Ron_H

Has anyone experienced this degree of sun damage on Stoneguard headlight covers? The lights are over $100 apiece so I applied Stoneguard film a few years ago. The car has been sitting for a long time which I suspect caused the severe damage. I wonder how this can be prevented?

Nicole

How about not applying Stoneguard...?

Seriously, it looks quite similar to the faded plexi headlight covers on many modern cars. You might be able to use some of this headlight polish from the auto store to get the brown off.

Ron_H

Thanks but the stoneguard material is soft and would not respond to polish I think. Since I will need new stoneguard covers to protect the lights from stones (I had already lost one $100 light to rocks when I put the covers on), I am trying to fabricate some kind of protection for the matarial. Of course I could do the obvious and write to Stoneguard, eh? Just thought someone else might have experienced the same effects on their Stoneguard covers.

Mrmerlin

Ron have you put any kind of coating on these covers ?
I have 3M paint guard on my all of my cars and bikes and never have seen this,
I can only speculate that maybe some kind of petroleum based cleaner or protection product has been used on this .

I also saw some thick plastic headlight covers on a car from NY at the Frenzy it was also displaying this same kind of fogging discoloration.

Again if you use petroleum based cleaners or waxes on these then it may damage them.

To clean these films simply wash them with car soap and rinse off.
Do not use any type of wax or other polishes

Kevin in Atlanta

I am a fan of mechanical instead of chemical approaches.

Start with 800 grit to cut through the discolored plastic, then move to 1000 before final polish with 2000 or 3000. It is a long process, but the results are decent. Just remember to vary the direction of your sanding with each grit change. Horizontal to vertical and back.

Ron_H

Thanks for the suggestions. The covers are relatively soft plastic with an adhesive backing that binds them to the headlight glass. If I tried to use an abrasive medium I'm sure I would simply dig into the surface deeper and deeper. They are not rigid plastic. As for a petroleum based cleaners, I may have at one time put Rejex on them. At least once a year I cleaned the paint and outside finishes thoroughly and then applied a coat of Rejex to protect the paint and glass. I may have put it on these covers. I haven't done that recently because the car needs to be entirely stripped and repainted due to deteriorated clear coat (it seems to happen to P cars I've owned, and it happened big time on my 911 E
within a year or two of purchase new) This car obviously took awhile longer but the clear coat has really begun to flake off. I think I'll simply ask the Stoneguard supplier if your theory is correct and if so, avoid any sort of coating as you suggest.

76FJ55

When I picked up my 85 the headlight covers looked vietually identical to yours. I just peeled them off and cleaned all the adhesive off the headlights, and am running without guards.

Ron_H

Lucky me. I just found a company nearby Sunnyvale that will cut me a pair of new ones for $25, which I think is totally reasonable. FYI the company is FD Motorsports in Brentwood, CA. 925 765 6703
I'm a happy camper now. I fear running my headlights bare since they are too expensive and I've already lost one to a rock. Thanks again for all the suggestions.