Well well, besides having smart remarks Booby Boy (aka Perry) has given me some valuable info on cleaning up the headlights. Instead of going to pull apart the headlights to give them a clean I decided to attack just the outside. If your headlights are not leaking but kinda dull I'd highly suggest this method as you've got a greater chance of ending up with leaking headlights if you pull them apart than if you follow the following steps. Mind you, my headlights weren't *too* bad but they were starting to get dull I haven't really finished either as I don't have any 2000grit wetsand but they should be cleared up by the weekend.
Before I show the pics I apologise about the picture quality, I didn't have a tripod, and I was taking the pictures at night (tried to do with the flash off).
Now, taking sandpaper to your beautiful Soarer will usually give you the chills. But take your time and the results are pretty surprising, you don't even need an orby to buff them (although it will cut your working time by a considerable amount). Here's a little run down...
At The Start
Yellowing headlights... yech.
What You Need Ok, there's only a few things you need for this little project. These are: * 1500grit and 2000grit wet/dry paper * Paint cleaner/scratch remover (works better with scratch remover) * Masking tape * A couple of terry towels * Bottle of water (don't drink it)
Let's Go
Masking Mask off the rubber surround around the headlight lens. Make sure you put enough to cover part of the paintwork, you DON'T want the sandpaper hitting that.
Working the Paper Wet the headlight with some water and start applying the sandpaper gently until you you get a white haze forming... OK that doesn't sound right but wetsand the headlight until you've covered the whole lens. Once you've covered the whole lot wait for it to dry, wipe off and wetsand gently again. The pic below shows the RHS headlight being clearer than the LHS, take your time doing this so that they turn out even. !WARNING! Make sure the headlight lens is wet at all times.
Surface Finishing Once the headlights are wetsanded wait for them to dry. Once they're dry start applying your choice of surface finishing. From here it's just like normal polishing and waxing. I've only used some Mothers paint cleaner followed by Meguair's ScratchX and it has given a quite nice finish on the headlights.
As I stated above I haven't gone into using the 2000grit wetsand as I didn't have any available, but even without it there is a noticeable difference from when I first started to now. Here's a few pictures...
Pretty...
HID's seem to have a more defined cut off line
And a random pic.
There you have it, a nice pair of headlights and it cost me a few hours work Thanks to Pez for telling me about this method too, otherwise I would've more than likely melted my headlights by now
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - 06:21 am, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
Thanks, Jose.
I note on both our cars, the '95 in particular, that much of the reduction in light and yellowing appears to be on the inside- I have polished both extensively and on the older car particularly it seems to make little difference. The older car's for sale and lights have never leaked so I have little inclination to pull the them apart, but the '97 may need doing. It seems to have deposits on the inside of the clear cover of the light too, but little age yellowing.
If there's condensation in the headlight then yeah I'd do the whole hog, but since mine weren't leaking I did the outside to test where the yellowness was and thankfully the majority for me was on the outside of the headlight. How bad are the ones on your 97 model?
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - 04:43 pm, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
Jose-Antonio Castillo wrote on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - 09:51 am:
How bad are the ones on your 97 model?
Not too bad, Jose, in fact I only thought about pulling them apart when we had a cyclone recently, and the left one got quite a lot of water in (despite being in a carport, and not getting all that wet). There is little yellowing, just a bit of crap in the inside which cuts down the light a bit.
The '95 sat outside in the rain during Cyclone Wati and the lights didn't get any moisture inside at all, and it hasn't in nearly two years of ownership.
I wonder if changing the globes doesn't help- the modified 9005s can't be a perfect seal (the '95 has the original Koitos still).
Don Bagnall Moderator New Zealand I have LESS Soarers than Hayden :-(
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - 06:26 pm, by: Perry Morgan(Uzz32)
What makes the lights look yellow in most non leaking cases is the breakdown of the UV resistant film that is applies to the polycarbonate lens, When the film dies then you may as well sand it of as Shifty (Jose) says further up as it is not doing any good now anyway. But in doing this you then expose the polycarb which will then need a quick polish every 3 to 6 months to keep the yellow tinge at bay.
Here is a pic of mine before and after which gives an idea how much of a lift it can give the cars look.
Mike, I'd be guessing that the modified HB3's would still give a perfect seal as it should only be the locating tabs inside (the two tabs where the connectors are) that need any modification?
Perry Morgan wrote on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - 06:28 pm:
And here is my friends one along with my brand new one. I don't think you could get and further apart in differences lol.
Good God... we don't need that kind of blasphemy of a headlight here hahahha
Took some pics tonight, just washed the car so I was wondering how they'd turn out with a bit of extra ScratchX and wax, looks pretty shmick! About an hour of wetsanding did a real good job of getting rid of the yellow yuck.
Clayton Webb wrote on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - 04:36 pm:
Get someone to help you Traff. (ie girlfriend!) Makes the job so much quicker and streamlined!
Hahahaha!!!! The girlfriend to help? She gets jealous when I drive the car, talk about the car, wash the car etc. If I even thought about asking for her assistance I think I'd be in Coventry for a week!!
Nice thought though Clay, what time are you turning up on the weekend to help?
I wanted to wax it as it's going in as the bridesmaid car for a wedding over the weekend. I gotta make an extra effort just in case the bridesmaids are hot
Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 07:46 pm, by: Nathan Stewart(Nathan)
i just used a "cut and polish" paintwork polish on mine. Had the same effect. Came out crystal clear. Only took me about 15 minutes to do both too. I would think there may not even be the need for the sanding ??? Although yeah they did start to yellow a bit after a few months as perry said.
Previous
Thanks to Pez for telling me about this method too, otherwise I would've more than likely melted my headlights by now 
The girlfriend to help? She gets jealous when I drive the car, talk about the car, wash the car etc. If I even thought about asking for her assistance I think I'd be in Coventry for a week!! 
