"Yellow" Plastic Headlights

[renofan]

I have a Laguna 1 and am going to put the phase 2 plastic headlights into it but the set I have a slightly yellow.

I've heard that this can be polished out but not sure how to or what to use on the lights without damaging the plastic so any help appreciated!

[Daragh]

In more serious cases of yellowing or clouding of headlights, both sanding and polishing is required to rectify same, provided the plastic isn't coated. If they are not too bad, I would try using a gentle job specific product like Mothers Plastic Polish or Meguiar's PlastX, ideally applied with a polisher or a drill, using a foam polishing pad. Worked at low speeds only and inspect the results as you go. It might take a few hits. If you were working by hand, best to apply the polish with soft microfibre cloths or pads.

[renofan]

Originally Posted by Daragh

In more serious cases of yellowing or clouding of headlights, both sanding and polishing is required to rectify same, provided the plastic isn't coated. If they are not too bad, I would try using a gentle job specific product like Mothers Plastic Polish or Meguiar's PlastX, ideally applied with a polisher or a drill, using a foam polishing pad. Worked at low speeds only and inspect the results as you go. It might take a few hits. If you were working by hand, best to apply the polish with soft microfibre cloths or pads.

Cheers for the reply Daragh....the set I have (got for free) are pretty yellowed and rubbing the surface of the lights its quite rough. What would I use to sand the lights?

[Daragh]

You will have to wet sand with sandpaper by hand or sanding discs (electric sander), using various different grit sizes, depending on how bad the yellowing or clouding is.

Here are a few videos to give you more on an idea. Sanding in back & forth, up & down, not circular motions when working by hand. If using a polisher or a drill, operated at low speeds as you do not want to heat up the plastic too much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPEMiICNirE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0G19-Y_Z6A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t1RBw0IGXA

[renofan]

Cheers Daragh....much appreciated.