kevsgt

Headlight clear plastic appears to have specks of dust on the inside, or perhaps just tiny marks on the outside. See pictures. It is more obvious at night with lights on, looks a bit cloudy. Not sure if this is normal from 11 years of driving, but doesn’t seem like it will polish out. Perhaps time to upgrade? I’m interested in some Raxiom pre-painted headlights from AM...

Dino Dino Bambino

Toothpaste apparently works well on cleaning plastic headlight lenses so you could give it a try.

proeagles

It will polish out with just about any reputable headlight lens polishing kit sold at any auto parts store.

Derf00

Short answer:
Try Meguiars Plast-X by hand first. If it makes a bit of a difference, use a buffing wheel with it to see if it gets rid or decreases the imperfections enough to your satisfaction. Otherwise you're looking at refinishing your headlight by sanding then recoating the surface.

Worst case scenario, you have the Halogen style headlamps on your stang, They are cheap enough to replace (<75 each side). I have the OEM HID headlight assemblies on my car...nowhere has the assembly new or fully intact and in good condition used for less than $600 a side!

Long answer:
I recently refinished mine since 9 Years of AZ started to wear the UV coating off and they were turning Yellow. The normal, wipe it on/off type kits weren't going to cut it.

The 3M is the most comprehensive but I wouldn't personally say that kit is enough. After completing the rubbing compound step (last step in the kit) with one headlight it just looked a little too fuzzy for my taste. I went back to the Tricozat disk (3000 grit) and then used 5000 grit, then 7000 grit sand papers via hand. It helped but, Rubbing compound should not be the last step in an surface refinishing project where clarity and shine matter. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....L._SL1024_.jpg


After rubbing compound, what comes next? Polishing of course. I used Meguiars PlastX kit https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon...._AC_SS350_.jpg (I did not use their sandpaper). It worked pretty well but I know the work would be wasted without protection.

I finished off with this kit: I only used the UV protectant clearcoat. It doesn't need to be reapplied over and over like other stuff that doesn't really harden and...no orange peel!
https://autoplicity.com/ImageLoader/4248264

The clearcoat really added the finishing touch! It fills in any surface imperfections or surface swirls so, as long as the surface is clean and the scratches are 3000 grit or above they'll be filled in and the headlight will be good as new.

Some advice whatever you use:

I would recommend removing the bumper of the car (takes 15 minutes). You can tape stuff off but, it makes a mess when you start wet sanding. Also, if you use the steps I did, the clear coat will get everywhere in the last step so, the fewer painted parts you have to worry about, the better. You won't have to be as careful around the edges of the headlight as much either except for the sides by the fenders.

Take your time, especially with the sanding. If you rush a step or aren't thorough enough in the previous sanding step, you may not see it until you're almost done. You'll have to go back and resand the headlight again.

Last thing, Don't clear coat until you are ready 100%. Once the stuff is on there, the only way to get it off is t let it dry...then sand like crazy...and it's frigging difficult. I made a mistake on the second headlight (at least to me it was) and I ended up having to use an 5" random orbital sander to get the new coating off. A dinky 3" sanding disc on a drill is nowhere near enough to get that stuff off, and you run the risk of getting swirl marks from applying inconsistent pressure from the drill.

kevsgt

I tried toothpaste and also an old bottle of Novus scratch remover for plastics. No change. Here is another pic with the headlights on.

proeagles

Tooth polish is fake news. Just spend the money and get a good lens polishing kit at any auto store.

kevsgt

Thanks. I'll try a buffing wheel. Sanding seems like a lot of steps. Before I go that route, I'm wondering if it will get rid of the spots. It sounds like your situation was just to remove yellowing?

Derf00

Mainly removing yellow on the drivers side HL and some surface scratches on the passenger side HL.

kevsgt

No luck with the buffing wheel on the plastic. Think I'm just going to get new, Raxiom DLR Projector headlights. I like this look a lot (pic is not mine, but similar style without the stripes)

Derf00

Defintely sounds like a good plan. Like I said the Halogens aren't really worth putting much time into since they are cheap enough OEM and aftermarket offers some really good and better looking alternatives. Wasn't an option for me with factory HID. I like them and wasn't ready to spend 600+ a headlight.