Frosted Headlights: 96 Outback

[wrongturninwv]

Wife has 96 Outback with those plastic headlights. Every year they get worse in the winter from the salt. I tried rubbing coumpond and scratchout and good old soap and water and soon as it dries its back. They want way too much for bran new ones cause they are all one piece. Anybody know what might clean them up ??? wrongturninswv@wmconnect.com

[simbey1982]

This thread is to get yellowing out, but might work for your application too...

 

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=739

 

Cory

[fnlyfnd]

"future acrylic floor finish" it fills in cracks/scratches on hardwood floors, but also can fill in scratches on plastic pieces, such as headlights. It clears dry and you wont notice, I have never done this but a guy at a hobby shop told me about it. I bought a bottle and it seems like it would work, but I ended up trading my lights for others (not subaru related).

 

[ShawnW]

Genuine Subaru Brake fluid is what the dealers around here use. Rub HARD with a rag and then wipe off excess.

[ferret]

Being a neighborhood mechanic, I help people out with this problem a lot. A buddy of mine with a body shop, takes the lights out, wet sands them and coats them with clear coat. That seems to work. But I can't do that so I have 2 alternatives:

 

 

Meguires PlasticX clear plastic cleaner. Most good auto store have it. Works very well, but does require a few ounces of 'elbow grease' mixed in. Here's a url with the product just so you know what it is......... http://www.autobarn.net/meplclplclpo.html

 

Or if that doesn't work, I give them a chance for new headlights. The following is the cheapest place I've found. And they have been very good every one I've ordered. This url takes you directly to the Legacy/Outback headlight. About $124 a piece.

 

http://www.autolightwarehouse.com/legacy95-97.html

 

Hope this helps......By the way...Ford headlights are the worst to cleanup. End of my $.02

[Commuter]

I had good success on my 97 OB with a suggestion posted by others. Wet sanding, followed by Meguires plastic polish. I did it entirely by hand with the sandpaper wrapped around a foam sponge sanding block. 600, 1000, 2000 grit as I recall. It took a while, but I could actually see thru the lense into the headlight housing afterwards!

 

I've heard of the brake fluid trick several times too. I suspect it would work quickly. Just don't drip any on paint!

 

Commuter

[mdryan]

Easy Off oven cleaner will remove the yellow. Don't get any on the paint and rinse well before coating with an exterior grade clear gloss finish, acrylic or aliphatic urethane.

[mattocs]

I have the same problem, but mine is on the inside of the plastic.

[wrongturninwv]

Thanks for all the replies. I will let you know which one works best. Too cold out right now to work on.

[Green96GT]

In addition to the Meguiars PlasticX, try their "Mirror Glaze" plastic polish. It comes in a little squeeze bottle. It's a very fine abrasive liquid that works really well on plastics. Aircraft owners near me use it on their windshields, and I've even used it to polish out scratches on my sunglasses.

 

Works great with some 'elbow grease' and multiple applications.