Your answer for Yellow / Dimmed Headlights

[Ghost1984]

Well I finally got around to clearing my headlights, and I must say that I'm glad I did it and happy with the way they look. It was fairly easy and i didnt even have to take the headlights off the car. Over the last couple of weeks i had been reading threads on how to do it and finally decided to do it today since it was nice outside and they were really yellow and disgusting. Here's what I used.
1000grit sandpaper(wetsand) to start
2000grit sandpaper(wetsand) to smoothen out
rubbing compound
turtle wax

I have never done it before and it turned out pretty good, I think i could of spent a little more time on the sanding, but it's much better than what it was, I have some pics of one of the headlights done, so you can see the difference, and one of both headlights done.

And dont mind my dirty car

 

[circa504]

looks like you need to hit the right one up again. try sanding it down alot more.

 

[Ghost1984]

the 1st and 2nd pic are just a comparison, so you can see the difference between them, and the 3rd pic is of them both done. their actually a lot clearer then they look, its just my crappy camera and the shade on the headlights.

 

[Ghost1984]

heres some new pictures

 

[A016]

Damn clean car!
But not as clean as that Civic! :thumbdown

 

[aaronm_2003]

Well I finally got around to clearing my headlights, and I must say that I'm glad I did it and happy with the way they look. It was fairly easy and i didnt even have to take the headlights off the car. Over the last couple of weeks i had been reading threads on how to do it and finally decided to do it today since it was nice outside and they were really yellow and disgusting. Here's what I used.
1000grit sandpaper(wetsand) to start
2000grit sandpaper(wetsand) to smoothen out
rubbing compound
turtle wax

I have never done it before and it turned out pretty good, I think i could of spent a little more time on the sanding, but it's much better than what it was, I have some pics of one of the headlights done, so you can see the difference, and one of both headlights done.

And dont mind my dirty car

How did you do that? My headlights are a little dirty on the inside and I don't know how to get rid of it. How did you do this without takin the whole assembly off?

 

[Ghost1984]

How did you do that? My headlights are a little dirty on the inside and I don't know how to get rid of it. How did you do this without takin the whole assembly off?

Mine was all on the outside so all i had to do was sand it down and put some rubbing compound, if its on the inside you might have to take it all apart and clean it up that way, but other than that im not really sure.

 

[kevingst]

Looks real good man! I wish there was something like that for us 2g guys (is there). My old lights looked like crap with the clear coat coming off. The ones I just put in are kinda starting to do the same.

 

[circa504]

you can do the exact same thing to the 2g lights.

 

[kevingst]

Yea, I suppose you're right. Just wouldn't have a clear coat on there.

 

[nelapse]

dont waste your time with sanding and waxing.. just get some acetone based nail polish remover and rub it on your lights with a cotton ball and the oxidation comes off in seconds... trust me... follow it up with plenty of water and you are golden... you will thank me

 

[Eclipsionz23]

hey, i gotta 97 gs and i did the 1000 grit, then 2000 grit, wet sand, then scratchX, and my headlights are fukt up! i printed up the write out and did what it said, and my final results were bad. maybe i didnt spend enough time sanding? enough time using the scratchX?? because now, they are hazy glazed and looks like crap. can anyone help me please?


anyone help would be much appreciated

thanx
eric

 

[Eclipsionz23]

Well I finally got around to clearing my headlights, and I must say that I'm glad I did it and happy with the way they look. It was fairly easy and i didnt even have to take the headlights off the car. Over the last couple of weeks i had been reading threads on how to do it and finally decided to do it today since it was nice outside and they were really yellow and disgusting. Here's what I used.
1000grit sandpaper(wetsand) to start
2000grit sandpaper(wetsand) to smoothen out
rubbing compound
turtle wax

I have never done it before and it turned out pretty good, I think i could of spent a little more time on the sanding, but it's much better than what it was, I have some pics of one of the headlights done, so you can see the difference, and one of both headlights done.

And dont mind my dirty car

BTW, yer lights look good!!!!

 

[PogiTSI]

Never Tryed that ^. But The Accetone MIGHT melt the Plastic, I was selling headlights online from the junk yard, and It had like black Streek on the front. I used Carb cleaner, it Took it off, BUT it Melted the plastic a little. and I had to do the Wet sand and buff thing to get it out, Came out like Glass.


Looks good Ghost!!!! NAHHHH MEEEEEN!

 

[Ghost1984]

hey, i gotta 97 gs and i did the 1000 grit, then 2000 grit, wet sand, then scratchX, and my headlights are fukt up! i printed up the write out and did what it said, and my final results were bad. maybe i didnt spend enough time sanding? enough time using the scratchX?? because now, they are hazy glazed and looks like crap. can anyone help me please?


anyone help would be much appreciated

thanx
eric

I dont really know much about the scratchx, but i would go to an auto store and get some regular rubbing compound and buff that one and try to fill those scratches, by the way thanks for the compliments.

 

[circa504]

if theyre still foggy, and you sanded them down good, you probly didnt rub in the scratch x good enough and they still will look like crap. thats what happend to mine. i used a buffer, i was a turtle wax one and put a generous amount of scratch x on it and they came out alot better. im still gonna redo mine tho, gonna try a rubbing compound.

 

[Generation1JeY]

dude how did u make ur side lights like that? i saw the ones in the tech articles with the oven tecknique, is that what u did? cause im trying to black out or clear my side lights also i hate that yellow crap.

 

[Mike1992]

Good Job, now do the fog lights

 

[Eclipsionz23]

if theyre still foggy, and you sanded them down good, you probly didnt rub in the scratch x good enough and they still will look like crap. thats what happend to mine. i used a buffer, i was a turtle wax one and put a generous amount of scratch x on it and they came out alot better. im still gonna redo mine tho, gonna try a rubbing compound.

ok, ill try the scratchX again, and if that doesnt werk, then ima go to auto Zone and get some rubbing compound. what kind should i get??

thanx

 

[HighPsi92GST]

looks real good

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

wow definitely a great job.. looks a lot better..

 

[Ghost1984]

dude how did u make ur side lights like that? i saw the ones in the tech articles with the oven tecknique, is that what u did? cause im trying to black out or clear my side lights also i hate that yellow crap.

If you talkin about the turn signal lights i got them from Nopi, clear corners, their a little clearer than my headlights but its close enough.

 

[DevilSperm]

ok, ill try the scratchX again, and if that doesnt werk, then ima go to auto Zone and get some rubbing compound. what kind should i get??

thanx

i used a turtle wax rubbing compound, you have to use a buffer because you can do it fast enough with your hand....sand the piss out of it with the 2000, then rubbing compound it, the polish it...mine turned out awesome, my drivers side is starting to yellow up again for some reason though...this on on my 2g n/t

 

[Eclipsionz23]

ok, ill get a buffer today. once you polish it tho, is it a one time thing? or do i have to keep polish on it every so often. i wash my car all the time, so...??? thanx


eric

 

[Ghost1984]

i used a turtle wax rubbing compound, you have to use a buffer because you can do it fast enough with your hand....sand the piss out of it with the 2000, then rubbing compound it, the polish it...mine turned out awesome, my drivers side is starting to yellow up again for some reason though...this on on my 2g n/t

I also used the turtle wax rubbing compound and that worked really good, I'm also trying to figure out why they yellow up like that, but i hope it doesnt do it anytime soon.

Quote-ok, ill get a buffer today. once you polish it tho, is it a one time thing? or do i have to keep polish on it every so often. i wash my car all the time, so...??? thanx


eric

its propably gonna be something that needs to be done every once in a while, I'm thinkin it has to do with the sun or weather that causes it to yellow like that.