Hazed plastic euro headlights are a pretty common issue. Age, road scratches, UV on older plastics all will dull or fog these expensive fixtures. Most often, they can be fixed, but in rare occassions, they get too far gone. This happened on a work acquaintence's '99 Grand Prix. The clear plastic actually had small bubbles develop in the outer part and couldn't be polished out.

 

If you fall into the repairable category which most do, one excellent product is Flitz. This is an all purpose polish made in Germany and well known to auto restorers all over (I have restored three classics myself). It excells as a metal polish but works equally well on clear plastics. They also make an attachment for your drill which has been advertised on Spike TV called the Flitz Ball.This reusable cloth ball takes the work out of polishing plastics and metals that will require a lot of elbow grease.

 

I first used this product restoring a badly abused old police car lightbar. The colored clear domes were terrible but looked nearly new after I used the Flitz Ball and Flitz. My lights on the '99 Outback I recently bought were dulled and look new now using this same product.

 

Both are available through http://www.flitz.com. Not too many retailers carry the polish and fewer carry the Ball. I guarantee you'll not be sorry you bought this product.

I'll have to try that if the Subie I end up with has glazed lamps. I've fixed them before with 1000 grit wetsanding and a spray of clearcoat. But it would be worth it to save a step and some elbow grease!

Good to know! My wifes 97 LHS has horribly faded headlamps. I will definately give this a try!

The conbo of the polishing agent and the friction of the ball is the trick in how this stuff works. One good thing is that you cannot use too much of it so don't worry about being liberal with the Flitz or not.

 

The very fine emery cloth polishing route does work, but you have to be very careful as you are removing the actual plastic. Some are very skittish about doing this procedure and this polish is an excellent alternative.

I have seen really good results with the 3M headlight restorer as well!!

Truthfully, there are several good products that do the job and the 3M product is one of them. The Flitz is very well suited to jobs that require more severe polishing as well as the run of the mill ones. It also is a multiple surface polish which does plastics and metals equally as well so it can be a money savings instead of buying several different polishes. If you would have seen the domes on the lightbar before and after, you'd see why I'm such a big advocate of this particular product. I should have taken photos.

 

The larger tube averages $12, but goes a long way.

I have heard that whitening toothpaste does an excellent job as well

and a spray of clearcoat.

 

+1

 

Without the clear coat you'll just be flitzing again in a couple of months.

I like the maintenance level of old glass lens headlights.

not so much for the new tech stuff.

 

who can come up with a new glass lense?

I like the maintenance level of old glass lens headlights.

not so much for the new tech stuff.

 

who can come up with a new glass lense?

 

I'm with you there.

If I bust a lens on my BRAT, I just go buy a new one

The lego is a different story with those stupid plastic lenses...

 

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