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Rain-X Headlight restorer

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Old May 16, 2010 | 04:29 PM
  #1  
Bugler's Avatar
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Rain-X Headlight restorer

Probably in the wrong part of this forum but I felt like people should know this.

So I bought my 04 with 55k on it a couple weeks ago. The headlights were all foggy and such and I was very unhappy with them. For looks and safety, I of course prefer nice clear crystal headlights.

So, I went ahead and bought this at Autozone for $15. It is worth every singly penny. So here is my high recommendation for this product.

Before
Name:  d3868169.jpg
Views: 119
Size:  106.5 KB

After
Name:  7501f960.jpg
Views: 128
Size:  119.6 KB

Last edited by Bugler; May 16, 2010 at 04:40 PM.
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Old May 16, 2010 | 04:30 PM
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lol the first pic is of the right tailight, and the second is of the left?
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Old May 16, 2010 | 04:32 PM
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Actually headlights. But yes. I didn't think of a before/after till I did one. But the right one looked like the left one before i did it.
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Old May 16, 2010 | 04:36 PM
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Yeah Sioux Sioux!!!
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wow i did say tailights :O lol ill be nice and not edit it out ^_^
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Old May 16, 2010 | 06:03 PM
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PlastiX works the same
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Old May 17, 2010 | 09:05 AM
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How long will the crystal clear last for the Rainx, i've experimented with a few polish and stuff only to have the fade come back after a few weeks.
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Old May 17, 2010 | 09:51 AM
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I used the Turtle Wax variant. Pretty good job except where there were a couple sand-blasted splotches. There's only so much that polish can do, especially on plastic.

What you're striving to do is polish out all the rock/sand pits that difuse the head-light.
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Old May 18, 2010 | 11:52 PM
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Was it intentional that you showed the rain-x product in the reflection of the bumper? It makes for a cool looking picture.
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Old May 19, 2010 | 05:46 AM
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Haha someone noticed. My background, before being a Marine, is graphics design and multimedia. Photography is just a hobby of that. Wish I had my good camera. Could have done better!

On a side note, a lot of Mass residents around here...
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Old May 19, 2010 | 06:12 AM
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^ A lot of Mass [former] Marines as well.

Semper Fi
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Old May 19, 2010 | 06:18 AM
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An alternate method provided here.
http://guidetodetailing.com/damage-r...dlight-lenses/

Amazing website for car detailing information.
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Old May 19, 2010 | 09:32 AM
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I see your from Maryland, welcome to the club. Your one of few that have a NG 8.

The headlights look good.



Also you should come out to a meet with us sometime.
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Old May 19, 2010 | 09:12 PM
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Is this the best product? I've been looking at substance for the headlights as well..
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Old May 19, 2010 | 09:27 PM
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Ooh rah, Huey. I'm from Saugus, myself.

RotaryP7, it seems to be one of the better kits on the market, but most of them (3M, mothers...) are the same. Lubricant, polishing pads (sandpaper pads), a fine polish and a glazing of sorts as a sealant. The website vesper points to will work as well if you don't exactly want to get a kit. But if it's your first time and you want to be assured you'll use the right stuff, get one of the kits.

adamwzl, from Mass but I live in MD now and am stationed in DC. And I'd love to come to a meet. Any timeline available for that?
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Old May 19, 2010 | 11:03 PM
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Kits are the easy way to go by far. Detailing is a growing hobby of mine, so I prefer to do whatever I think gets the best results regardless of time and effort :P

The article I posted takes more effort and might seem scary since you're sanding your headlight, but it won't "refog," it'll be like new.
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Old May 20, 2010 | 12:25 AM
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sold - i'm buying rainx this weekend
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Old May 20, 2010 | 03:19 AM
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Just tried the Turtlewax Headlight Restorer, finish off with Zymol Wax. Now to see whether it would haze up in a month time.
Attached Thumbnails Rain-X Headlight restorer-before.jpg   Rain-X Headlight restorer-before-closeup.jpg   Rain-X Headlight restorer-after.jpg   Rain-X Headlight restorer-after-closeup.jpg  
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Old May 20, 2010 | 06:58 AM
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Yeah we actually have a meet coming up in June. The time and date has yet been decided but were working on it.

visit our monthly sushi meet thread.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...66788&page=174
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Old May 20, 2010 | 07:48 AM
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Originally Posted by yiksing
Just tried the Turtlewax Headlight Restorer, finish off with Zymol Wax. Now to see whether it would haze up in a month time.
I bought the Turtlewax product. I haven't used it yet. Last time I just used rubbing compound/polish. That worked for a little while.
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Old May 20, 2010 | 03:19 PM
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Adam, you expect me to sift through 174 pages?? Just tell me where and when! Haha.

Edit: Wow... 175 miles. Bit of a stretch. And I don't even like Sushi! Are they always at that place in NJ?

Last edited by Bugler; May 20, 2010 at 03:22 PM.
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Old May 20, 2010 | 04:09 PM
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lol no and go to the last page for the updates. The first page was like from 2 years ago. You dont need to read the full thread.

The monthly sushi meets change between states every month. It goes MD, PA, DE, NJ. In rotation. Since we just had NJ, next up is MD. Its not always sushi either it all depends on what we agree to at that time.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 12:01 AM
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Originally Posted by alnielsen
I bought the Turtlewax product. I haven't used it yet. Last time I just used rubbing compound/polish. That worked for a little while.
The TurtleWax is pretty much the same, just a polish compound (very fine though) and 4 sanding pads with lubricant spray. Avoid using pad #1 if you can, it leaves uneven scratches and very cumbersome to buff out.
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Old Jun 7, 2010 | 02:41 PM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by Bugler
Actually hid headlight. But yes. I didn't think of a before/after till I did one. But the right one looked like the left one before i did it.
like how it ended up looking like.
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Old Jun 7, 2010 | 03:27 PM
  #24  
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Looks nice. And oh, wow - I forgot there's a little rotary-shaped hole in there!
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