I just did another coat so (total of 3) and it cleared up the haze but it's still very blurry, and I can't even see my self reflection, I can see about 80%. It's like wearing beer goggles.

Anyway, thank you very much guys for your input, I will start over again and give it another try next weekend using the information you guys provided and we'll see how it goes. Thanks again everyone.

 

your welcome!

 

GL energie8, I don't think you'll have to start over, 3 coats is more than enough.

Wet sand w/ 3k+ grit and then polish off, should be clear as day!

 

To anyone who wants to try this....... don't.
You're opening a can of worms. You sand away the protective hard silicone layer and you get down to unprotected polycarbonate.
If you don't put any finish coating on it, it will yellow faster than before.

Off the shelf rattle cans are not durable, and they spray like ******. You'll get peeling after a year or 2, and the paint will turn yellow.

I've tried all kinds of paint coatings and they all fail in the sun. So I've decided to just polish as needed and wax.
Besides, you STILL need to wax it even after spraying a clear coat over it.

If you insist on spraying, you'll need pro grade clear coat. Some people have had some success with optilens headlight coating, though it sounds like a rip off to me.

 

If you go to a real auto paint supply store, they sell special cans where they put 2k urethane clearcoat. Or take your headlights to a body shop and have them professional sprayed should cost more then $50-150 bucks

 

I miss having the maintenance free glass headlights my LS400 had

 

Even spraying clear coat over headlights is questionable, because it needs an adhesion promoter to grip, and that layer of adhesion promoter may cut down the clarity of the lens.


They really need to create an easy way to restore the original hard silicone layer, not our typical hack sand & buff method.

Even the epoxy Optilens doesn't sound very durable.

I did find a duplicolor spray designed for headlights- Not sure how it differs from their regular paints, or if it yellows. But you see in this video they lay it on thick.
One interesting thing is, duplicolor themselves don't have confidence this clear coat will last more than a year or two.

 

I would like to do something about my fog light lenses, they are really pitted and in general bad shape from years of getting blasted by **** on the road. Ideally something that I can do leaving them mounted... not sure if I just go to town on them with something like PlastX (do they still sell that???) if that would even do any good.

I just dumped a 3000K HID fog light kit out of the car this afternoon and replaced with 5000K LEDs and the new setup seems to show the general cloudiness a lot more because it's nowhere near as bright.

 

This is the proper way I see on how to restore very dull clear faded headlights.

 

I'm telling you get the sylvania headlights restoration kit, and follow the instruction. The headlight we'll come out clear as day! I know because I just did my four month ago.

 

that sylvania kit is a joke.

Nothing you wipe on with a cloth will last more than a year.

The lifetime warranty is a gimmick because they know <1% will bother to make a claim. And the kit is way frickin overpriced, so it more than covers any claims they get.

It's amazing how many people throw away their money on these stupid kits.

 

The only kit that is worth a flip is this one:

it is also sold at advance auto parts and some walmarts.

i've used it several times on several vehicles, unfortunately once you start down the headlight restoration path it keeps going and going and going. The kit above is relatiavely cheap and easy to do, just be careful when you are putting on the acrylic, don't play around with it you just have a few seconds to apply and then it dries and if you jack around with it more it will "pull". I recommend getting 2 kits and practicing on a cheaper/older car first.

 

That Crystal View is another crap product that doesn't last, just like that sylvania kit. Plus the reviews say there's no way to contact the company, so the warranty is total BS.
All the stupid positive reviews are based on short term results, and those reviewers never come back to downgrade their review when the product fails.
Any kit that requires you to keep sanding is crap, $22 at a time down the toilet.

For that kind of money, you can get a lifetime worth of polish or rubbing compound and wax just for the headlights.
The truth is, spending a few minutes lightly polishing/waxing the headlights every time you wash your car is not a hassle, and doesn't have as harmful effect as sanding.

 

Wise words pman6

 

There's a thread discussing this and a DIY on how to restore your headlights. He did an awesome job.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...t-allowed.html