Thread: hazy headlights i cant see

Rockauto sells them for around 70-80 for the pair. For 97-03 cars that is.

I prefer the TYC brand.

TYC headlights get decent reviews. Brighter headlights is not going to help. With headlight restoration kits, you need to keep up with maintenance with some sort of protection (ie synthetic wax). Or invest in a headlight restoration kit such as the Meguair's Heavy Duty kit which includes protectant. The protectant must be applied every 6 - 8 weeks. You can invest in opti-lens which is a permanent protection.

wet sand and buff them with rubbing compound. made mine look almost as good as new. mine were pretty hazed over too. rather clear now.

this pic is of the left one only wet sanded not buffed yet. the right side nothing done to it yet.



buffed and installed.



started with 1200 then 1600 then 2000 grit wet paper, then a DA buffer.

The glass sealed beams on my 69 allow better vision than stock 97-03 plastic. You'd think lighting would have improved in thirty years. My point is that OE plastic GP headlights will always leave you wanting something better, no matter what their condition is. They just suck. Don't be the guy who raises them until you can see but nobody else can!

Ok it may sound weird, no ****, I seen a video for it on YouTube and tried it on my wife's Pacifica. You can use Bug spray with deet in it to clean up headlights. We also tried some good ol WD40 on the other light and it worked like a charm, don't waste your money on the expensive **** when you can do it cheap with the same outcome.
Also, I'm using the Sylvania Silverstar ZXE's in my GP and they are bright as hell! I get in high beam contests with people all the time. They think my low beams are highs and flick on their high's, then I flick on my high beams also using the ZXE's and they put their hands up and start crying behind the wheel lol

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New housings and HID's as a minimum, if you want to light the road in a GP... Sorry!
: )

Originally Posted by coolone

New housings and HID's as a minimum, if you want to look like a ricer and blind everyone... Sorry!
: )

Retro or bust. You GP guys have it so easy, there's a dude in the For Sale section who makes them to order.

Classy made these for me

Originally Posted by 1BadGT

Ok it may sound weird, no ****, I seen a video for it on YouTube and tried it on my wife's Pacifica. You can use Bug spray with deet in it to clean up headlights. We also tried some good ol WD40 on the other light and it worked like a charm, don't waste your money on the expensive **** when you can do it cheap with the same outcome.
Also, I'm using the Sylvania Silverstar ZXE's in my GP and they are bright as hell! I get in high beam contests with people all the time. They think my low beams are highs and flick on their high's, then I flick on my high beams also using the ZXE's and they put their hands up and start crying behind the wheel lol

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Sure you have your headlights aimed correctly? Might be an issue of where the beams are going rather than brightness.

Originally Posted by 1BadGT

Ok it may sound weird, no ****, I seen a video for it on YouTube and tried it on my wife's Pacifica. You can use Bug spray with deet in it to clean up headlights. We also tried some good ol WD40 on the other light and it worked like a charm, don't waste your money on the expensive **** when you can do it cheap with the same outcome.
Also, I'm using the Sylvania Silverstar ZXE's in my GP and they are bright as hell! I get in high beam contests with people all the time. They think my low beams are highs and flick on their high's, then I flick on my high beams also using the ZXE's and they put their hands up and start crying behind the wheel lol

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Those bug sprays will eat through the plastic. You are better off investing in a good headlight kit or sand paper and do it right.

Sounds like your lights are not aimed right if you are getting flashed.

Toothpaste, WD40, brake clean..... they all can clean up lenses, but will also damage the plastic. I used 3m cleaner on mine; worked great, then I did them again, and they got hazier and hazier. I gave up and got new housings for $72. They were 10x better than the 3m cleaner.

Old/cleaned housing on the left, new TYC housing on the right:




And these are my latest.....retrofits a-la-Classy. The only way to go!

seen a vid on facebook like a couple months ago, headlight was piss yellow, all he did was take an old sock and bugspray, sprayed the sock and it wiped right off. I hate my headlights, cant ever get them clean its like theyre frosted inside the housing, good ol sunfires.

Originally Posted by Trett93

.....all he did was take an old sock and bugspray, sprayed the sock and it wiped right off.....

I'd wager that a week, if not days later, the light looked as crappy as it did when he started.

Originally Posted by Trett93

seen a vid on facebook like a couple months ago, headlight was piss yellow, all he did was take an old sock and bugspray, sprayed the sock and it wiped right off. I hate my headlights, cant ever get them clean its like theyre frosted inside the housing, good ol sunfires.

Yeah that's the same video I seen. Found it on Facebook and Youtube. And no everyone, my lights are pointed straight, you guys caused me to go check them lol. The Silverstar ZXE'S are just REALLY bright lol.

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Although I don't work with optical-grade resins often, I do work in plastics and would like point a few things out. I apologize if some of these things seem obvious, but I think it will help some people.

Headlight lenses turn hazy/white/yellow due to oxidation. No need to go into the chemistry, but it's basically plastic's equivalent of metal rusting. There are a number of reasons a plastic might oxidize, but in general, radiation (heat, UV from sunlight, etc) makes the process happen much faster. Light doesn't cause the oxidation per se, but damages the plastic in a way that enables oxidation.

Generally, the OEM's make headlight lenses out of polycarbonate. They generally prefer it over acrylic because polycarbonate is tougher and more difficult to crack/break. Unfortunately, polycarbonate has a much greater tendency to oxidize. Although there are additives to make polycarbonate more resistant to oxidation, these additives also tend to reduce clarity and are not appropriate for an application such as a headlight.

To get around this issue, OEM's generally put a thin UV-resistant layer over the lens. This reduces the amount of radiation that accelerates oxidation in the lens.

Now, let's go back to the "metal rusting" analogy. If you have a rust spot on your car, do you just sandpaper the rust off and call it good? Hopefully not, as the conditions that caused the rust will simply react with the fresh metal and rust again. Ideally, you would clean the rust, then properly paint and coat it to prevent the rust from returning.

You can apply similar logic to your headlight lens. Once the coating is reduced or gone, your lens oxidizes. If you simply clean off the outside of the lens (likely removing any remaining coating at the same time) then you will probably remove the oxidized plastic and have a clear lens again, but the conditions that caused the oxidation will cause it to haze over again.

So what can be done about it? Like others in this thread have mentioned, you can add another protective coating. You will need one that will be hard and resist all the particles that strike the lens during driving. Finding one that lasts as long as the OEMs apply probably isn't going to happen, so you will likely rely on a coating that should be periodically re-applied. The rest of the action will be preventative. Keeping your headlights out of the sun and weather as much as possible will help protect the coating.

Dang GTP...good write up buddy. I actually learned from that.

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