Repairing cloudy Headlight Lenses (1 Viewer)

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MIflyer

1st Lieutenant
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11,716
May 30, 2011
Cape Canaveral
Several years ago I was working on a WWII aircraft radio that I bought on ebay from a seller in Arizona. The set apparently had been sitting in the desert sun for some time and the tuning dial had been exposed with no cover, leaving it rather faded.

I knew I would never be able to repaint that dial, given its elaborate markings, and decided I'd just clean it off and leave it alone. As a final step I wiped it down with rubbing alcohol - and for a brief moment the dial looked almost new, clear and shiny again.

I suddenly realized that the dial was not faded, but the top layer of the paint had become abraded and rough, causing the light to be scattered. The answer was to restore that top layer. I had some Testor's clear gloss lacquer left over from a model project and a light mist coat of that did the trick. The dial looked almost brand new.

I then realized that was the reason why the plastic headlight lenses on modern cars tend to get frosty looking. Older cars just had sealed beam headlights and the glass of the bulbs did not abrade. Newer cars use plastic lenses with removable bulbs underneath, and those lenses abrade.

My Mom's car, a 1998 Dodge Stratus, suffered from the frosty headlight problem, I cleaned the lenses thoroughly with some Windex-like spray cleaner, wiped down the lenses with rubbing alcohol, and masked off the areas around the headlights. A light mist coat from the Testor's can restored the headlight lenses to clarity.

So, if you have a problem with frosty headlights, you might give this a try. Cost is almost nothing and you can brag that you've found a new use for your model,materials. Of course this is not a permanent fix; the headlight lenses will get abraded again and you'll have to do it all over again after a year or two.
 
Brilliant!! I've been mulling over just such a problem. One headlight lens (the one nearest oncoming traffic) has become cloudy, while the curbside one is still clear. The driver's side one may have been a cheap aftermarket replacement. I don't know.
 
Clear plastic is attacked faster by the sun than colored plastics because the pigment in colored plastics slow the degradation (marginally but not completely).
I found this to be the case with lightbars from emergency vehicles I dealt with for many years. Clear had the shortest lifespan, than red, blue and amber in that order.

One fix that worked very well, was a kit by Meguire's - it contains the polish and cleaner which not only restores the plastic to original condition, but has inhibitors that slow the oxidation process. It just requires a drill for the included polishing pad and doesn't take very long at all.

It's far cheaper than replacing the domes/lenses on the lightbars and infinitely cheaper than replacing a headlight module on a car.
 

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