Headlight care...

[LilWheezy75]

My cars got cataracks.. or w.e. its spelled like.. Is there a specific way of going about cleanin my headlights? There not real foggy.. But there dusty and you can tell there dirty inside?

[sfd]

ahhh this is such a common issue with escort headlights (and ford in general)

ill grab a link to a how-to we use but basically we use some fine grit wet sand paper and smooth things down and clear them out. then go on to buff with a power buffer or hand with plastic cleaner and other items.

let me get the link:
http://ohhhchhittt.proboards25.com/index.cgi?board=postyourhow2s&action=display&threa d=1095991248

btw i should mention, if you are unlucky like i was, my fogging was INSIDE my headlights. So i just ordered new ones. the crappy part about buying new ones is the aftermarket brackets, although they meet DOT standards and such, they do not align properly. So I need to swap my original OEM brackets onto my new lenses.

I did stop by a friend's body shop and they took a high powered buffer with their own compound to my headlights. It helped a little bit but they were really bad.

The how to is specific to escort headlights and be careful when sanding. It'll work for most headlights though.

[the mike]

It happened to my Mustang too. I used aluminium polish to buff some of it out. Helped a bunch, but they will never be perfect, UV rays tear up Ford lenses.

[MuddyREX]

I've heard nail polish remover works wonders......don't know if it's true.

[LilWheezy75]

alright great... seems very time consuming.. bUt it will be worth it cuz i bought new sylvania silverstar lights and they dont imporve my night visibility at all... and then someone told me my headlights looked hazy.. i cant realy tell but im also an idiot.. thanks for the help

[sfd]

I've heard nail polish remover works wonders......don't know if it's true.

the acetone is actually the chemical that eats up the oxidation and such and yes, it works wonders. The problem is although nail polish remover has a decent concentration, it's not high enough. So it takes a lot of remover and elbow grease.

Your best bet is to first try simply buffing them with some compound that can be safely used to remove oxidation on plastics. (I assume your lenses are plastic, if they are glass, pick a product safe for glass) The worst thing you can do is scratch them more.

if the buffing doesn't work, try out the sanding. Again, this may not be safe for a glass lense. Ford used this odd plastic for their headlights back in the day.

If you can find a headlight from your car or at least of the same material (i.e. another car of the similiar generation with the same material) to practice on, that would be good. I'll flat out admit I sanded my headlights wrong and royally messed them up.

If the silverstars didn't help any, you either have some serious buffing to do, need to reaim your headlights, or the oxidation is inside which can be corrected but I do not advise an at home remedy unless you know what you are doing. Basically it requires baking the headlights to remove the lense, cleaning, resealing, and rebaking. Usually it ruins the product used to bake and you'd be better off buying new lights. Good luck and I applaud your interest to learn. I barely know anything about cars and I was in your situation once. What would be a kick to the nuts for people helping you is if you were like other people who are just dicks about being told information.

[LilWheezy75]

Ha no.. Im not a dick about it.. I like to learn whatever i can.. thats why i want to start coming to more meets.. to learn more about theses cars since im rarely around them.

But where would i go to check to see if the need to be reaimed and could have it done at? Ide think a dealer would charge a hella lot of money.

[LilWheezy75]

But i think the first thing ill do is staart off slow.. Ill try some nail pollish remover.. and some compound if i have it... see how it works.. if not ill have to check another option out.. i dont trust myself sanding my headlights.. and ive done research online and i have a hard time finding a new pair for my year.

[sfd]

getting your headlights re-aimed can be as simple as a garage door or wall. MOST headlights, especially the "standard" (i.e. no halogens and stuff) can be aimed with screws that are on the headlight brackets. I would check them out and look for "poles" that poke out the top. They would be the adjusters. You would need to look to see how high or low they need to be to not shine in people's windows but high enough they aren't just lighting up 1ft in front of you. It might take some time.

[Boostaddict]

dude, if you use some 3000 grit, wet sandpaper and sand them gently, or use it on a DA. Then buff them with compound, they should come out almost perfect. I work at a bodyshop, and have done this many times with old, foggy headlights.

[LilWheezy75]

i realy dont trust myself, if i payed you could you do it sumtime.

[Orbit]

one of my headlights was nicked up and not clear. I used meguiars "plastx" plastic cleaner and polish and it worked great . they look like new :thumbup:

[PaleDSM]

It is pretty hard to screw up the headlights when you use a fine grade wet paper. If the lights are really bad I start with 1500 and then work finer. Follow it with some plastic polish and they look almost new.

If it is an issue with the inside of the lenses you can use a heat gun to separate the clear lense from the plastic housing. Clean the insides and polish them and then use some silicone to seal them back together again.