On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva)
wrote:

On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

http://www.permatexrepair.com/product/lens

"Headlight restoration kit" --

My son works at a dealership in the prep bay. He was a skeptic
when they told him to restore a couple headlights on a used car-- Now
he's a believer. [but for *his* car, he'd just buy a new set of
glass, despite the cost.]


Jim

On Apr 28, 6:34*am, (Herb Eneva) wrote:
* *On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? *Please help.

yes auto parts stores sell headlight rejuvenator kits.

i have sed them.

first clean headlights well with fantastic or 409. let dry

then use the mld abrasive they provide with their buffing wheel,
repeart till things look good

buy the kit with the sealer included. it does help he improvement to
last.

look at this as a yearly maintence job, its not hard, just a nuisance.

do check inside of lenses for water, once i had them nearly full of
water.

leakers should be replaced,, although a buddy of mine drill holes in
the bottoms of his to let the water out

Herb Eneva wrote the following on 4/28/2012 6:34 AM (ET):
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.



I've used polishing compound with the drill and buffer and had good
results. Even the TV advertised products don't do any better.

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

On 4/28/2012 7:23 AM, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva)
wrote:

On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

http://www.permatexrepair.com/product/lens

"Headlight restoration kit" --

My son works at a dealership in the prep bay. He was a skeptic
when they told him to restore a couple headlights on a used car-- Now
he's a believer. [but for *his* car, he'd just buy a new set of
glass, despite the cost.]


Jim

Instructional video is good. You could duplicate materials.
I used to use toothpaste to polish up a plastic watch lens.
Any mild abrasive would work but at all costs, avoid solvents, as they
could ruin the plastic lens.

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva)
wrote:

On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.


Actually I just use Bonami or Comet (household cleansers) with a
sponge and it works good on my 10 year old car. Honestly it comes out
almost as new. If you look real for imperfections, of course not new
but it's reasonably close .... surely works at nite a lot better
without a doubt. I never did this but I bet with a buffer, it would
be even better but for me, its easy enough to do by hand and looks
pretty good.

When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface
or the outside surface that needs polishing?

On Apr 28, 9:57*am, Home Guy wrote:
When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface
or the outside surface that needs polishing?

Duh!

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...

On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. I applied it by hand instead of a drill but I didnt start taking care of the problem after 10 years. I have been doing it about once a year starting at about the second year I owned my 10 year old truck.

Jimmie

On Saturday, April 28, 2012 12:22:47 PM UTC-4, JIMMIE wrote:
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. I applied it by hand instead of a drill but I didnt start taking care of the problem after 10 years. I have been doing it about once a year starting at about the second year I owned my 10 year old truck.

Jimmie

Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

Harbor Freight also sells a headlight polishing kit.

On 04/28/2012 12:22 PM, JIMMIE wrote:
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. I applied it by hand instead of a drill but I didnt start taking care of the problem after 10 years. I have been doing it about once a year starting at about the second year I owned my 10 year old truck.

Jimmie

what he said. the "headlight restoration kits" you see advertised are
basically just the same thing. Just sand them down with some fine grit
(1000, 1500 etc.) sandpaper, then buff with rubbing compound, polish,
then wax. Or just buy the kit - if you don't have a good auto body
supply around, and/or don't do body work and therefore have the need to
keep supplies around to cut and buff orange peel out of paint, then it's
not that expensive in the grand scheme of things. Just understand that
once you've done this, you've removed the UV-protective layer of your
headlights, so they will "fog" up that much more quickly again. A good
way to maintain them is to simply polish and wax them whenever you do
your paint.

What you're seeing is a combination of actual sandblasting by road
debris (which you probably won't get out) and degradation of the top
layer of the plastic due to UV damage (which you *can* polish out for a
nice improvement.)

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

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


--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Home Guy wrote in :

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?



The outside. The problem appears to be UV light from the sun.



You don't see tail-light lenses turn cloudy, even though they seem to be
made from the same plastic...


I believe headlamps are made of polycarbonate. Other lenses are usually
made of acrylic (PMMA).

By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion
epoxy. It's that epoxy which discolors as a consequence of UV. No other
plastic lenses need be so coated, so those generally don't go yellow or
cloud-over.

As for a fix, most garages, bodyshops, and detailing places offer headlamp-
lens-cleaning services. They work surprisingly well. Auto-supply stores,
Walmart, and other retailers offer DIY kits that do much the same thing.


--
Tegger

"Herb Eneva" wrote in message
...
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becoming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.


I have 3 vehicles. 1992, 2001 and 2007. 3 different brands. All have good
clear headlight lenses. I when I wash and wax them I use Nu Finish wax even
on all the plastics. This is good for fiber glass on motor homes. Found
this out from a friend that has a motor home. All my vehicles still look
like new despite being out in the sun. My $.02 worth WW

willshak wrote in
m:

Herb Eneva wrote the following on 4/28/2012 6:34 AM (ET):
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.



I've used polishing compound with the drill and buffer and had good
results. Even the TV advertised products don't do any better.


I used plastic polish and a foam pad on my cordless drill.
But after a few months(in central Florida),it clouds up again.
the key is that the lenses are coated with a UV protectant at the factory.
I discovered a restorer kit that includes a packet of coating/sealant that
has the UV protectant,and it lasted over a year before my 94 Integra GS-R
was stolen,stripped and torched.
the name of the kit is CrystalView Headlight Restorer/Defogger,and I
bought it at WalMart for $20. It comes with polishing compound,ultrafine
sandpaper,and polishing cloths for badly scratched lenses.
I haven't seen it there lately but they may still have it at the online
WalMart store.

The MGF website is MyHeadlight.com

Disclaimer; have no financial connection with the company or WalMart.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Nate Nagel wrote in
:

On 04/28/2012 12:22 PM, JIMMIE wrote:
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in
a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. I
applied it by hand instead of a drill but I didnt start taking care
of the problem after 10 years. I have been doing it about once a year
starting at about the second year I owned my 10 year old truck.

Jimmie

what he said. the "headlight restoration kits" you see advertised are
basically just the same thing. Just sand them down with some fine
grit (1000, 1500 etc.) sandpaper, then buff with rubbing compound,
polish, then wax. Or just buy the kit - if you don't have a good auto
body supply around, and/or don't do body work and therefore have the
need to keep supplies around to cut and buff orange peel out of paint,
then it's not that expensive in the grand scheme of things. Just
understand that once you've done this, you've removed the
UV-protective layer of your headlights, so they will "fog" up that
much more quickly again. A good way to maintain them is to simply
polish and wax them whenever you do your paint.

What you're seeing is a combination of actual sandblasting by road
debris (which you probably won't get out) and degradation of the top
layer of the plastic due to UV damage (which you *can* polish out for
a nice improvement.)

nate


note; CrystalView restorer kit includes the sealant that has UV
protection,and it lasted over a year on my Integra,but then the car was
stolen.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Bob F wrote:
Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

Harbor Freight also sells a headlight polishing kit.

I just tried a quick couple minutes of polishing on my 94 Caravan headlights
using Bonami and a wet paper towel, which appears to have nicely done the job.
Thank you Doug!

Nate Nagel wrote in
:

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.

yeah,any plastic polish works good for plain fogging.
I used a foam pad on my cordless drill.

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



the headlight lenses are polycarbonate plastic that's dipped in a coating
that is hard and protects from UV.
Glass lenses were great,but would shatter from stones thrown up by semis
and other vehicles. They also could not be molded into complex shapes
without great cost,and then there was the advent of halogen bulbs in the
headlight/reflector assembly.
Polycarbonate(Lexan) is less prone to shatter from such road debris,but
NEEDS the anti-UV coating to last. But it eventually wears away,and then
the lenses degrade.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

"Herb Eneva" wrote in message
...
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

harbor freight has a kit for about 10 bucks

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 07:23:49 -0400, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva)
wrote:

On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

http://www.permatexrepair.com/product/lens

"Headlight restoration kit" --

My son works at a dealership in the prep bay. He was a skeptic
when they told him to restore a couple headlights on a used car-- Now
he's a believer. [but for *his* car, he'd just buy a new set of
glass, despite the cost.]


Nothing better than new lens, but you can defog/descratch pretty well
much more cheaply with the DIY remedies.
I used this on 2 cars. Bought it for 7 bucks or so.
http://www.amazon.com/BlueMagic-725-...pr_product_top
I did a Amazon review July 4, 2011.
That about covers it in my experience.
Just needed a clean rag.

--
Vic

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:22:47 -0700, JIMMIE wrote:

On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s
almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them
clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of
rubbing compound? Please help.

Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great.

Right... and if you don't have any polishing compound handy, toothpaste
does a good job, too. :-)

cheers

Jules

On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help.

Watch TV for 15 minutes and you'll see at least one commercial for a headlight lens restoration kit...

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...

Colors restrict uv destruction.

That headlight compound has a lot of grit, as I found trying to polish a cd
!!!!!

Greg

By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion
epoxy. It's that epoxy which discolors as a consequence of UV. No other
plastic lenses need be so coated, so those generally don't go yellow or
cloud-over.



Ah so it's CONGRESS's fault

Mark

On Apr 28, 8:24*am, "Doug" wrote:
On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva)
wrote:

* On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? *Please help.

Actually I just use Bonami or Comet (household cleansers) with a
sponge and it works good on my 10 year old car. *Honestly it comes out
almost as new. * If you look real for imperfections, of course not new
but it's reasonably close .... surely works at nite a lot better
without a doubt. *I never did this but I bet with a buffer, it would
be even better but for me, its easy enough to do by hand and looks
pretty good.

I use rubbing compound by hand. Works great. No need to spend money on
a headlight "restoration" kit.

This is what I use. I bought it for a car that needed some oxidation
removed.

http://www.turtlewax.com/product-detail.aspx?prodid=76

"The previous administration. It's worse than I thought. We're fighting for
legislaion to resolve this. Now, let me make my self perfectly clear."

B.H.O.
..

"Mark" wrote in message
...


By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion
epoxy. It's that epoxy which discolors as a consequence of UV. No other
plastic lenses need be so coated, so those generally don't go yellow or
cloud-over.



Ah so it's CONGRESS's fault

Mark

Mark wrote in news:8bc9f0d3-026c-49dd-8b63-
:



By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion
epoxy. It's that epoxy which discolors as a consequence of UV. No other
plastic lenses need be so coated, so those generally don't go yellow or
cloud-over.



Ah so it's CONGRESS's fault




I don't think it was a Congressional law. I think this one was an NHTSA
modification to FMVSS-108, the NHTSA's lighting regulations.

Automakers in the early-'80s petitioned the NHTSA for permission to
1) make headlights something other than square or round, so as to improve
aerodynamics, and
2) make them out of plastic, which would help meet CAFE regulations by
saving weight over glass.
The NHTSA eventually granted permission, with the proviso that the new-
design lenses be coated with anti-abrasive compound.

I think the 1987 Mustang was the first car to have the new plastic design.
Those headlights were yellowing within a couple of years. They've improved
the expoxies a lot since then, but they still eventually go opaque in time.



--
Tegger

On 4/28/2012 11:59 AM, Tegger wrote:
....

By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion
epoxy. ...
....

Well, no, not quite...

NHTSA has a bunch of requirements that lighting must meet but they do
not mandate any specific material or manufacturing technique, only the
performance requirements the end product must meet.

There's a reg's that requires that _if_ a coating is used to meet the
performance standards (brightness, color, etc.) that that coating must
contain a UV-detectable component so that it (the coating) can be shown
to be present in the production products but there's nothing that says
if can make the specifications w/o a coating you have to use one for any
purpose. The practicalities are that coatings are needed to meet the
performance spec's but that's not the way the reg's are written.

The tests are multitudinous and detailed, particularly for color
matching. The weathering test is outlined as--

S14.4.2 Plastic optical materials tests. Accelerated
weathering procedures are not permitted.
S14.4.2.1 Samples.
S14.4.2.1.1 Samples of materials shall be
injection molded into polished metal molds
to produce test specimens with two flat and
parallel faces. Alternative techniques may
be used to produce equivalent specimens.
S14.4.2.1.2 Test specimens shape may
vary, but each exposed surface must contain
a minimum uninterrupted area of 32 sq cm.
S14.4.2.1.3 Samples must be furnished in
thicknesses of 1.6 ± 0.25 mm, 2.3 ± 0.25 mm, 3.2
± 0.25 mm, and 6.4 ± 0.25 mm.
S14.4.2.1.4 All samples must conform to
the applicable color test requirement of this
standard prior to testing.
S14.4.2.1.5 A control sample, kept properly
protected from influences which may change
its appearance and properties of each thickness,
must be retained.
S14.4.2.2 Outdoor exposure test.
S14.4.2.2.1 Outdoor exposure tests of 3
years in duration must be made on samples
of all materials, including coated and
uncoated versions, used for optical parts of
devices covered by this standard. Tests are
to be conducted in Florida and Arizona.

S5.1.2 Plastic materials used for optical
parts such as lenses and reflectors
shall conform to SAE Recommended
Practice J576 JUL91, except that:
(a) Plastic lenses (other than those
incorporating reflex reflectors) used for
inner lenses or those covered by another
material and not exposed directly
to sunlight shall meet the requirements
of paragraphs 3.3 and 4.2 of
SAE J576 JUL91 when covered by the
outer lens or other material;
(b) After the outdoor exposure test,
the haze and loss of surface luster of
plastic materials (other than those incorporating
reflex reflectors) used for
outer lenses shall not be greater than
30 percent haze as measured by ASTM
D 1003–92, Haze and Luminous Transmittance
of Transparent Plastic;
(c) After the outdoor exposure test,
plastic materials used for reflex reflectors
and for lenses used in front of reflex
reflectors shall not show surface
deterioration, crazing, dimensional
changes, color bleeding, delamination,
loss of surface luster, or haze that exceeds
7 percent as measured under
ASTM D 1003–92.

There are something like 300 pages of more fascinating bedtime reading
but the word "epoxy" doesn't appear.

--

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 04:24:40 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

On Apr 28, 6:34*am, (Herb Eneva) wrote:
* *On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? *Please help.

yes auto parts stores sell headlight rejuvenator kits.

i have sed them.

first clean headlights well with fantastic or 409. let dry

then use the mld abrasive they provide with their buffing wheel,
repeart till things look good

buy the kit with the sealer included. it does help he improvement to
last.

look at this as a yearly maintence job, its not hard, just a nuisance.

do check inside of lenses for water, once i had them nearly full of
water.

leakers should be replaced,, although a buddy of mine drill holes in
the bottoms of his to let the water out


More auto junk from Detroit. Back when they still made GOOD cars, you
never needed to do **** like this. When a headlight burned out, you
spent $5 for a new bulb, and 10 minutes to install it. If that was my
vehicle, I'd raise hell with the manufacturer, and insist they replace
it for safety reasons. If they dont, sue the *******s.

Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap
fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver
stranded, and the list goes on. Modern cars are GARBAGE!

dpb wrote in :

On 4/28/2012 11:59 AM, Tegger wrote:
...

By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion
epoxy. ...
...

Well, no, not quite...

NHTSA has a bunch of requirements that lighting must meet but they do
not mandate any specific material or manufacturing technique, only the
performance requirements the end product must meet.



You're right.

But meeting those performance requirements effectively means the
application of a coating on the underlying plastic, since there currently
does not exist a practical plastic with the stability and surface-hardness
required to pass the tests without a coating being applied. My
understanding is that the coating ends up being a cross-linked polymer, an
epoxy.



--
Tegger

wrote


Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap
fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver
stranded, and the list goes on. Modern cars are GARBAGE!

Cars are far more reliable than years ago. Last time I was stranded was
1986. Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the
road. Very rare today.

On Apr 28, 12:48*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
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.


You probably would see it on rear light lenses to
the same extent as the headlights if you drove the
car backwards.....

On May 3, 9:02*am, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
wrote



Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap
fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver
stranded, and the list goes on. *Modern cars are GARBAGE!

Cars are far more reliable than years ago. *Last time I was stranded was
1986. *Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the
road. *Very rare today.

Yup. I'm driving a car with 100,000 plus on it, and it starts every
time.

When I was a kid, several! decades ago, a car that old wouldn't
reliably make it to the grocery store.

I haven't changed a flat tire in probably 30 years. When I was a kid
I did it so often I became skilled at it.

I'm with you, mine do break down, now and again. But much more seldom than
before. My work van just rolled over 200,000 miles, and it's still a
dependable vehicle.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"TimR" wrote in message news:d468c7ce-838c-4733-a837-

Cars are far more reliable than years ago. Last time I was stranded was
1986. Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the
road. Very rare today.

Yup. I'm driving a car with 100,000 plus on it, and it starts every
time.

When I was a kid, several! decades ago, a car that old wouldn't
reliably make it to the grocery store.

I haven't changed a flat tire in probably 30 years. When I was a kid
I did it so often I became skilled at it.

On 5/3/2012 7:59 AM, Tegger wrote:
wrote in :

On 4/28/2012 11:59 AM, Tegger wrote:
...

By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion
epoxy. ...
...

Well, no, not quite...

NHTSA has a bunch of requirements that lighting must meet but they do
not mandate any specific material or manufacturing technique, only the
performance requirements the end product must meet.



You're right.

But meeting those performance requirements effectively means the
application of a coating on the underlying plastic, since there currently
does not exist a practical plastic with the stability and surface-hardness
required to pass the tests without a coating being applied. My
understanding is that the coating ends up being a cross-linked polymer, an
epoxy.

I've no clue on actual materials; whatever the treatment(s) are the
spec's are performance not material based is the point.

The abrasion one is probably as minimal of a one as any; I expect the
photometry and UV testing are at least as difficult to meet. To my
surprise an impact test itself didn't seem to be mentioned...

--

On 05/03/2012 09:41 AM, TimR wrote:
On May 3, 9:02 am, "Ed wrote:
wrote



Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap
fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver
stranded, and the list goes on. Modern cars are GARBAGE!

Cars are far more reliable than years ago. Last time I was stranded was
1986. Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the
road. Very rare today.

Yup. I'm driving a car with 100,000 plus on it, and it starts every
time.

When I was a kid, several! decades ago, a car that old wouldn't
reliably make it to the grocery store.

I haven't changed a flat tire in probably 30 years. When I was a kid
I did it so often I became skilled at it.

I don't think older cars are as bad as they're made out to me. My dad
put about 300K miles on a '67 Cutlass before the frame rusted out. It
probably needed a new carburetor too but other than that it was running
well. He still has the '73 Chevy pickup that my grandfather bought new.
The original 307 was replaced with a junkyard 350 years ago, and the
points ignition was replaced with a junkyard HEI (back when you could
still get HEI dists at a junkyard) but other than that it's got all the
original mechanical bits. I don't know if he's got it back together
yet, living in PA it's in the middle of its second mini-resto, the
bodywork/paint job that I did on it when I was in high school was
starting to look a little shabby, as are the bed floor boards that I
made for it at the same time.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On May 3, 12:32*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
On 05/03/2012 09:41 AM, TimR wrote:





On May 3, 9:02 am, "Ed *wrote:
*wrote

Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap
fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver
stranded, and the list goes on. *Modern cars are GARBAGE!

Cars are far more reliable than years ago. *Last time I was stranded was
1986. *Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the
road. *Very rare today.

Yup. *I'm driving a car with 100,000 plus on it, and it starts every
time.

When I was a kid, several! decades ago, a car that old wouldn't
reliably make it to the grocery store.

I haven't changed a flat tire in probably 30 years. *When I was a kid
I did it so often I became skilled at it.

I don't think older cars are as bad as they're made out to me. *My dad
put about 300K miles on a '67 Cutlass before the frame rusted out. *It
probably needed a new carburetor too but other than that it was running
well. *He still has the '73 Chevy pickup that my grandfather bought new..
* The original 307 was replaced with a junkyard 350 years ago, and the
points ignition was replaced with a junkyard HEI (back when you could
still get HEI dists at a junkyard) but other than that it's got all the
original mechanical bits. *I don't know if he's got it back together
yet, living in PA it's in the middle of its second mini-resto, the
bodywork/paint job that I did on it when I was in high school was
starting to look a little shabby, as are the bed floor boards that I
made for it at the same time.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Most of those cleaners work fine. Problem is the uv resistance in the
headligh plastic has deteriorated. You can make them look new again
but it won't last long. It's fine if you don;t mind cleaning them
again a few times a year. But if you want them fixed you need to get
replacements.

On Thu, 03 May 2012 00:22:55 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 04:24:40 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

On Apr 28, 6:34Â*am, (Herb Eneva) wrote:
Â* Â*On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted.
What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a
drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Â*Please help.

yes auto parts stores sell headlight rejuvenator kits.

i have sed them.

first clean headlights well with fantastic or 409. let dry

then use the mld abrasive they provide with their buffing wheel,
repeart till things look good

buy the kit with the sealer included. it does help he improvement to
last.

look at this as a yearly maintence job, its not hard, just a nuisance.

do check inside of lenses for water, once i had them nearly full of
water.

leakers should be replaced,, although a buddy of mine drill holes in
the bottoms of his to let the water out


More auto junk from Detroit. Back when they still made GOOD cars, you
never needed to do **** like this. When a headlight burned out, you
spent $5 for a new bulb, and 10 minutes to install it. If that was my
vehicle, I'd raise hell with the manufacturer, and insist they replace
it for safety reasons. If they dont, sue the *******s.

Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap
fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver
stranded, and the list goes on. Modern cars are GARBAGE!

Yet they almost consistenly go 200,000 km, or even 200,000 MILES
without ever taking a cover off the engine or replacing any engine
internal parts. Try that with a '69 Chevy, or a 55 VW, or a 61 MG - -
choose your own poison.
And I have owned several vehicles over the last 20 years where I never
had to replace so much as ONE headlight bulb, or even tail or signal
lamp bulb - getting rid of the vehicles at 12 and 18 years of age with
over 240,000km on them. That NEVER happened years ago, Even without
DRLs, headlights quite commonly needed replacement every 2 years or
so. Tail and signal bulbs went like flashbulbs. Signal flashers were a
commonly replaced item - when is the last time you had to go trying to
find where the flasher is hidden on a current production vehicle??

And signal self cancellers? Used to have to pop the steering wheel off
to replace the little springs, or the plastic parts, every couple of
years. As well as the little contact under the wheel that connected
the horn button to the wire in the steering column to the horn.

And what about exhausts? Used to have to change the muffler and tail
pipe every year and a half, more or less. Now most last the life of
the car.

Shock absorbers were generally good for about 25,000 miles or 3 years
- today MOST last well over 60,000 miles, and many the life of the
car.

A ten year old car was JUNK back in the sixties and seventies, and you
only considered a car with 100,000 miles on it if you had no money and
didn't plan on going far from home.

There used to be a service station on every corner - and muffler shops
by the dozen, and transmission shops were always busy. Today you can
usually get your car fixed the next day at just about any dealership
or independent garage instead of having to book a week or more in
advance - and that's with a lot more cars - a lot more OLDER cars, and
a lot less repair shops.

They sure don't make 'em like they used to - THANK GOODNESS.