DIY headlamp restoration

[Matthew Jeschke]

Thought I'd share this here. I've bought all kinds of those headlamp restoration kits over the years. I even tried the tooth paste polishing method. All subpar results. I decided to come up with my own process and executed most of it last night. Was FLOORED at how good my headlamps look. Two were purchased new and the other 6 (including brake lights) were done with the process I came up with.

Instead of using those kits, I bought a 2k clear coat spray can. Sanded all the oxidation off 240, 320, 400, 600, then 800 grit. Lastly cleaned with solvent and shop air and applied adhesion promoter followed by light coat, medium coat, and THICK coat of the clear coat.

The results were INSANE. One of the headlamps is brand new in the photo below. You'd be hard pressed to tell which one. If you look close you can see some inconsistency in my spraying but is only way.

The before picture wasn't before. They were WAY worse. It was a photo from my archives. I should have taken a picture before I dove in. The headlamps were HORRIBLE. I could barely see driving at night with them.

I have plans to seal the headlamps with ceramic coating now but have to wait a month for them to fully cure. That process will be:

1000, followed by 1500 grit sandpaper.
Heavy cut, medium cut, fine cut, and lastly machine polish.
Clean with solvent and shop air.
Lastly seal with ceramic coat.

So amazed at how good this turned out in comparison with the off the shelf kits. I've only ever gotten *meh* to *ug* results with those kits. This worked like a dream. Only thing is the clear coat is spendy! However, I was able to do 10 lenses with it so you'd better have a few to do if you plan do to this as the clear coat only lasts for about a day once mixed up.

Picture after.

Note before picture was a photo from when I bought the truck (8 years ago). They were FAR worse when I painted them yesterday. They were to point I could barely see driving at night. One additional note, one of the lenses below was purchased new from TYC, you'd be hard pressed to tell which one it was.

During painting...

Rear lights were so horribly oxidized. I thought they'd need thrown away. This is how they turned out.

 

[exp500]

I've used Nu-Finish for maybe 15 years every 6 months or less. Applied with 2or3in. buffer wheel/pad.Excellent on tail lights/markers too. If I wait too long hafta do it twice. About 15 minutes for whole truck.

 

[strutaeng]

Looks great!

I've been using 2k clear urethane on my headlights since last year. Works great.

I sprayed them when I was painting my truck's hood and roof, since you always wind up with extra clear that goes to waste.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

@exp500 that's a cool idea! Definitely have to coat them with something or they go bad. Best would be if they still made the glass lenses.

@strutaeng hey thanks! If I'd thought of it I should have painted them when I painted my truck too! I had to throw out the leftover clear coat anyways... Super smart you did that!

 

[homesick]

I'm not necessarily doubting, but report back on how long before they need more work.

joe

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

@homesick that's at top of my mind! After all that work, I hope they last a LONG time. If they fade in near future I'll try to update the post.

@strutaeng assuming it lasts for at least a year without fading?

 

[Tonyrodz]

Does the clear have UV protector in it?

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

@Tonyrodz I just went to look that up. Spray Max seemed to have a quality product but NOT happy with their tech support. I called it at least once and emailed them but never received any response. Their instructions are terrible and don't explicitly call for Plastic Adhesion Promoter. I used it anyways. I digress...

It seems I may have not gotten the best product for the job from them. I bough their 2k gloss clear coat. Searching deeper I just now found they also have a 2K Headlight clear which says it has a higher UV protection. They call it "2K 2in1 Headlight Clear". That said it's a smaller can and I was able to do 10 lenses with the larger can I bought. I'd think ANY decent 2k clear coat SHOULD have reasonable UV protection as that's one of it's main roles.

 

[strutaeng]

@homesick that's at top of my mind! After all that work, I hope they last a LONG time. If they fade in near future I'll try to update the post.

@strutaeng assuming it lasts for at least a year without fading?

Does the clear have UV protector in it?

Yes. It should last AT LEAST what a regular paint job lasts if using a good quality 2k urethane clear. Around here, I would say on horizontal surfaces that get the most UV exposure like hoods, roofs and trunks, around 5-7 years before clears start fading and losing some gloss. On vertical surfaces it usually lasts a bit longer because it gets less UV exposure.

I've never used the 2k aerosol clearcoat, but the reviews of the auto paint guys using them on YT seem to be consistent with it being a good quality product.

 

[ZKWBQD]

Having the lights on during the daytime can really accelerate the deterioration of those lenses.

 

[homesick]

Having the lights on during the daytime can really accelerate the deterioration of those lenses.

How so?

joe

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Having the lights on during the daytime can really accelerate the deterioration of those lenses.

GREAT point. I didn't think of that. The bottom lens where my DRL are was DESTROYED. There was no saving it. I used as practice piece. Those had to be purchased new. Perhaps cause the lights are always on?

I'm wondering if switching to a LED DRL might mitigate that a bit (cooler bulb).

 

[EddieC]

Mathew's writeup reminds me of restoring vintage Brit bike polished aluminum cases.
I just don't have that kind of ambition anymore.

 

[SilverSport]

if having the lights ON all the time was the issue wouldn't they be damaged from the inside out???...

I think most of the damage on the outside is environmental as well as age, cleaning and abrasion

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

@SilverSport to the point of @ZKWBQD my daytime running lights were destroyed. The inside was baked. I was unable to restore them and had to buy new ones. However, I still went through process. After completion I noticed the inside of the lens (backside of transparent face) was fogged and the reflective material was baked off of the back side of the lens. I think to combat this in future I'm going to run LED bulbs. They don't get quite as hot. I'll try to put pictures here when I get a chance of the daytime running light lenses.

The other lenses showed little to no damage on inside so I was able to fully restore them.

 

[noodlesandsam2]

Having lights on is not impactful. The damage is on the outside. If lights on made it worse, we would not have access to fix it. It's UV damage to the original protective coating. I've used Cerakote ( $18 ish on Amazon ). Been very happy - lasted 3 years in So Cal, which is harder than NY. - used on both coasts.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

These are photos of my original turn signal lamp assembly. The headlamps cleaned right up. All the damage was sanded off the outside of the lens. Try as hard as I could I couldn't sand off the little imperfections shown by red arrow on my turn signal lamps. Where they on inside? Maybe?...

The reflective part of lens outlined in green, was completely baked off of both lenses. I believe this is the location where the Daytime Running Light is. It's always on. It's an incandescent bulb which is notorious for heating up and baking the sockets as well.

There'd be no way to fix this short of baking the assembly to release the glue which holds the front cover on then somehow reapplying the reflective coating. Then polishing both sides of the lens?

These probably would have worked but I just bought new ones from TYC. They were EXCELLENT quality and like $15 each.