Headlight refurbishment

Hi all. Has anyone tried an off the shelf headlight restoration kit with any degree of success? Looking online there seems to a wide price range and also some ”hand done” some drill buffers etc. I had seems somewhere that toothpaste will do as well. I would assume that they are a cleaner/very mild "T Cut” type substance. I would have thought polishing finally with a paintshop final cut 3M type product would finish the job well. Passed the MOT today with no comments but l did notice they were star to go. Any comments appreciated.

I have used the 3M kit with great success. It was on a Punto that had received an MoT advisory, but as it was our kids 'starter' car/heap I felt more confident having a bash. It used different grade pads, cutting compounds etc on an ordinary electric drill and was scary initially as the headlight goes opaque with the coarse cut at the beginning, but the subsequent milder cuts bring it back and it was sparkling at the end, so would say that one is okay to use, and was straightforward to do. Just ensure you mask well around sides if not removing the headlight so there is no inadvertent paint damage (3M do provide masking tape). I have the Autoglym one to use on the Boxster which sounds rather like yours - no warnings yet but the lens is getting dull. I will remove those to do them when it gets warmer, but having done the Punto will be doing it with confidence (hopefully!) Hope this helps and good luck Rod

I had mine done by Autofarm. They charged an hours labour and parts (pads and a plastic polish, but was a small charge) they used two maybe three grit grades and the lights came out like new. I have done the same myself with a neighbour on his old au pairs polo, (we used to try all manner of tests and projects on this car) as if we messed it up, it was not a big deal. Personally, I'd be less confident on a £1k pair of headlights, but, it is straight forward. My experience with kits, is they dont last as long. Whatever you do, you're removing a decent layer of UV protection, so after every wash, I reapply 303 UV protectant, as a small counter measure. I have posted a before and after pic here in the forums somewhere, I'll try and find it

https://www.porscheclubgb../forum/FindPost/1011718

I used Autoglym Super Resin Polish with a dual action buffer. The polish is mild and disolves to a powder as you work it. It took away the haze and yellowish tinge on the headlamps.

For yellowing I recently used ArmorAll Headlight wipes. Easy-peasy to use, costs less than £10 and they really do work.

Basically if you have yellowing or crazing be brave rub down lightly with a course 400 or even 800 then with an extra fine 1600 or 2000 then polish with something with a touch of a cutter in. It works If not so brave or only have a light yellowing or crazing thenskip the abrasive step. A polished or drill will make it easier. Ps I prefer a wet diner rub down

Thanks all for the advice. It's the 1K replacement that's scary. I think I'd remove them if I do them and wait for warmer weather as well.

I did mine last year with: https://www.meguiars.co.uk/shop/two-step-headlight-resoration-kit Took the lights out of the car and then used the kit, seemed to work very well. As Mark mentioned above, I also use the 303 UV protector.

I just did mine with an Autoglym headlight refurbishing kit from Halfords. The headlights were pretty bad and the kit has definatly worked. However, The quantity of pads in the kit was not enough to do a complete job on both headlights - like I said, they were quite bad. I removed both units so as to not damage any paint work. Really impressed with the results - just wish there had been more of the 500 grit pads in the kit. Otherwise I recommend giving this a go!

I recently used the Auto Glym kit but it was hard work as the coarsest grit was only P800. So I then tried the 3M kit which starts with P500. Made the job much easier and saved time too. Restored both headlights for my C4S when removed from car to avoid any paint damage. Now I just need to remember to apply UV protector regularly.

I did mine 2 months ago with the 3M kit. Be brave, its actually very easy. Remove the headlights, use compressed air (if you can) to push out the headlight washers and unclip them. Then follow the kit instructions. I actually used wet&dry first to get through the UV layer (takes ages otherwise). The come up like new, but its a case of how much effort/time you put in. I got scared and rushed the last bits with a 'lets just see if they come back shiny' .... they did. Hope that helps Todd. 996 Turbo x50

Always start with sandpaper before using the kits

I too used the Auto Glym kit and got excellent results with a bit of effort. I removed the lights from the car and used cargo straps to strap them down to a bench whilst I worked on them. Well worth the effort!

Used the Armour All wipes yesterday - pretty good results though I’d say use only for lightly discoloured lights - don’t think they’d have worked so well if the lights had been badly yellowed.

I've been considering attempting the same recently, but a bit of googling came up with what i assume is a franchise buinsess - Super Glass Headlight Repair - and at £60 all in seems quite reasonable. So unless anyone's had a bad experience and advises against, i think i'll give them a go. Will report back on the results.

I used a service local to me (Manchester) called Skippy’s. Guy came round and worked on the lights for about 1.5hrs with the end result being far better than my impatience could ever have achieved. I’ve tried cutting, polishing, etc on headlights in the past and results were always crap. Best £70 I’ve spent for a while, not just for aesthetics but the headlights are so much more effective now too

Seeing as the 996's headlights come out of the housing so easily. A DIY using one of the many choices in the local Halfords/autoparts store is as easy as changing out the wiper blades! I would recommend to anyone that has yellowing headlights to consider doing it yourself. The only problem i found is applying an anti-UV layer after you polish it up. I ended up with a clear coat with built in UV inhibitor, i had to flatten it with a touch of 3k or 5k cutting compound after to get that glass like finish.

Can you explain what you mean by a clear coat? Is that a rattle can of clear lacquer for plastics? I've cleaned up my lenses a couple of years ago and they are going yellow again with lots of micro-scratches again, so obviously a standard 'cut and polish' as I did with a bit of 303 protectant hasn't really worked for me.