Headlight Restoration Kit Recommendation

[clk320x]

As a lot of people on the forum have older cars which are often plagued with the clouding headlight problem I thought I would post this.

Yesterday whilst looking on Amazon I found the 'Quixx headlight restoration kit' -and as it was available for the bargain price of £10 I thought it was worth a shot.

This kit requires no extra tools or equipment, everything you need is in the box. The benefit of this kit compared to others is that it includes a 'sealant' which is supposed to prevent the problem recurring which is extremely easy to apply, simply spray some on (it is like a gel like texture rather than a aersol) so no risk of overspray etc and it is simply rubbed on with the cloth and buffed off once it's dried. They recommend to reapply it every 3 months.

My headlights had a few scratches before so I thought I would use this kit.

I took my time and followed the instructions on the kit perfectly. Ensuring to mask around the light ( I had no masking tape to hand so used some brown packaging tape ensuring the spray water on the paint before to essentially make it 'low tac')

I then proceeded wet sanding the lights with 2000 grit, 3000 grit and 5000 grit sand paper using the sanding block provided.

Whilst the rubber block and sand paper was small, it works well and it was a small issue seeing as the kit only cost £10. If this is an issue you can buy your sand paper seperately.

Then you apply the Quixx plastic polish, and polish it to a high shine. Following this the sealant is applied.

Pic of scratches before:

Mid-sanding:

All done before washing:

Cheers

P.S the cheapest place to get the kit is on amazon, and they offer next day delivery (in my case same day!)

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Great job!

Parcel tape tho???

 

[clk320x]

Great job!

Gaffer tape tho???

Cheers!

Couldn't find masking tape

Did the job and sprayed it with water so wasn't too sticky

 

[Major774]

Awesome, we both done our headlights at the same time. It will be interesting to see how well this kit holds up.

Keep us updated.

 

[tylerdurden]

I always thought the clouding was a reaction to heat from the bulbs and occurred on the inside?

 

[Steveml63]

I always thought the clouding was a reaction to heat from the bulbs and occurred on the inside?

Hi,
On my Infiniti - the headlights clouded after I used a bug shifting spray on the car bodywork!
Luckily a headlight restorer kit - like the one mentioned fixed the problem.
I ditched the bug spray - didn't want a repeat performance!
Cheers
Steve

 

[MarkACLS]

I always thought the clouding was a reaction to heat from the bulbs and occurred on the inside?

It's caused by UV. Reaction with the lense.

The 3M kit is very good too and includes everything including attachments for a drill to aid the sanding.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=3m+headlight+restoration+kit&tag=amazon0e9db-21

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[Steveml63]

Hi,
I used the Turtle Wax kit mentioned in this report - it worked well and was the only make I could find in Abu Dhabi, off the shelf.

5 Best Car Headlight Restoration Kits 2017
Cheers
Steve

 

[clk320x]

I always thought the clouding was a reaction to heat from the bulbs and occurred on the inside?

It's the UV coating giving up the ghost

 

[tron]

Polycarbonate (LEXAN) or Makrolon is funny stuff to work with. To form it, for instance, it needs to be dried for some days in an oven because it is really hygroscopic. It does not like benzene or acetone and will stress crack on contact with the vapour. Brake fluid and caustic soda, loctite, thinners, lighter fuel keep them all away. White spirit or xylene are harmful.
Beeswax and carnauba are fine . The anti UV coating needs to be replaced once all the grinding and sanding is done or the restored plastic will not last for long.

 

[johnsnowkornar]

I'd search for somebody in your general vicinity that .has done the mod to the stock HU and check whether they would do it for you, or discover a companion that knows something about gadgets that could do it

 

[johnsnowkornar]

Best wager on the off chance that you need better than average sound it to do the mod stickied at the highest point of the discussion.

 

[johnsnowkornar]

This is the best site for me because it's represented many things about various topics.

 

[clk320x]

I'd search for somebody in your general vicinity that .has done the mod to the stock HU and check whether they would do it for you, or discover a companion that knows something about gadgets that could do it

Sorry?

 

[Andyfkettle]

G3 cutting compound works well and for some reason using wet toilet paper to polish with makes it work ten times better, don’t ask me how or why but my friend who does valeting said to try it and and I found it made a massive difference.

 

[ph47mf]

toothpaste, that's it

 

[alzieboy]

^^^^^^^^

Make sure you use Her indoors brush though.

 

[clk320x]

^^^^^^^^

Make sure you use Her indoors brush though.

Tell me how that goes.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I had an old (yr 2000) Astra and the right headlamp went dull to the point of MOT failure but the left one was OK, I noticed quite a few on the road with the same problem, bad batch I guess. my garage buddy polished them both for me. Then I sold it.

Please don't use parcel tape on your paint work...depending in the manufacturer (not all tapes are created equal !) you could find yourself in a hell of a mess.

 

[clk320x]

I had an old (yr 2000) Astra and the right headlamp went dull to the point of MOT failure but the left one was OK, I noticed quite a few on the road with the same problem, bad batch I guess. my garage buddy polished them both for me. Then I sold it.

Please don't use parcel tape on your paint work...depending in the manufacturer (not all tapes are created equal !) you could find yourself in a hell of a mess.

Had no other tape to hand and sprayed it with water so it peeled off nice and easy