual direct sunlight will HAVE to be UV-stable or it will yellow and deteriorate very rapidly.

 

A well of knowledge you are GS, dang. Makes me glad TGM has glass sealed beams.

 

what about the ones where you sand down the lenses? I used those in the beginning.. of course, polishing can be an art, one I am terrible with (shoulda seen what I did to my gauge cluster lens) .. ive gotten better with it though

I'd replace my headlights, but unlike you 92+ and 78-86 people, my headlights are stupid expensive. 87-91s are $160 a pair on the cheap end and the lenses are terrible, i'd die to find some clear lens lamps.

 

I feel for those who must deal with the early acrylic lenses (87-91). They are enormous, and the early plastic composites are prone to dulling and UV discoloration moreso than later models. I've not dealt with the lens sanding operation but can't imagine its an easy task especially when you consider that it would only take just a bit too much and you will be forced to find new ones. I wonder if you did get them cleaned well enough and polished as clear as possible... if you couldn't apply a clear vinyl protective film like they do with the noses and forward facing surfaces of the side mirrors on many new vehicles. If the vinyl is clear enough, it shouldn't affect headlamp efficacy too much and instead of the actual plastic of the lens dulling and fading, the vinyl film would bear the brunt of the damage. That way you could simply peel the damaged film off the lens and replace it periodically. Couldn't be any more expensive than buying polishing kits or entire headlamp assemblies every few years.

 

I've actually dealt with the 3M sanding headlight restoration kit.. and that kit is phenomenal.

My brother drives a 99 Isuzu Hombre and it's basically a Chevy s-10. However, the front headlights are different the the s-10s, and the production of the hombre was only for a short time. Finding aftermarket or even used headlights for this truck was a complete nightmare. The only place we found selling them was a Chevy dealer, and they charge over 500 for them. They were willing to give us a whopping deal of 300, but also recommended the 3M kit (the guy selling them knew it was a complete waste of money but said he heard good stuff about the 3M kit).

His headlights looked awful (faded and yellowed), but we had no choice but to try a restoration kit so we went with the 3M kit. I'll warn you, it does take a LONG time to do it properly, but if you do, the results are absolutely excellent. No exaggeration, his lights looked brand new. I used the remains of the kit on my dads GMC Yukon and his lights looks almost new also (the pads were getting worn and I didn't clean his light properly before so there are some small scratches but they aren't noticeable unless pointed out).

If you use this kit or a sanding one like it, you do have to be careful not to sand too much, but overall its pretty easy, just time consuming. All you need it a drill. Expect to take 2-3 hours to do two headlights properly. I'm very impressed with the kit though and would definitely use it again.

However, if you have an option to get new headlights for not too cheap, that's the route I would go first. I bought new lights for my Bronco because they were $50, but if new headlights cost 100+ dollars, you won't regret getting the 3M kit. I think its around $20. I wish I had pictures of what it looked like before and after to let you guys see.

 

The Meguiars kit also needs sanding... but we aren't talking about rough bumpy sand paper...there's 4 levels of fine. It's no big deal and easy to use.