Headlight film removal and restoration

Hi Everyone, I'm attempting a restore of my headlights. I've restored quite a few over the years and they've all went well. It's usually (IMHO) a simple and straightforward process but this time I really need advice. Since the headlights for the 996 are many more times expensive than say my old Lexus or Subaru headlights, I'm being many more times cautious. I�m also possibly overthinking the whole thing. My Lights have been crystal clear the entire time I�ve owned the car (4 + years). They�ve never had any yellowing, swirls, or any other type of issue. Suddenly about 2 months ago one of them started developing a very small white spot near the top of the light. Then over the past 2 months what you see in the pics happened. I�ve looked at the lens under a magnifier and it seems that there is a clear film over each light that has suddenly broken down. The parts that have not degraded remain very clear, but as you can see in the pics the parts that have degraded are flaking off, yellowing, etc. I�m concerned that if I do a normal headlight restoration (like any of the kits � wet sand, polish, repeat, etc.) without removing the film, the film will break apart and it will scratch up the lenses. Or do some other damage that I haven�t accounted for. The film is adhered to the lights so well on the non-degraded parts that I don�t know how to remove it. It�s also entirely possible that I�m wrong and the lenses are breaking down and flaking off. What do you guys think? Have any of you seen this before or done any headlight restoration that has a film like this? If so, can you give me some recommendations and/or any restoration kits/links/videos that you have used before? Many thanks!!

One of my headlights is also like this though not as bad. Would like to see how this can be fixed but it almost looks like the protective coating is peeling off.

That's why, I think, I ended up in this spiral. I couldn't decide if this was the actual protective coating of the headlight or if someone had put a protective film over it years ago. I hope someone can give an answer!

I'm also interested to know... Wish I could be helpful on it.

My 996.2 also have some to a degree developed this problem. However using 3M's 3M's headlight restoration I was able to sand down SOME of the coating. At certain angles it is still quite noticeable. However there is no going back from this and best to just sand it off as much as you can.

Thank you for the reply and info @tedg04 ! That's what I was thinking. When I looked at it under the magnifier I used a cuticle tool and a hard plastic pick to see if I could get it to peel up. Won't budge. It is stuck on there, hard. I guess I could do like you did. Then when it peels off more, do it again and so on until it's all gone. Anyone with other ideas?

I have done headlight restoration. Use Spraymax 2k Clear spray. Follow this in succession... 1. Obviously pull headlamps. 2. Use 1000 grit sandpaper with soapy water as the lubricant and cleaner; wet sand the lights after removing the headlamp washer caps. 3. Sand 3 different times with light pressure. Don't dig too far into the plastic lenses. 4. Spray the clearcoat after taping where necessary onto the lights: 3 different coats with 15 min in between each coat. 5. Let the lights sit overnight for proper sealing and curing. 6. Enjoy clear lights again. I actually did this on my daily Volvo as well, the lights on both cars look brand new. There is also a YT video on a set of Turbo lights being don, watch that as well. I believe it has a 2 year UV protection guarantee as well.

@Clockel Awesome! Thank you for the details.

You have to wet sand them I would do 800-1000-2000-3000 and final polish with polisher or drill in two steps, one light polish and one finisher (I used V36 and V38) I didnt put any coat as I applied PPF on them again.

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Yeah man. Solid. Honestly it looks as good as new. You can follow the aforementioned as well, though I do not feel you need to go that far with 4 different grits. But that is my personal opinion. Regardless, just do it. It is worth it. Do not be scared either. It is actually pretty simple. Be kind and even on your spray strokes.