Fixed my yellow/cracked headlight today (pics)

[LS1 Sounds]

Before:


After:


I had some pretty bad spiderweb cracks in this headlight so I had to remove a decent amount of material to get rid of them. I started out wet-sanding with 400 grit, then 800, and finished with 1500 grit. After everything was sanded smooth, I used a Novus 3-step plastic polishing kit ($11.95 shipped from Spa Depot).

It took me about 3-4 hours by hand, but I'm a perfectionist and stuff like this usually takes me a long time. If you decide to use any type of machine to do this, be careful... plastic is very sensitive to being over-heated. I only did the passenger side headlight, the driver's side was replaced not long before I bought the car due to the previous owner having an accident. I will probably pull the driver's side light next weekend and hit it with the Novus polish.

Here is an after pic:


Here are all of the pictures that I took showing the progress: linky

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Updated on 05/03/2006:

Here is a link to a Mustang site with a similar process to mine, just using different products. He also took some good pictures along the way:

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=536689

[1Blown04]

mucho better

[LS1PoweredZ28]

Looks great! I did the same thing today, only used the 1500 grit, but it looks like new.

Kevin

[DEEZ98Z]

NICE!! I ordered the polishing kit from eastwood... just need to quit being lazy and pull them off

[Danny2tek]

Damn!!! looks like it just came out of the box

[01 Red WS6]

looks great, I might need to do that with my fog lights

[LS1 Sounds]

Thanks guys! I was looking at it again this morning, it actually looks better than the newer headlight so I am going to have to work on that one some next.

[JackZ28]

Nice job, you have some great skill. I would like to see some good pics of your polished car.

[PendragonZ]

Nice job chad! You gotta show me how to do that.

[Steve1969LS1]

Good work.. and cheaper than buying a replacement lens

[LS1 Sounds]

Originally Posted by SSG--Z28

Nice job, you have some great skill. I would like to see some good pics of your polished car.

Thanks! The paint is one of my next projects! Then probably the brake calipers and fender liners/suspension.

[LS1 Sounds]

Originally Posted by PendragonZ

Nice job chad! You gotta show me how to do that.

No problem Brian, if I don't see you before then... I'll tell you all about it when we install our cat-backs.

[LS1 Sounds]

Originally Posted by Steve1969LS1

Good work.. and cheaper than buying a replacement lens

You ain't lyin! Chevy wants like $300+ for one headlight, GM Parts Direct has them for like $160 last time I checked. My other alternative was a pair of Halos but those are also around $160....

[Simp]

This is what I'm talking about. Everyone should see this.

[t1blackout]

just ordered my own novus kit , great pics thanks! Mine look HORRIBLE right now.

[LS1 Sounds]

There have been a few threads about polishing headlights lately, and I wanted to include this information in my original thread for people who are searching:

The headlights will start looking very hazey when you start sanding, but the haze will turn white as you remove the yellowed layer of plastic that's on the top. After you get any scratches and cracks smooth and you have the white haze, start working with finer grits of sandpaper until you get to at least 2,000 grit. The Novus polishes can polish out this very fine haze on your lights. It won't look clear and shiny again until you start using the polishes though. Here are some examples:

The left half is untouched, the right half is sanded with 400 grit:


I think this was after sanding with 1,500 grit:


The left half is sanded with 1,500 grit, the right half is after the roughest of the 3 polishes:


Final product after all 3 steps of polishing:

[Smitty]

Thanks for the info,and killer job!

[MarkH]

What is the difference between the plastic polishing product and then any other kind of polish (3M, menzerna, Mothers,etc.)? Could I just use a regular polish if i just want to get some road grit, small marks and other light blemishes off of my lenses?

[MemphisZ28]

Yah, what other polishes would work? im gonna clean and paint mine i need to get with the program, what kind of paint is good for painting the inside too? Thanks for this badass post you just saved me 150 bucks!!

[djsanchez2]

what about the little bumps on the lenses? Do you simply work around them? Sorry if that sounds like a dumb Q, but I was just wondering.