My headlights are looking scratched, probably from me being very rough on them to clean them over time. Lots of very light scratches in the plastic, like the sponge wasn't a non-scratch one, or maybe very fine sandpaper. Its not THAT noticeable but it bothers me. Does anyone know a way to fix it?
Thanks!

 

I remembered what I did that probably did it, I used an extremely fine steel wool on my glass because I had a really bad accumulation of water spots and the 9 products I tried hadnt worked. The glass is good as new, but I obviously didnt think about how the plastic on the lights would be softer. Still looking for a recommendation... Im thinking rubbing compound and a cotton cloth?

 

that might work...but you might need to go a bit more aggressive depending on how deep the scratches are. i suggest a buffer. i work in a body shop and i buff on headlights all the time. come out like new. you can even wetsand them with 2000 grit sandpaper and buff them right out.

 

Meguiar's plastic polish was the favorite choice to keep the original Miata plastic windows clear and free of scratches. I also used on on other hard plastic items with good results. You want both the #17 and the #10.

http://www.bikedepot.net/meplca.html

If the plastic is too far gone for this, there are other types of kits out there with more aggressive abrasives, or you could even use VERY fine wet-sanding with increasingly finer grits and then progress to the Meguiar's for final stages.

You might even decide you don't like the ugly raised lettering....

http://www.miata.net/hakuna/polished%20lenses.html

 

I second the meguiars suggestion. go out and try a bottle of Plastx. i would try that before i got into any wetsanding or rotary buffing of any kind.

 

^i wetsand and buff them all the time with a normal compound...works fine

 

i have a thick 3m clearbra film over my headlights. Good as new. Of course, it's the third set of headlights mazda installed on my car because they kept getting gunk on the inside of the lens... but 3rd time better be the charm.

 

by gunk, do u mean water vapor? My rear light has a LITTLE bit of fog sometimes but on old cars that means it usually gets worse. SHOULD warranty cover that do you know?

 

just remove the taillights and drill 2 small holes on the bottom of each one...that will solve your problem...they will just do the same thing again if they are replaced...there is a thread on this somewhere....you should find it with a search

 

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...14-07-1795.pdf

that's the tsb for it, definately is covered under warranty.