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crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 12th, 2002, 12:59 am
by airjordon_09
ok two things, first is how do i take my headlights out and second, how do i make the look like this??? <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/dvh_69/pakfront.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.geocities.com/dvh_69/pakfront.html</A> <BR>(hope its alright im using your car as a refrence, thanx a lot) does anyone know how this is done??? thanx a lot

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 12th, 2002, 1:07 am
by Bundy
I got mine replaced at mazda about 3 months ago, and it looks just like that. It's clear and shiny inside. It's gonna cost about $250 each ($500 on both front lights), but if you wanna keep it shinny like that all the time, you got to pay for that.<P>On my old one, it used to get kind of yellow because of its age, and I used to apply compound and buff them up. It'll make the lights look much better, but as the day pass by, it gets back to the original. If you are patient and wanna keep it look nice, you can continue using compound. <P>I live in nebraska and we get snow during winter, and too dry during summer. It does not work quite well with compound. Also, the guy in the picture might keep his car in the garage, not under the sun. I believe that's gonna make a big difference.<P>bungo

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 12th, 2002, 1:20 am
by Andrew_Pakula
They are new headlights.<P>Mine are new as well:<P> Image <P>At night they are nice and bright, mine is on the left:<P> Image

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 14th, 2002, 5:40 pm
by airjordon_09
how do i take the cover off in order to clean them out???????

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 14th, 2002, 5:55 pm
by Custommx3
read the appearance FAQ.

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 14th, 2002, 7:25 pm
by airjordon_09
i did, but it does not say on how to take the light out in order to clean the inside, how do i take it out in order to clean it, i can not find where it says it

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 14th, 2002, 8:14 pm
by LiL-LaW
Jordon, you don't wanna take apart your headlight, they are sealed and it's quite the pain in the butt to take em apart :D

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 14th, 2002, 8:26 pm
by 5spd_GS
My car is the one in the picture to the right of andrews, in the picture he posted above.. and that night i had polished them for like an HOUR with three different compounds, got them damn shiney, not less foggy though, i believe my problems are on the inside of the lights :( <P>but hey.. the picture looks cool, lol<P> :D

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 14th, 2002, 9:26 pm
by airjordon_09
see thats what im saying, the outside of mine look amazing but if you look close, you can see the little bits of crap in there, you can only see this from very very close up but none the less i wanted it gone

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 14th, 2002, 11:53 pm
by back alley
i was in a parts store today looking for brighter headlite bulbs for better nite driving. was talking to a guy there who said an old trick was to clean up the 'composite'(read plastic)lenses and then coat them with 'future' clear acryllic floor wax. wow! it works great. fills in all the small scratches and clears up the headlites like crazy. i wouldn't believe it if i had not just finished doing it myself. i used a foam paint brush, poured some of this stuff into an old margerine tub and went to work. dries fast, did 2 coats. now to see how long it lasts.<BR>if u try it, let me know how it works for u.<BR>ps - i installed these 'simulated hid' lights - the claim to approximate 100watts output. they ARE bright. i can see so much better at nite now. <BR>the difference is clear.

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 15th, 2002, 12:06 am
by Guest
ok on the inside of your headlights they will be like brand new, nothing can get in there, the reason they are foggy is because of thousands of scratchs on the out side from all sorts of stuff, polish will make them shiny but cant take those scratchs away, you need something more effective like a clear coat that will actually fill up the imperfections, try it, someone suggested cclear coat that is used on hard wood floors, i think any high gloss clear coat would do, just use thin coats and take your time.

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 15th, 2002, 7:16 pm
by wyldside
My problem is that one of my HID bulbs blew up inside my light. Now I have little shards of glass inside and a foggy cloud on the lense. Now you can't tell me that's on the outside. I'll have to take the lense appart. What I'd like to know is:<P>-How do I get the stupid light assembly off the car? I spent an hour trying to figure this out.<P>-Should a heat gun be used to separate the lense from the case?<P>-What should be used to reseal it propperly?<P>Thanks!<P>-James

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 21st, 2002, 11:50 am
by wyldside
Hmmm... I figured no one would know how to fix that one...<p>[ October 22, 2002: Message edited by: WyldSide ]

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 21st, 2002, 6:42 pm
by aznwithamx3
how coit costs so much. do i get them at the mazda dealership?

Re: crystal clear headlights????

Posted: October 24th, 2002, 12:18 am
by Freq2002
To fix surface imperfections on the outside of the lense, use plastic polish. It has a fine mild abrasive that actualy resurfaces the plastic. We use this stuff on $750,000 fighter jet canopies, I'm pretty sure you could use it on your headlights too. 3M makes a good one. It does take a bit of work by hand, but is worth the effort.<P>Would not recomend using a clear coat finish to fill in the scratches. Once plastic starts to craze, it will just be traped under the finish. Then you wont be able to fix it as you would need to remove the clear coat & any paint stripper will melt the lense. Acrylic floor finishes would be safer, but still. Your $$ tho,...