cheap headlight restoration tips?

I

iN2Octane

Registered
my 93's headlights are all yellow and scratched up, pretty much like every other mark viii out there, and i was wondering if anyone knows what kind of processes i can go through to clean up my headlights so that i can actually see the road without my highbeams...

i heard of wetsanding them and using some sort of polishes, but does anyone know the specific steps to doing that, and which polish to buy?

also, would it make a difference to buy those xenon bulbs at wal mart for like 30 bucks a pair?

thanks
-keith
 
RE: cheap headlight restoration tips?

Check the tech article section - I think there is something there on that.

As for bulbs, the best bang for your buck are the HIR bulbs for around $50 a pair. Twice the light, half the heat...no joke. They solve two problems at once. They can only be purchased from special vendors on the web though. When shopping, remember that all four of the Mark VIII bulbs are "high beam" bulbs.
 
I used the wet sand technique and got very bland results. I'm not expiernced enough to no exactly what to do. But it did git the hazyness off. I asked what to do next and a fellow member told me to get a 3 inch polishing/buffing wheel attachment for hardware store and to use the plastx plastic polish and to keep the wheel wet with the plastix and buff for a little while and then to remove the polish , and repeat the stepps until satisfied. I got very good results after following his advise. god luck
 
The wetsanding/polishing is the best way to go, but unfortionally we don't know how bad the lights are and if they are turning brown(instead of yellow) its not going to make too much of a dent. Don't buy the 9000k lights....get the lowest "K" setting, the lower the number the brighter. I heard of some people buying the 15000K lights and being really really pissed, haha.
 
J said:
The wetsanding/polishing is the best way to go, but unfortionally we don't know how bad the lights are and if they are turning brown(instead of yellow) its not going to make too much of a dent. Don't buy the 9000k lights....get the lowest "K" setting, the lower the number the brighter. I heard of some people buying the 15000K lights and being really really pissed, haha.
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...and how does that warranty read? "If this is an electrical part and the package has been opened, NO WARRANTY"
 
Haha....yep. Either that or the shipping you're going to pay to send them back to China isn't worth the 4.99 that you paid for the lights in the first place. Man....thats good marketing, lol.
 
Wet sanding will only fix the lenses part of the problem. If the inside reflective material is gone, your better off buying new ones to replace them with..if you can find them.
 
For shizzle, haha. Check out the pictures of mine, you can see that the LOW beams look dark on the inside....thats because the "chrome" reflective stuff is AFK.

2109779_58_full.jpg

DSC01317.jpg
 
I don't think mine were that bad yet, lol! Hows that projection light setup working? You get that done yet!?
 
I got everything mounted. Been working on my molds for the front clear lenses, Ill be shipping out the housings to get re-chromed this week. Also been doing the interior and "collecting" parts for my suspension.
 
Are they getting rechromed(dipped) or that vacuum electric something or other?

What are you doing to your suspension?
 
I wetsanded my lights. I used 1000 grit, then 1500 grit, then 2000 grit then rubbing coumpound, then polish, then car wax.

It worked great and the lights were much better. The reflectors inside were burned off some though, so they weren't as good as new.

Since then, I replaced them with new HID assemblies.

Here's a before and after photo:

balight.jpg
 
J said:
Are they getting rechromed(dipped) or that vacuum electric something or other?

What are you doing to your suspension?
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Vacuum Metallizing on the housings. Just doing a full update on it, yanking the air off and going with lowering springs, New pumpkin with a trac-loc and 3.73's along with redone spindle and hubs on the rear with all poly bushings, torsional brace, engine cradle braces, 1 1/4" sway bar with poly bushings. Basically a whole upgrade.
 
Awesome! The Vacuum Metallizing is expensive isn't it?! I heard a while back of someone wanting to use old headlights to make a mold and having a group batch made......never panned out.
 
Has anyone tried to cut polished stainless and glue into the housing to replace the damage reflective coating? I thought about trying that first before spending 5 to 7 hundred dollars on hids.
 
Thats a good idea if you can get it to sit flush that way its reflecting correctly. Actually there was a member that used the reflective 3M tape in little strips inside and it worked good.
 
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