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YOUR RESEARCHBest Way to Remove yellowing and crazing from headlights?
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Use 3m, meg�s, mother, griots, rain-x, etc., through the years
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I�ve used 3M, Meg�s, Mother, Griots, Rain-X, etc., through the years.
Best Way to Remove yellowing and crazing from headlights?
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Leading evidence: 'Use 3m, meg�s, mother, griots, rain-x, etc., through the years' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'best �99 coupe i could find' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check around - you probably have someone in your area' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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I used the Adam�s kit on my original headlights and was really impressed with the results.
Best Way to Remove yellowing and crazing from headlights?
Use cerakote and am happy
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Best Way to Remove yellowing and crazing from headlights?
Use plastic sheet
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When doing headlights on my bmw I taped the edges and used plastic sheet to cover the perimeter.
Best Way to Remove yellowing and crazing from headlights?
Use rag and a headlight polish
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Best Way to Remove yellowing and crazing from headlights?
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My �new to me� �99 996 has a little bit of yellowing on the uppermost section of the headlights. What have people found to be the simplest way to remedy this? Looks like the Rainex product might be the easiest but looks can be deceiving.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Depending on how damaged the plastic is you can try to sand it with 800 grit, then 1500 grit, then polish with compound, then polish with polish. Then use a sealant or wax or coating. It will definitely improve it a lot but may not remove all of the yellowing. Sometimes the polimer has suffered sun damage to the point where it will never look crystal clear without a yellow hue like when new. Either way they will probably improve dramatically.
The simplest way? I have a guy in OKC that has a side business doing headlights. He comes to my house, I give him $110 and he does a far better job than I could ever do. He has all the material needed and the right coating to cover the lights when he's done to prevent yellowing again.
For $110 it's not worth me chasing down everything I need and my time and effort to ultimately do a lesser job than the guy that does it for a living.
Check around - you probably have someone in your area that does it.
Compound and polish. If it is too bad, start with wet sanding 800-1000-1500-2000-3000
After done, protect with a specific coating for headlights or with ppf.
One additional tip. The lights are super easy to pop out. I suggest removing them so there is no chance of scratching the paint while you�re sanding (or having it sanded).
I�ve found no simple solution for the headlight restoration. You�re gonna need to sand. Remove the lights from the car. The process is messy! I recommend you get a Sylvania (or any other) kit with the pre-sanding solvent to help soften and remove the ancient top layer. Spray with water often and wipe often as you sand. You can hand sand or use a drill. I like the drill for 800 to 1500 grits, then hand sand for 2000+. I like to feel the surface using the finer papers. Get all the way out on the edges. The eyebrow crease dip, mid-center, is hard to properly sand by machine.
As far as the kits go, Sylvania is the best I�ve tried. The 3M 39098 is good and will work for your first go. It has the right mix of everything for a drill kit. I�ve used 3M, Meg�s, Mother, Griots, Rain-X, etc., through the years. I�ve never had good results with any kit with a spray clear coat. But I have no paint skills. Use as fine a grit as your patience allows before you final polish and coat. Silky smooth is key. Lots of different techniques and opinions on the how/what to seal the lens.
Old school paint polishing routine works fine on the lenses. I recently fiddled with a Cayenne light that just didn�t match too well with the new opposite side, so I used some Chemical Guys 32 through 38, and ceramic sealed. Kind of therapeutic and worked very well for the freshen.
And there hasn�t been a kit made that will last as long as you want it too.
The best product I have found is here-the video shows the steps
2K 2in1 Headlight Clear - SprayMax
If you want a fast way to do it apply WD-40 to a rag and wipe it on, works for a little while and the results are surprising! Still the above method is best...
Hope that helps
Here is what I strongly recommend you try first.
https://adamspolishes.com/products/a...estoration-kit
If the result isn't good enough for your taste you can mess with sanding etc. which is very time consuming.
I know it sounds like snake oil but the results are amazing. I recommended this to a friend and below is her thank-you to me with the before and after on her extremely yellowed and cloudy headlights:
I used the Adam�s kit on my original headlights and was really impressed with the results.
They weren�t terrible to begin with but the Adam�s really cleaned them up nicely
A picture of your headlights would have been better then a side profile shot.
My lights where bad and I couldn't see the bulbs/projector. I just used a rag and a headlight polish. Looks brand new.
I used Cerakote and am happy with the results. My lights were very yellow/green with quite a bit of haze. The Cerakote kit removed nearly all of the haze but did leave a slight bit of yellow/green tint. If I had to do it over again, I would sand and use the first step liquid much longer. It is a lot of work and you get tired and bored while doing it. I have to admit that I did sand it a long time but eventually stopped just to get on with it all. Also, I would have removed the lights first although leaving them installed does provide a solid platform and I had no issues with the edges or damaging any surrounding bodywork. Not sure if a detached light would be any easier unless you have some way to hold it steady.
Either way, the results are impressive and much, much better than before.
Now, if I could just get the transmission back together and installed along with the head gasket oil leak repaired and the IMS bearing changed out plus the coolant reservoir switched out and don't forget the leaky power steering, then I might almost be happy. But those lights sure do look great in the garage when the sunlight comes in the window and hits them just right!
It seems most kits work well and are very affordable so not much to risk or lose. Your lights look pretty good to start with so I don't think you'll have much trouble.
Sorry, no pics
If you're not taking them off the car, there is zero to lose by taking the extra (minutes) time to tape and protect the paint regardless of what product you use. When doing headlights on my bmw I taped the edges and used plastic sheet to cover the perimeter. Plastic can be used again and requires less tape / time. Granted I wet sanded then clear coated all while on the car, not using a "restorer" product.
I just wet sanded mine this past weekend. For a 996, there really is not a good excuse for doing this while the headlights are still mounted in the car...the removal process takes 5.6secs. After the wet sanding (400, 2000, 2500, 3000, 5000), I polished. Looks almost as good as new.
I�m really happy with them too. I wanted 18� twists but this turned out to be the best �99 coupe I could find. Truth is, if I had the chance to do an even swap for 18� twists I would probably do it. 😅
The most complete way to keep them looking new. I have a guy that comes over to wet sand, polish, and compound. That�s what most of the above methods describe but he clear coats the lenses after so it doesn�t haze again. When you wetsand and polish, you take off the protective uv coat on the lenses. This process has prolonged and made most of my cars look brand new without buying new headlights.
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