Headlight Lens Restorer Kit - Heatsink Polish Test

[Major_A]

One of my cars, VW Jetta, has some pretty bad oxidized headlight housings. I bought a kit from Autozone to give a try. To my surprise it worked better than expected. After sitting idle watching the boob tube I wondered how well it would work on a heatsink. I rummaged through my big box of PC parts and found my old Socket 478 Thermaltake heatsink. Attached are results after 5 minutes with the headlight kit. If you're interested I think the kit cost me $9. I also think I would've had better results with fresh sanding pads. They were slightly worn after I used them on the Jetta.

[bmaverick]

I like it! I like it!

[stopthekilling77]

I think you might have found the way to bring lapping to those who didn't want to go through a ton of effort!

Btw what year Jetta do you have? I have a '94 and still generally happy with it (2nd owner, had it 4 years)

[Major_A]

2004 Jetta TDI with an automatic transmission. I've had tons of problems with it, but luckily most of them were before the warranty expired. It rarely gets cold here in the jungle (aka Houston, TX) but if the temperature dips below 40 the car gets real temperamental.

[stopthekilling77]

I've found that my car doesn't like cold either, but its mainly a problem with the heating/air conditioning. Even if fully warmed up, its impossible for the heat to fully clear the front window... Many times I find myself looking through a tiny hole of clear glass to navigate. Can't wait to get a new Passat someday

[bubba]

How did it work on your lights? Any before and after on those? Thinking about doing something similar to my moms Lincoln, the lenses are all yellowed and she has been complaining about seeing at night.

[Major_A]

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the car. It did a decent job, but a lot of the problem is on the underside of the cover. Don't Lincolns have the headlight assembly/housing in one piece?

[Tech_Greek]

A lot of the time, the glue on the inside of the head light will yellow and so what you might think is clear is actually as clear as they are going to get.

The only to fully clean a head light is to bake it, peel it, clean it and sand it, and reseal it.

[DaIceMan]

I've used plain toothpaste on headlight lenses and it works to remove the fogginess as well... but is an extreme PITA to use as it takes a long time. had me wishing I had polishing wheels for my dremel.

[bubba]

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the car. It did a decent job, but a lot of the problem is on the underside of the cover. Don't Lincolns have the headlight assembly/housing in one piece?

Yeah its one piece, but the out side is all yellowed, my van is the same way.

[Major_A]

I've used plain toothpaste on headlight lenses and it works to remove the fogginess as well... but is an extreme PITA to use as it takes a long time. had me wishing I had polishing wheels for my dremel.

I've done that in the past on a much smaller scale. I'd use the toothpaste trick on my Camaro's hood emblem.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the car. It did a decent job, but a lot of the problem is on the underside of the cover. Don't Lincolns have the headlight assembly/housing in one piece?

Yeah its one piece, but the out side is all yellowed, my van is the same way.

Back to my Camaro, sorry it's easy for me to compare and to make sure we're on the same page. On my Camaro if I changed the headlight (bulb) the housing was included with it. Is this how your mother's Lincoln and your van are?
Exmaple

[bubba]

Nah, separate bulb/housing, like this.

[Major_A]

This is all subjective bubba.
Jetta Headlights - 10 being the best (new) and 1 being the worst.
Before:
4
After
7

You might have better results then I did. I guess something is better than nothing especially for $9.

*EDIT*
Added pictures of the passenger headlight. Sorry for the poor quality the blame falls 50/50. 50% on the camera and 50% on the photographer.
The pictures are clickable.

[bubba]

your's were in better shape to begin with then mine or my moms.

Think I may pick up some stuff tomorrow and mess with it. Car nut at work suggested Mothers plastic polish and the power ball attachment. dunno...

[Major_A]

Sorry for the confusion there, both of those pictures were the after shots. If you look closely you can still see some oxidation on the underside of the housing.

[bubba]

LOL I was having a hard time seeing a difference in them. I will be getting some stuff on the way home tonight from work.

[bubba]

After hitting up several autoparts stores looking for a head light restore kit, finally found a kit and it was the Turtle Wax kit LOL

Here is the before and after on my van's headlight, took about 30-40 minutes in sll for sanding, polishing, and the buffing.

[Major_A]

Looks to have been worth it!

[bubba]

very much so, driving into work this morning I noticed the difference. I knew they were bad, just didn't realize how bad.