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View Full Version : cloudy headlights on camaro

1MileCrash
05-06-2007, 02:27 PM
when i bought my car it appeared that it had some overspray on the headlights. that's what it felt like anyway.

so the other day i went out and bought some cleaning supplies. i picked up a paste by meguires called Plast-x

http://www.meguiars.com/?clear-plastic-care/PlastX-Clear-Plastic-Cleaner-Polish

you could notice a difference in the feel and the general look of the headlights as it did pull some of the yellowing off, but the micro abrasive paste didn't take the overspray off.

so i grabbed my bottle of wizards 1200 grit finish cut compound, and it did take some of the roughness from the overspray off, but it didn't take care of everything.

http://wizardsproducts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WP&Product_Code=W11040&Category_Code=

so then i thought "well if 1200 grit finish compound wont' take care of it, i'll use 1500 grit mirror finish sand paper and wet sand them." i tested a small area inconspicuously and it clouded the lens. so then i buffed it with the finish cut and finally the plast-x, but the overspray still remained.

i'm beginning to think that it isn't overspray but rather impurities in the headlight lens. i was going to try to buff it with a high speed buffer and the 1200 grit, but i don't have a pad for my velcro head. i'm going to see about picking on up this week.

has anyone else had anything like this happen to their headlights and if so what did you try on it that did or didn't work?
Y2KPewterSS
05-06-2007, 05:15 PM
Here is another thread we recently had on this topic:

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49606

Its a very common problem with the Camaro's. Is there any chance you have before and after pictures?
1MileCrash
05-06-2007, 05:52 PM
well i don't have any very good before pics...this is about the best before pic...you can see the haze on the left headlight...that's not an optical illusion. i don't have any after photos though. i can see if i can get a photo yet though.

i see someone else suggested wetsanding all the way up to 2k grit. i might have to give that a shot as well.
1MileCrash
05-06-2007, 06:09 PM
k...here are some up close photos of the headlights. they don't look too bad in photos but there is a yellowed tinge to them and there is an obvious rough feel to them where the spots are at. the spots are raised up. i'm not sure if it's overspray or some other type of road grime...either way it is definitely on there. the last photo i was trying to show how it looks like a scratched pattern on the lenses but it didn't turn out so well.
Y2KPewterSS
05-06-2007, 07:24 PM
That was me that suggested the wet sanding up to 2000. I haven't done it personally, but I have seen its results first hand and it works.
Z06-Goose
05-06-2007, 09:53 PM
I have some Meguiars PlastX. It works nicely on colored plastic. I tried once on glass headlights by hand, and it didn't seem to have the power to remove the haziness. I'm yet to try on clear plastic. I will do that next Thursday on a Neon from one of my employees to see how well it works on that
JonB
05-06-2007, 10:34 PM
I have some Meguiars PlastX. It works nicely on colored plastic. I tried once on glass headlights by hand, and it didn't seem to have the power to remove the haziness. I'm yet to try on clear plastic. I will do that next Thursday on a Neon from one of my employees to see how well it works on that

That shit does't work well at all. It looks good when you first put it on but after a day or so or some rain they go right back to the way they looked before you applied it.
Z06-Goose
05-06-2007, 10:48 PM
That shit does't work well at all. It looks good when you first put it on but after a day or so or some rain they go right back to the way they looked before you applied it.I've noticed that too. That's why I want to see it on clear plastic :)
1MileCrash
05-06-2007, 10:53 PM
i used to use a high speed buffer/polisher and finish compound or polishing compound to get the haziness off of other vehicles lenses, but i don't have a pad that will work with my buffer as of yet.
LETHALxLS1
05-23-2007, 04:24 PM
I tried the Plastix(Meguires) and it worked really well on my headlights. It looked good for about a week then started looking hazey again. I think its just the way the plastic reacts to the heat of the headlight bulbs. No way around it except to make them out of glass instead of plastic. Every car make/model with plastic headlights or headlight covers has haze on it.
Firebirdjones
05-23-2007, 05:49 PM
Yep that has been a pet peave of mine with these 98-02 camaros. Cheap plastic headlights.:thumbdn:
I never was a fan of composite headlights.
Although I am lucky that mine are clear as a bell. I wouldn't even bother trying to polish used lenses,,,,just a waste of time in my opinion, I have never gotten good results from that,,,,but I am picky.

My only solution has been to just pony up the dough and go back to the dealer for new ones. If a vendor would make some lens made of glass I would be all over it. Hint hint.
LETHALxLS1
05-24-2007, 07:19 AM
I think alot of people would be interested in glass lenses -I know I would