DIY Tutorial: Eliminating Severe "Cloudy" headligh

[Nyr0283]

yea mine looks like that first you one posted, just a little older

im gonna get the new sandpaper tomorrow, and just take a little more time with each step, see what happens

[Nyr0283]

hmm, i was just thinking.. i bought blue magic plexiglass and plastic CLEANER, removes small scratches... is this the same thing as the blue magic stuff you guys used???

[SamirDarji]

I tried this tutorial last night and I thought I'd post my befores and afters as well. My before shots aren't that great. I'm not a good camera-man.

PS: My car is very dirty - i know.

PPS: The fog lights still look cloudy, but they are still an improvement, believe me.



Before:


Another before:


Hard at work:


During:


After:

Amazingly nice. Good job!

[SamirDarji]

I've got updated pics of what the www.micro-surface.com product does. For only $20 shipped, you really can't go wrong with this stuff.
http://pics.huntsvillecarscene.com/events/headlite
Look at the ones starting with "P" for the newer pics. Look at the difference in light coming through from the driver's perspective. It's crazy. I feel as if I only have one headlight on now. It's nuts to drive with cloudy headlights. It's a safety issue that should have some sort of recall.

[Nyr0283]

wow, very nice, theres definetly a big difference in the amount of light that passes through them.. nice job :thumbsup:

[Lori]

hmm, i was just thinking.. i bought blue magic plexiglass and plastic CLEANER, removes small scratches... is this the same thing as the blue magic stuff you guys used???

Yeah thats the same stuff i bought. I used the Mothers stuff first and then that. Anything is fine, Im sure. Its just a matter of preference.


Thanks guys!

[ChikagoGTZ]

As a side note, your fogs are supposed to be cloudy. They diffuse the light in order to penetrate a patch of cloud or rain without a reflection.

[Nyr0283]

hmm, i was just thinking.. i bought blue magic plexiglass and plastic CLEANER, removes small scratches... is this the same thing as the blue magic stuff you guys used???

Yeah thats the same stuff i bought. I used the Mothers stuff first and then that. Anything is fine, Im sure. Its just a matter of preference.


Thanks guys!

ok so i am using the right stuff... i dont understand why they are still cloudy then, i guess the only other thing it could be is the sandpaper since im using 1500 grit... i'll have to get 1000 grit sandpaper and better rubbing compound and try it again right as soon as it stops snowing :x

[SamirDarji]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nyr0283)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lori)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nyr0283)</div><div class='quotemain'>hmm, i was just thinking.. i bought blue magic plexiglass and plastic CLEANER, removes small scratches... is this the same thing as the blue magic stuff you guys used???</div>

Yeah thats the same stuff i bought. I used the Mothers stuff first and then that. Anything is fine, Im sure. Its just a matter of preference.


Thanks guys!</div>

ok so i am using the right stuff... i dont understand why they are still cloudy then, i guess the only other thing it could be is the sandpaper since im using 1500 grit... i'll have to get 1000 grit sandpaper and better rubbing compound and try it again right as soon as it stops snowing :x</div>
If your lights are really bad and you can feel the problems on the surface of the light, then you'll have to go even more course than 1000. I started with 150 in the kit and worked all the way up to 12000 before finishing with a 1 micron polish. The kit was worth it to me just to have everything in one nice little package that does the job. It's actually only $10, but shipping is $10

[Nyr0283]

they're not that bad, i'd say they are the about the same as Lori's were before she did the process on hers.

[SamirDarji]

It all really comes down to the concept. You need something course enough to get down to any damage. Then you need something finer to remove that damage. And then something even finer, etc, etc. When you get down to something really tiny (high grit), then you won't see any cloudiness anymore.

I did mine over a period of two days. I only went through half the sanding and the headlight was no longer cloudy, just scratched to death and the light output was the same from both. By the time I started on the last few bits of sanding, it started to clear up really quick. I didn't think it would.

If you jump from something too course to something too fine, it won't take out the damage from the previous step. It's just like sanding wood.

[Lori]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SamirDarji)</div><div class='quotemain'>It all really comes down to the concept. Â*You need something course enough to get down to any damage. Â*Then you need something finer to remove that damage. Â*And then something even finer, etc, etc. Â*When you get down to something really tiny (high grit), then you won't see any cloudiness anymore.


If you jump from something too course to something too fine, it won't take out the damage from the previous step. Â*It's just like sanding wood.</div>


Or just like polishing a frame!

[Nyr0283]

Just finished working on the headlights, turned out pretty damn well. They're not perfect but 100 times better than what they were. I dont have any before pics but they were roughly about the same as Lori's before i did them. Here are some pics of what they look like now:




(yes, i know the car is a little dirty. it was nice and clean until i did this to the headlights, but its too cold and the weather is too crappy to wash it )

*thanks for all the help guys..

[4-G-rim]

I am glad the tutorial I wrote up is helping some of you out. This is not intended to be a "rush" process..you will have to take your time and get the best results. The more severe cases will need more attention of course....but will pretty much end up better before you started. The lens won't be BRAND NEW, but close enough.

[SamirDarji]

Just finished working on the headlights, turned out pretty damn well. They're not perfect but 100 times better than what they were. I dont have any before pics but they were roughly about the same as Lori's before i did them. Here are some pics of what they look like now:




(yes, i know the car is a little dirty. it was nice and clean until i did this to the headlights, but its too cold and the weather is too crappy to wash it )

*thanks for all the help guys..

Looking nice and clean and smooth! Good work!

[dudj]

what kind of rubbing compund? alcohol, etc?

i need to work on my HL, mines are messed up as you can see my avatar (my 7G).

[Nyr0283]

i used rubbing compound made by turtle wax. bought it at discount auto 4.99, its a green and white container thing.

[wadecounty8g]

mines came out really gud great post

[NiTrOuSoXiDe]

Sorry for bumping an age-old topic, but I'm going to try this within the next few days. I'll hook you guys up with before and after pictures. Thank you for posting this, because I was actually planning on buying a whole new headlight assembly. I didn't think there was a way to fix the cloudyness. See, I got hit a while back on one side, so the passenger side has a brand new headlight and turning signal, while the driver side has an old, dirty and cloudy headlight and turning signal. Looks kind of wierd. If this turns out well, I will be t3h happy!

[chromey]

neon owners use brake fluid and chore boy. it works, i tried it on my neon

just pour some brake fluid onto the chore boy and scrub the shit out of it
then clean with windex. then u have a crystal clear headlight

just dont get any brake fluid on ur paint