Best way to fix headlights

[M45Owner]

Hi,

My headlights are dinged up and scratched and they're to the points where light is actually reflected back by the blemishes and it just looks awful. I thought of using one of those headlight restoration kits. I watched videos and they are always fixing yellow cloudy headlights on an old beater. My damage is different. These headlights are perfectly clear other than the blemishes.

Is the restoration kit the way to go? If so, which kit would you recommend? Will my headlights end up looking like new, or will I have to sacrifice some clarity? Or is there a better way?

Thanks in advance!

[LuxuryMobile]

Do you have any pictures?

There are a ton of different methods/theories that all work.

People will chime in, but pictures will help you get a better answer.

[M45Owner]

Here's a pic. Sorry for the quality.

http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae103/Tiamat303/IMG_1890.jpg

[AudiTTman]

I have this exact same problem, the outside of the headlight looks to be pristine, but when the HID's are lit up, you can see what almost looks like dust/scratches all in the inner shell of the headlight. First off, we know that rocks aren't hitting the headlight from the inside, so that is a start. The only explanation i can really come up with for both of our problems is that these are imperfections in the plastic, or possibly little dings and dents that we cant normally see until light is passing threw the plastic cover from behind. Not the best advice, but a great topic to bring up!

IF.....they are surface blemishes, which they very well could be, then a restoration kit would probably give you good results. However, if your lenses are coated with a UV layer( which i think most newer Infiniti's are) you'll most likely lose that when you use the sandpaper and other abrasives that come in the kit.

[Matt]

IF.....they are surface blemishes, which they very well could be, then a restoration kit would probably give you good results. However, if your lenses are coated with a UV layer, you'll most likely lose that when you use the sandpaper and other abrasives that come in the kit.


Agreed! If you were not able to remove them just by sanding and polishing, recoating them with the UV Sealant idea from HotRod mentionend in this thread (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/19021-headlight-restoration-new-uv-sealant-idea.html) might help to fill in the chips.

Headlight Restoration-new UV sealant idea (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/19021-headlight-restoration-new-uv-sealant-idea.html)

[g35_coupe]

My G35 headlights were pretty clear too and just had damage from road debris and a HUGE scuff from my wife backing into my car. I cleaned it up by wet-sanding with 600/1500/1800/2400 then the urethane sealant. It got probably 95% of the little chips/scratches out and look practically new. :xyxthumbs: