I've had these headlights sitting in my garage for over a year, so I finally found some time to clean them up and put them on the car.
As you can see on the left, they were heavily oxidized and just a general eye sore. After about an hour or so of elbow grease, it now looks close to new, but more importantly it's regained it's use as a functional HID headlamp with proper light disbursement.
For anyone still on the fence, definitely take the time to restore your headlights.
I've had these headlights sitting in my garage for over a year, so I finally found some time to clean them up and put them on the car.
As you can see on the left, they were heavily oxidized and just a general eye sore. After about an hour or so of elbow grease, it now looks close to new, but more importantly it's regained it's use as a functional HID headlamp with proper light disbursement.
For anyone still on the fence, definitely take the time to restore your headlights.
It's orange peel.
It's very noticeable up close. A foot or more away and you cant see it, nor does it really affect the lighting, thankfully.
I'll probably wetsand it down eventually. But since it's not functionally impaired, and only visible when closely inspecting, the wetsanding detail just isn't a priority.
They should've been glass from factory, then this would've never been an issue. If Lexus didn't go cheap with plastics, their buyers would never have to do that. My 01 GS has plastic headlamps, my roommates 00' Impreza RS has glass ones.....makes 0 sense.
Rant aside, they came out great. The biggest point people seem to forget to do is applying that clearcoat. You can polish the crap out of them, and they'll look brand new, but don't clear em, and within a month they'll be yellow again.
You can polish the crap out of them, and they'll look brand new, but don't clear em, and within a month they'll be yellow again.
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here but this comment is absolutely false. If the job was done right there is no need to apply any clear coat. The only purpose for anyone to clear coat a head light is because they do not intend on doing any continued maintenance. The original intent was based on temporally solving an issue without replacing expensive light assemblies typically incurred in used car dealerships.
I've been in the body and paint business for going on 25 years and every job I've done with regular upkeep has lasted the time I've owned them and longer. The key is doing the job right the first time. Cutting the plastic with a good 800 grit wet and getting rid of all the haze the first go around before you move on the the 1200 grit. Finishing off with 2000 and and a decent compound is vital for the last sealing polish. Regular upkeep includes waxing and polishing your head and tails when you wax and polish your paint. This is where most people who undertake this fix forget to include.
Example, I did this to my headlights back in December 2015 and have yet see any change in clarity.
You don't need clear to maintain a nice finish, in fact in MY opinion clear coating headlights is cheap and the fast way around what should be a time taken professional end result.
^And I've done multi stage sanding before as well, and polished, HOWEVER after a month or so, it would yellow again if left to the elements. Not everyone is religious with their upkeep and I'd consider yourself the minority in regards to that. So for most people, once you sand the headlight, removing what little UV coating remains, exposing the plastic to the suns UV rays leading to the plastic oxidizing, it just makes more sense to have the headlight coated with a fresh UV clearcoat to protect it and not have to worry about polishing it every so often to maintain that new look.
Actually I only wax them every 5-6 months when I wax the car..... nothing much more than that. So since I did them they've only been waxed maybe 2x. A good polish will provide the same level of UV protectant without drying out like shaker can clear often does over time. Just my experience and opinion. I respect yours as well.
