Restoring factory headlights to clear again DIY
 

My ‘07 Sport’s headlights keep yellowing. I bought the Meguires headlight buffing kit years ago and about every 6-9 months the headlights will yellow again because of UV light. I have seen posts about spraying clear paint, but in the end it cracks and peels. So I didnt take that route. Did a search on the web. And youtube for the best restore kit and every kit requires sanding. My ADD doesnt allow for that kind of effort. There is one kit that stood out with regards to longevity and that was Sylvania. The final coating is a UV protectant and had good ratings albeit informal youtube experts. So here we go.

I used the foam ball included in the Meguires headlight restore kit in my cordless drill and used a new compound from Meguires “PlastX” to bring the surface smooth and remove the yellow haze. In short order, the lenses were clear again. I washed off any remaining compound and let it fully dry. Then skipping steps 1 & 2 of the Sylvania kit (1) softens the haze, (2) sanding. i moved to step 3 which is the UV coating. You soak a folded rag included in kit and wipe across from top to bottom keeping the rag fully soaked for a heavy coating. One coat on each lens. Let dry for 6-8 hours (overnight preferred) and its done.

I will post back over time with the results. Hopefully this is a once and done process. Sylvania offers a lifetime warranty, for what its worth.

I need to do this soon, thanks.


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They look great!

I did mine earlier this year using a headlight restoration kit by 3M. It's a sanding kit. It does take some patience but in the end it did remove all the yellowing. Since I left the headlight mounted, you do have to be careful to not touch the paint with the sanding discs.

Let us know how they weather over time.

those look good.

anbother option without buying a kit is the mothers mag wheel polish, works great just by hand to remove yellowing haze, i then use a good wax & they dont yellow for about a year or so. then a quick appication of the mothers & more wax. but i do want to try one of the UV wipes like in that kit.

theres another spray product for UV protection that is sold by itself without having to buy a kit, forget the name now but i think it was 3M or a similar brand.

Popular mechanics rated this Sylvania kit the best of all. I guess time will tell.

FYI, without sanding, it took me all of 10 minutes for each headlight. 5 minutes to buff out and 5 minutes to prep and apply the coating. Very fast and better than acceptable results.

I've done they Sylvania kit a few times on a couple vehicles. When I upgraded to the 06'+ headlights I buffed the used ones I bought and used the Sylvania clear coat.

This is what it looked like after exactly 2 years. Left is unbuffed after 2 years, right side is freshly buffed (w/ light condensation in the housing):

The Sequoia behind it is roughly 3 years with the Sylvania kit. YMMV

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...150145ea_h.jpg

Not bad, guess I’ll try this one out. 2 years isn’t bad for a maintenance item lol


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I wonder if I should apply a 2nd coat now to thicken the coat?

That probably wouldn't hurt. Now that you mention it I might actually do a second coat on mine now because I just did all that rebuffing this weekend.

I tried this, and unfortunately I thought alcohol would clean off the dust and bug splatters from the past couple days of driving. It cleaned them off, but also started peeling off the freshly-applied clear coat. I'll need to rebuff that headlight and re-coat. Then wipe it with water and recoat again, maybe after a couple days to be safe.

Not sure if you've looked into this, but I used Eastwood's 2k clear coat 2 years ago (Eastwood 2K Aerospray Clear Coat Matte & High-Gloss). It's an automotive grade clear coat. No cracking, peeling, or yellowing.

Shit is toxic, so make sure you're somewhere properly ventilated and using PPE.

Badass looking rig.

:cheers:

If you are inclined to try DIY PPF, the best way to keep your headlights from yellowing is to install a PPF film in the headlights such as Suntek. It is a difficult job that requires patients and skill, but I'm sure if you take time to research it you can get it done.

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The yellowed headlamp covers in my 2007 SR5 were driving me crazy. Last month after deciding to keep the car for a few more years I had my body shop guy (who is fantastic) do a lot of little repairs and cosmetic stuff. I asked him to polish the headlamp covers and now they look like new. I don't know just what he did so cannot offer shade-tree DIY advice, but it can certainly be done!