So I had the car in the garage this weekend looking at the brakes, and while it was there I decided to clean up the headlights. I live in Florida, drive the car daily and typically park outside. The sun and UV have wreaked havoc on the headlights so I decided it was time to bring them back. I took a ton of pics and started to write up a tutorial to use as an alternative to the "headlight restoration" kits at the autoparts store. I have never used one of the kits, but am quite happy with my results doing things the old fashioned way.

The whole job took about 3 hours start to finish with the majority of the time spent taping up around the headlights. I am sure pulling the headlights and sanding them down on a bench would produce better results and may actually take less time. I decided not to post a how to because mistakes with a D/A sander or lack of attention when wet sanding could do more harm than good, but if you have questions let me know and I am happy to provide more details.

Anyways.... on to some pictures.

This is how the headlights looked before getting started (unacceptable)



I taped everything up and sanded the lights with a dual action sander:



Next came a bunch of wet sanding and polishing. Below are the results with a side by side comparison.



Let me know if you have any questions I'm happy to provide any details.

 

Make sure you give the newly polished lenses some UV protection, or they'll be yellow again in a year. There are some spray-on protectors available or films that you can apply over the lights.

They look great!

 

Thanks Dennis. I am going to have the headlights covered in clear film. I would love a clear bra on the whole front half, but as you can see, the bumper already has a minor blemish, so I don't think it would look right.

 

Very nice result. How do the chrome headlight washer covers come off?

 

They just pull right off. It's simple, but it's a two person operation. Person #1 activates the washer, while person #2 grabs the shaft with a pair of pliers. The chrome cover then pulls right off.

If there's an easier way to do it, I'd love to hear it!

 

Thank you Dennis.

 

There are two plastic tabs under the cap that hold it onto the washer stalk. They get a little brittle with age so you have to be a little bit careful when you pop them off. I broke the tab on one, and superglued it back together before I put it back on. We will see how long it holds on, but I never use the washers, so I am guessing it should be ok for a little while.

 

My friend and I worked on his 911 foggy headlights with a headlight restoration kit from Amazon. That kit worked extremely well. They look like new when he did them and they still look great after 8 months. He did not have to use any power tools. Took him about an hour to do them both. Go to Amazon and search EZ4U2 headlight kit.
or http://tinyurl.com/obulxs8

 

Good Job!!!! I did mine last month.

 

Seems like you just signed up just to push your product. Nice Job.

 

This is how mine were.

 

We're parked outdoors in the tropics so gotta do the lights every 6 mos or so. UV films or not. Sucks, but not that hard to remedy.

 

is there a specific product you recommend?