Oxidized head lights
 

My headlights are all cloudy from oxidation - I tried the headlight restoration kit, and it worked a bit, but obviously only on the outside. :banghead: any one know of how I can get to the inside? I don't feel like spending 400 bucks (x2) on a new assembly.

any tips?

theres a thread on it here somewhere let me look and see what i find

i got the kit at autozone but i have to do it every month to keep it clean. pain in the ass when you see a 8 with clean head lights

thats strange the oxidation is on the inside, if youve never had the headlights apart before.... anyway though, do a search for painting headlight housings on here...i have one from awhile back if you check my threads, thatll tell you how to bake them and separate the lens from the housing. Make sure its not on the outside, that would be more likely. Either way, no matter what side of the lens, 400 grit wet sandpaper in one direction across the lens, then 600,800,1000,1500, plastic polish/light rubbing compound. There ya go, clear lens.

just gives me "no matches" but I appreciate the response - this is an issue that has been bugging me since i bought the car.

TO every one else - also thanks. I may bake them apart and do as you say - I'll let you know what happens. My one concern is ruining them and being stuck having to purchase a new assembly.

actually on second thought, I'll try resurfacing the outside the way you suggested, and see if there really is anything wrong on the inside before i go through the trouble. You could be right about the inside of the lens.

im about to try the sanding way today

make sure to go in one direction, like your wiping them off so the levels your taking off stay even

shakeyourbrakes knows his stuff man. check out my before and afters.

I wouldn't touch my headlights with 400 grit. Way too agressive and you risk damaging the UV protective layer.
A very light polish with a buffer is usually the way to go. Go too agressive and you'll find yourself buffing your headlights monthly.

I actually used a restore kit i got at autozone, and i swear the instructions on the box were exactly what shakey said. it came with nice little pads and stuff, but basically same thing. unfortunately, you are probably right about the UV - but until I can get some money together to replace them, i guess its what i have to do. I did wax em after - the wax has some UV protection in it, so lets hope that helps.

That's why you seal them after. It will stop oxidation on the outside from forming after polishing them. I had oxidation on the inside and had to get them replaced under warranty. Thank god. Would have cost $1800 if I replaced them myself! I got a laminx headlight film over my new ones and they still look flawless a year later!

Thats how my body shop does it, but to keep it perfect they put a coat of clear over top. I plan on trying it in a couple weeks.

I tried Meguiar's scratchx and it worked ok. Then I used Meguiar's techwax on the headlights when I was waxing my car and I got really good results, go figure.

This is a post of how I did mine using the Meguires headlight restoration kit it took less then 20 mins, I thought min was also on the inside but once I used the kit it looked like new.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.ph...=1#post3779579

I did the headlights on my friend's Eclipse, and they were pretty hazed. Used M105 with an orange pad, followed by M205 on white with my Meguiars G110 V2. They were much clearer. Even he was amazed how good they came out. Buffer is the way to go for sure. By hand, polish will only do so much. The sandpaper method should work just as well as the buffer, but may still have slight sanding marks in the end. I wouldn't start sanding with less than 1000 grit unless they were really bad for the same reasons cjkim mentioned.

That is a fact, People do more damage to their headlights trying to clean them with sandpaper than they get from normal wear.

For the record acrylic oxidation does not form inside headlights, condensation will accumulate ( moisture ) but not oxidation.
Oxidation is a topical problem that can be corrected safely in a few seconds with a liquid non abrasive acrylic lens deoxidizer.
Moisture inside the lens is a different kind of animal.