Older 2nd gen: has anyone successfully polished back their hazy yellowing headlights?

Last week I went back East to visit my son and the headlights on his 07' Corolla were so bad that the drive from NYC to Albany that I would say they were almost useless

I did order the ceramic kit that was previously posted and had it shipped to him but I ran out of time to use it

Went to the auto parts store and picked up the Mothers polish that I used on my Tacoma - In less than 15 minutes I had polished out both his headlights by hand. That night we went out for dinner and the return drive back was really amazing

Seriously try it

 

I used wet 600 grit, 1000, 2000 sandpaper and then brushed it lightly with a uv clear coat plastic-binding paint but ill prob end up buying new headlights when i get the extra money

 

AFTER YOU USE A RESTORE KIT YOUR LENS WILL STAY CLEAR FOR YEARS. I’ve talked about this on several of these threads. The secret is to use a UV protectant on the lens afterwards. When the headlights become oxidized and foggy it is because the UV protection they have from the factory has deteriorated. When you polish the lights all of the rest of the UV protection is removed. So after you restore the lights to super clear you need to apply a protectant. There are several out there, I use Meguiars Headlight Coating which is a UV protectant. I did mine over 3 years ago and spray Meguiars on every 6 months. (The instructions say you only have to do it once a year).
I did my lights over 3 years ago and they still look great and the truck is outside 24/7. Hers a pic of my lights, it was taken several months ago but the lights were restored over 3 years ago. If you don’t use a UV protectant after restoration your lights will start to oxidize in a couple months.

 

So I found a pack of sanding / scuffing disks on Amazon. It came with three different "scotch bright" style and a bunch of grits of paper. I mixed up some hot water and dawn and using a power drill, cleaned each headlight with each grit of scotchbright. Then I repeated the procedure with some meguiars plastic polish. I also used the meguiars with a 2500 pad and a 4k pad. The kit came with a buffing wheel too, so after I finished with the 4k and meguiars, I used the buffing wheel. They are really clear now.

 

Oops. Mine didn't go so well.

Used the Cerakote kit:

$18 CERAKOTE® Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit – Guaranteed To Last As Long As You Own Your Vehicle – Brings Headlights Back to Like New Condition - No Power Tools Required - 10 Wipe Kit

https://www.amazon.com/CERAKOTE-Ceramic-Headlight-Restoration-Kit/dp/B084RQKLV8?crid=1Y7ZRIPYP7KH9&cv_ct_cx=CERAKOTE+Ceramic+Headlight+Restoration+Kit&keywords=CERAKOTE+Ceramic+Headlight+Restoration+Kit&pd_rd_i=B084RQKLV8&pd_rd_r=dd1e8980-4be0-4a69-97d3-b9791045ade3&pd_rd_w=Ln6Q0&pd_rd_wg=NJT21&pf_rd_p=ae71c5d9-0355-41f0-ae0d-6fe5c47bc5dd&pf_rd_r=7XS5MSTR68N9S73H8AES&qid=1652096433&sprefix=cerakote+ceramic+headlight+restoration+kit+%2Caps%2C147&sr=1-1-5985efba-8948-4f09-9122-d605505c9d1e&th=1

And this spray:

$25 Spray max USC 2k High Gloss Clearcoat Aerosol

Spray Max 2K High Gloss Finish Clear Coat Spray Paint | Car Parts and Repair Refinishing Clear Coat for Permanent Sealing of Coated Surfaces | 3680061Spray Max 2K High Gloss Finish Clear Coat Spray Paint |

Definitely could be an error on my part. The kit worked out nice and looked good. It says to let it dry for an hour before handling. I suspect I should have waited longer to spray. The Spray Max 2K "orange peeled". Looked like crap. I let it dry for 24 hours, re-sanded and sprayed again. Looks better, but still not good.

Potential problems:

Should have let the Kit dry for longer, like 24 hours before spray coat.

First spray coat was maybe too light? I only did 2 or 3 passes.

The day I did this it was in the 80's. The 2K spray is a 2 part in the can. Once you mix it, it's only good for 48 hours, over the next 24 hours it rained and temps dropped into the upper '60s. Not the best weather for spray painting on the second try.

The 2nd try of spray painting I went thicker, like 5-6 passes. Might have helped, but I did get a run on one of the lights. Shouldn't have done that last pass.

Update:
Probably user error on the 2k spray. Got some 1,000 grit and sanded it down to smooth to the touch, then went over it with 2,000 grit and then 3,000 grit. The Cerakote Kit comes with 2 packets of the finishing wipe and I had only used one. So I used the second packet after sanding.

It's still not as clear as new, but it is close and a lot better than the haze when I started.

 

OK thank you TW guys and grissom!
I did this with the mothers polish paste and the drill pad. did only about 5 min per lens. they are restored and looking good now. I will probably go get some UV protectant as described above to seal them over.
Pretty good $7 fix.

 

Howdy folks! I was in the market for a new polish wax machine. So I purchased a torque X from the Chemical Guys. They one polish to clean your headlights and you change the pads from course down to fine. I had use Rian-X and Mothers headlight kits on my 2005 4R and they just didn’t turn out well. After using the Chemical Guys machine and polish I was very pleased with the results and a hell of a lot less work.

 

I used Cerakote and the result was amazing. Mine were not terrible, and these pics do not do justice to the end result, but I ws delighted! I was close to buying new eyeballs for my glaucoma riddled Taco. Happy I saw the post for Cerakote. Best $17.00 ever spent!

 

I just used the cerakote kit yesterday. By far the best kit I’ve tried. Easy to use as well.

 

I went with new OEM headlights and keeping them protected with sealant/wax. However, if I were to go the restore route I would take the extra few minutes and just simply pop the hood and remove the grille & bumper filler pieces. Much easier than having to mask those areas and tippy toe around them.

 

I watched this video and followed the steps.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UEJbKLZ7RmM

Steps I used:

1. Tape off around headlights
2. Wet sand using 400, 800, 1000, and 2000
3. I polished headlights using Sonax perfect finish and a dual action polisher.
4. Isopropyl alcohol wipe down
5. I placed garbage bags around headlights to protect other surfaces
6. Sprayed 2 coats of USC SprayMax 2K Glamour High Gloss on each headlight
7. I allowed clear coat to dry for 24 hours. I then put on a coat of wax.



Before:


After: