Fix Your Faded Skyline Lights!

[Sambo33]

Hello. Here is a permanent solution to fixing those faded skyline headlights. One of my mates from tafe inspired the idea.

Pretty much I was sick of polishing my lights every 3 months after the plastic oxidized itself again.

Here is a pic of my car with the dull look headlights

If you are going to DIY this I would recommend some previous spray painting experience and also good safety gear like a respirator and good ventilation (preferably a booth of some sort). If not take the lights to a paint shop, I can’t see it would be very pricey to do a small job like this.

Here are the materials I used

Plastic Primer

Antistatic plastic cleaner

2 pak clear

2 pak hardner

2 pak reducer

2" masking tape

1 bucket of water

Sponge

truckwash

1000 grit wet and dry sandpaper

Tools used

3.5hp air compressor

1.4mm spray gun

Screwdriver and socket set

1 - Ok first of all u will need to remove the grill (held on by a few clips) then remove the headlights (few bolts on the rad support and 2 small screws underneath)

2 - place the headlights on something stable, fill a bucket with water (and a dash of truckwash if u like), soak a sponge in the water and run it over the headlight plastic while sanding with 1000 grit paper until the whole light is a fine haze of scratches.

3 - Dry the headlights off, use a clean rag and wipe over with the plastic cleaner.

4 - Mask around the outline of the headlight (not totally necessary, just me being fussy) use an airblower to remove any dust from the lights.

5 - Pour about 100ml plastic primer into spray gun and place a light coat over the lights (allow a minute or 2 to dry)

6 - Mix up the clear. the one I used was 4 parts clear, 1 part hardner and about 10% thinner. Now spray a light coat over the lights (just enough to make the lights look clear)

Allow a couple of minutes for coat 1 to tack off and put a final coat on (so the finish looks nice and smooth)

Give it about a day to dry hard, fit them back up to the car, and never have to polish up dull lights again

Edited June 17, 2007 by Sambo33

[Basti]

why has no one ever thought of this before?

[dyken]

my quick and easy solution.. goto just jap buy the headlight cleaner for 20bucks few minutes and your headlights look brand new.. although you do need to re-clean your headlights after a while

[DrewII]

i think the dullness also occurs from the moisture on the inside of the lights? or not?

[Howie]

Nice fix. Or you can use a diminishing abrasive like meguires scratch-x or heavy cut to polish it up.

[evil_weevil]

Nice work!!

Im not that skilled so I wont be doing it - perhaps mods/admin could put this in the FAQ section as its a common issue!

Nice one!

Chris

[Trav33]

I'd like to see how they go after a few months in the sun.

I thought the plastic broke down with UV light, which caused the hazyness. If that's the case, a clear coat of paint may not stop the UV from reaching the plastic, and may still breakdown the polymers...

[Sambo33]

Trav33 ive had this on my car for about 1 year now, no more dull headlights

thanks for the comments guys!

i think my lights may have been worse than most, i previously used farecla medium grade cutting compound on a machine buff on my lights. After about 2-3 months they were yellow and dull again.

DrewII - i get some moisture inside my lights sometimes when that car gets wet, but it evaporates away. the yellowey dull look is only on the outside of the plastic.

[monkeykplunk]

Fantastic idea!

Something else for me to play with when I get my compressor

[made_guy]

you should run a headlight exchange business!!

i would love to do this, but am afflicted with accute laziness and lack of a compressor

[DECIM8]

I guess to turn the lights yellow you need oxygen too .. this fix restricts oxygen from the plastic so the yellowing does not occour?

Im confused how you got from a dull faded smoked light to such a clear one? U just sprayed over it with clear and it make the cloudyness go away?

How does that even work? Did you not cut back the plastic to remove bemishes?

Edited June 18, 2007 by DECIM8

[Sambo33]

yeah mate, the pics of the headlights on the stands where they look all dull.. those are fine sandpaper scratches. wet-sanding the lights cleans all the tarnish off, when i was rubbing them down i could see all the yellowey stuff running off them.

the stock plastic cant stand up to the effects of weathering, the 2k clear is essentially a type of plastic. so im reinforcing the plastic.

ive used this particular clear on some of my cars before and it can take weathering fine, no drop in gloss, no yellowing.

hope that makes a bit more sense

[Sambo33]

you should run a headlight exchange business!!

i would love to do this, but am afflicted with accute laziness and lack of a compressor

thats not a bad idea

i would do it if i had a better facility and a bit more time.

[DECIM8]

Excellent cheers and does it scatter light at all or disipates light as original?

[Nismo_God]

good stuff....might give it a go...might amend it a little tho....make it a lil easier...cheers!!!

[Sambo33]

Excellent cheers and does it scatter light at all or disipates light as original?

nope, no different. the clear film build would be similar thickness to an a4 sheet of paper.

Nismo_God - No worries my method was a bit thorough, but it can be done easier than that.

[islade]

Can I buy a can of spray-on clear coat and use that instead of a spray gun, or does that be dodgy/non-existant?

[TWINS33]

cool man glad you tried this out ive thought about it before but never got around to it.

i just p1500 then p2000 mine and polish them up with farecla g3 and they have been clear for about 4 months now but looks like a clearcoat would be a permanent solution. anyone in adelaide wants this done hit me up lol

Edited November 2, 2009 by TWINS33

[southlander]

cool man glad you tried this out ive thought about it before but never got around to it.

i just p1500 then p2000 mine and polish them up with farecla g3 and they have been clear for about 4 months now but looks like a clearcoat would be a permanent solution. anyone in adelaide wants this done hit me up lol

hey man i kno this thread is dead but does the offer still stand about the polish and clear in lonnie? i would pm ya but im a n00b with less than 10 posts.