Headlights
 

My Jeep Grand Cherokee's headlights are dim. I've replaced the bulbs with halogens, so it's not that. The plastic (glass?) of the headlight is scuffed and scratched after 12 years of driving. I've read somewhere on the net that some one with a similar problem used 2000 and 3000 grit wet sandpaper to get rid of the scuffs and scratches and get the headlight back to clear. Does this sound doable or would it just make it worse?

i recall someone here on TFP polishing their lenses back to clarity... don't recall who, but look through the old posts

While not for a Jeep, this might give you some good ideas on what needs to be done: http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/headlights/index.html

In the Supra world where I usually spend too much time, polishing the old yellowed and dulled plastic headlight covers is a common and well developed technique to make them clear again. I saved my original plastic ones in case some day I have nothing better to do I'll try to polish them, but I haven't tried it yet since I just bought the glass covers that were sold on European Supras and they are as clear as ...glass.

i run into a similar problem with the plastic lenses on patrol car lightbars. They sort of yellow and turn themselves opaque after a few years.

I use a cleaner made by novus to get rid of the 'foggyness' that develops over time. I get it from our emergency lighting supplier but you could probably find it, or something similar, at auto stores or online. Possibly look in the boating section because its recommended for marine and RV plastics primarily.

I've also heard the sandpaper method, but never tried it. I'll give it a try tomorrow since i have an old bar in the shop right now.

I'll second Novus polish but you need a motorized wheel of some sort. It's painful done by hand. There isn't enough room to work, and that's after you separate the housing. Same problem with sandpaper.

New aftermarket (still plastic) housings aren't too expensive on ebay.

You can also buy glass housings with much better optics but they aren't cheap. Not in the US anyway. Euro spec GCs had them stock. I knew someone a few years ago who priced them as service parts in Germany and it was considerably cheaper. So if you have buds on that side of the pond...

use one of those Mother's Powerball polishers in an electric drill. I have not found them stong enough to polish some metal parts but on plastic I think they'd work great.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/store1.yimg...._1889_14556975

I've used Plastix by Meguiar's and it works great. Here's their thread from their forum: http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...hlight=plastix

I have the same thing going on, but I have glass. I changed to more powerful halogens, but it didn't help much. The reflectors are somewhat matte, so I suspect it's that.

You could try removing the headlights and swishing around a warm/hot vinegar solution to clean off the crud on the reflectors. I did it on my headlights and it cleaned them up very well.

If it can work on a coffeemaker to clean off deposits, it can work on your headlights. You could also try and find a vinegar-based glass cleaner - I think Windex makes one.

Flitz it......like the commerical