On 04/28/2012 11:41 AM, Home Guy wrote:
Frank wrote:
When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside
surface or the outside surface that needs polishing?
Duh!
I'm serious.
Which side of the lens turns cloudy or milky - and why?
You don't see tail-light lenses turn cloudy, even though they seem to be
made from the same plastic...
I've seen it, on cars that sit outside all the time. Polishing/waxing
your light lenses at the same time that you do the paint keeps them
looking shiny however.
I recently bought an old Jeep Cherokee and apparently a PO had gouged
the 3rd brake light either by backing into something or else loading
something on top of the vehicle, so while collecting parts for some
other stuff I wanted to do (specifically, adding a factory fog light
switch and cruise control) had a guy that was parting out a wrecked
vehicle send me his 3rd brake light. It was all kinds of pink and hazy
looking, but I just hit it with some old Zymol that I found in my box of
detailing stuff, now it looks like new.
I've also noticed that the clear turn signal repeaters on A4 chassis VWs
seem to age particularly badly, although fortunately for owners of those
cars, replacements aren't expensive if they don't buff out.
Now why headlights, probably the most important light of the vehicle,
seem to weather worse than most other light lenses, I don't know - but
they do seem to. Maybe it's because a lot of them are "laid back" so
they are more exposed to the sun's rays than a typical taillight? In
any case most of the weathering seems to be on the outside of the lens,
and it's always related to sun exposure.
This is a reason that I like good old sealed-beam format headlights (so
I can replace them with E-code assemblies with glass lenses) I have
seen some European vehicle-specific headlights w/ glass lenses (VW
Corrado for example) but I don't think I've ever seen a glass lens on a
US market car outside of a sealed beam; I don't know why that is.
Plastic is definitely a step back in durability and clarity (at least
after they fog up) for sure.
nate
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