Headlight lens turned yellow
#1
Rennlist
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Headlight lens turned yellow
I've noticed that my right side headlight lens is turning yellow. Anyone else with the same experience? Can the lens be replaced by itself? What's the procedure?
TIA
TIA
#2
Parts Specialist
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inside lens?
too hot of bulb, burning the plastic... seen it, owned 2 of them... searched for 6 months for a replacement lens.... sold lights for parts - there are no lenses available - there is a tread on 6speed about how to take the lights apart.. bake them at ~200 for something like 10 minutes and the front lens will come loose... to re-assemble use RTV ? seems flakey but they do it to paint he insides of the light... looks cool when done -
GL - find out what bulbs are in and get them out if they are not stock wattage
too hot of bulb, burning the plastic... seen it, owned 2 of them... searched for 6 months for a replacement lens.... sold lights for parts - there are no lenses available - there is a tread on 6speed about how to take the lights apart.. bake them at ~200 for something like 10 minutes and the front lens will come loose... to re-assemble use RTV ? seems flakey but they do it to paint he insides of the light... looks cool when done -
GL - find out what bulbs are in and get them out if they are not stock wattage
#7
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Springfield,Oregon
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There are polishing kits available from I think shucks that will bring plastic lense back to clear. I have done it from the out side by hand and with a polisher, I dont know why it could not be done from the inside, but I havent tryed that. Halvin
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#10
headlight lens yellowing
You can polish them I do it all the time..take/remove the headlight from the fender start with slightly corse grit compound and work your way towards 'fine'..they'll be just like new
#11
Yeah - UV light degrades the plastic over time. I used the 3M headlight lens polish kit - about $15 from Walmart - with power drill - you go through 3 levels of polishing (coarse through fine) and then the lens becomes clear - I think I need to do mine a second time however to remove the rest of the swirl marks. OR there are auto detail shops that will do this for around $69 if you don;t have the patience. I'd try that first and see if it fixes the problem ....
#12
Drifting
Be advised that the factory lens has a hard scratch resistant coating as well as a UV resistant one. Polishing will remove these coatings and leave a vulnerable unprotected polycarbonate plastic lens. Better than a cloudy OE lens but never as good as the original. I understand hard coatings can be applied to improve the durability of newly polished lenses but don't know the details. Possibly an autobody supply co can provide a product to do this.
#14
I'd say if your lenses are turning yellow your UV coating is no longer doing its job.
Pilots have been using plastic polish for decades on very expensive windshields (acrylic, lexan, etc) with no ill affects. There are even kits that you can buy for your windshield with various grades of fine sandpapers and polishes very much like what's found for automobile headlights.
Pilots have been using plastic polish for decades on very expensive windshields (acrylic, lexan, etc) with no ill affects. There are even kits that you can buy for your windshield with various grades of fine sandpapers and polishes very much like what's found for automobile headlights.
Last edited by KNS; 07-02-2012 at 11:15 PM.
#15
Intermediate
I sanded mine down with sand paper up to 3000 grit. Then I sprayed two coats of clearcoat on the lenses. It made them look perfect again and the UV protection is back now because of it.