Headlamps

[madrat]

The headlight on the passat have been a bit cloudy for a few years, and as new ones are £80 - £160 each I thought I would try refacing them first. 

 

I got this kit off ebay last year.

 

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b29/madrat/L.jpg

 

Cost about £9

 

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b29/madrat/L2.jpg

 

Didn't hold out much hope but was worth a try.  I am pleasantly surprised, instructions were a bit   but results are good.  I used the tool in a cordless drill, was quite easy, but only time will tell.

 

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b29/madrat/L3.jpg

 

Never took a picture of the before, but it was cloudy and discoloured, especially at the top.

 

One question though, what was wrong with glass headlights? they didn't degrade in the sun

[LessThanEqual]

Crash regulations, plus they cracked/chipped/broke when hit by a stone.

[Asimo]

Not possible to make glass headlights that ssmmeeaaarrrrr all the way round to the A pillar.

[madrat]

^ true but the ones on the micra (18 years old are still perfect.

[Asimo]

What is really annoying about polycarbonate headlights is the feebleness of the Ultra-Violet protecting coating.

It is solar UV that yellows the polycarbonate, which is why headlamps cloud quickest on the most horizontal part of their surface. Effective UV coatings do exist, the polycarbonate sheets on my porch are 26 years old and have not gone cloudy because the coating works. (However, one triangular piece that was cut wrong was fitted UV coated side down. It's gone beyond cloudy to brown)

Annual job now on my motors: polishing the solar damage off the headlights with Silvo. At least that does work unlike trying to polish the reflectors on old fashioned glass and metal headlights!

 

Bring back sealed beam units!

[artdjones]

Can you buy the protective coating?

[tooSavvy]

All the nicest girls have them....

 

*wrong thread :/

 

 

TS

[madrat]

Protective coating came with the kit

[Sigmund Fraud]

The headlamps of my daily Ignis had also gone opaque, but I couldn't be arsed using a proper kit. So I looked around the internets and decided to buy some of this magic gloop :

 

 

To my surprise, it removed most of the haziness in a couple of minutes and with minimal effort ! GR11 for passing the next MoT !

[PhilA]

3M plastic polish is good (if not better) if you can't find Plast-X.

 

My headlight lenses also went all crazed and hazy where the headlight beam shines through them.

I guess the UV or IR content of the headlight light (regular 55W halogen) is enough to do so

 

Phil

[wuvvum]

Can you buy the protective coating?

Just rub some factor 30 sun cream on the lenses.

[tooSavvy]

Just rub some factor 30 sun cream on the lenses.

.... Ha! And I thought I posted in the wrong thread...

 

 

TS

[madrat]

^^ and re apply every 20 minutes.

[colnerov]

All the nicest girls have them....

 

*wrong thread :/

 

 

TS

 

 Yes, this is not what I was expecting when I opened the thread.

[Bren]

Autosol works very well.

[twosmoke300]

Anusol is better on the (w)hole

[robinmasters]

Anusol is better on the (w)hole

'Preparations A through G were a complete failure. But now, ladies and gentlemen, we finally have a working tractor beam, which we shall call... Preparation H.'

[Timewaster]

The headlamps of my daily Ignis had also gone opaque, but I couldn't be arsed using a proper kit. So I looked around the internets and decided to buy some of this magic gloop :

 

 

To my surprise, it removed most of the haziness in a couple of minutes and with minimal effort ! GR11 for passing the next MoT !

Also useful for rejuvenating scratched Cds and dvds.

[PiperCub]

Apparently toothpaste works well too. (Not tried it on plastic myself mind you). 

[Talbot]

Had this issue on my W210.

 

Cue much sanding with 2000grit wetndry (wet) and then a polish with T-cut. Worked really well and the MOT man even commented as to how much of an improvement it was.

 

Spot the difference: