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Car Forum / Jeep / May 2008Not an ad: Restore yellow and fogged GC plastic headlights
Fellow Grand Cherokee owners, I was going to fork over about $180-$300 worth of new plastic headlight housings for my 1999 grand Cherokee. My old ones were a mess and light barely came through these nasty, yellowed, funked up plastic lenses. A friend of mine turned me on to Crystal View headlight restorer kit. I bought the kit at Advance Auto for $20 (cheaper than the web-site which charges $23.96) http://www.crystalviewchemicals.com/ I have to tell you that I am always skeptical of this kind of stuff. Much to my surprise I was very very pleased. I spent about an hour wet sanding the passenger side headlight housing (it was a mess) and then I put the final protective coating from crystalview on the headlight housing. Unbelievable..the housing looks brand new and the lenses are crystal clear. I have no idea how long it will last, but they say it's a permanent fix and it comes with a warranty (whatever that means). We'll see. So, if your plastic lenses/housings are all gunked up, give this kit a try. As I look at this posting I can see how one would think I work for Crystalview. I dont. Just trying to help my fellow Jeep owners fix a crummy chrysler product. Like the front brakes on 1999 Grand Cherokees. >Fellow Grand Cherokee owners, >I was going to fork over about $180-$300 worth of new plastic headlight [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >Crystalview. I dont. Just trying to help my fellow Jeep owners fix a >crummy chrysler product. Like the front brakes on 1999 Grand Cherokees. I think you forgot your MAF anti-spam id. > Fellow Grand Cherokee owners, > I was going to fork over about $180-$300 worth of new plastic [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > headlight restorer kit. I bought the kit at Advance Auto for $20 > (cheaper than the web-site which charges $23.96) That kit does work. There are other options but some of them I'd try on a junker lamp first. http://www.carspace.com/guides/Healing-Hazy-Headlamps Personally I wouldn't use the brakecleaner trick, but toothpaste is just a simple mild abrasive and does work. Good writeup from the folks at permatex. http://www.permatex.com/documents/10.05.TheFamilyHandyman.pdf Me, I used rubbing compound and ultra fine cutting agent, followed up with a buffer and some clearcoat for plastic. Still working well.  SignatureDougW Doug, do you think the coating in the CV kit is just clear coat? >> Fellow Grand Cherokee owners, >> I was going to fork over about $180-$300 worth of new plastic [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Me, I used rubbing compound and ultra fine cutting agent, followed up with > a buffer and some clearcoat for plastic. Still working well. > Doug, > do you think the coating in the CV kit is just clear coat? Yep. The reason you use it is to prevent the plastic from re-oxidizing. SignatureDougW > Fellow Grand Cherokee owners, > I was going to fork over about $180-$300 worth of new plastic headlight [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Crystalview. I dont. Just trying to help my fellow Jeep owners fix a > crummy chrysler product. Like the front brakes on 1999 Grand Cherokees. Perhaps you are not... or perhaps you are. Possibly you went to all the trouble to locate the web site and post the URL sheerly out of the goodness of your heart. And possibly the former Finance Minister of Nigeria really does have a check for me. However, there are several headlight restoring kits on the market, all work to some level of effectivity. The better ones have a protective finish, which must be renewed periodically. Some, e.g. Mothers, come with their own buffing tool to make it easier. > However, there are several headlight restoring kits on the market, all > work to some level of effectivity. The better ones have a protective > finish, which must be renewed periodically. Some, e.g. Mothers, come > with their own buffing tool to make it easier. I'll add one comment, watch out for crown brand parts. They are often sold as "exact replacements" but unless your planning on selling the Jeep, go with OEM. The crown parts don't last worth squat. SignatureDougW Lon, sorry friend, no check from the finance minister of Nigeria. Just trying to pass on some info that might save people some money. As far the CV restorer kit, the only thing I didn't have was the coating you put on after you buff the lenses with polish. If you can find the special coating, you just need to buy your own wet sandpaper and you could probably do the job for $10. All that said, I still put in two hours of sanding and polishing on these lenses. >> Fellow Grand Cherokee owners, >> I was going to fork over about $180-$300 worth of new plastic headlight [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > finish, which must be renewed periodically. Some, e.g. Mothers, come with > their own buffing tool to make it easier. I have used the permatex plastic polish with great success. actuually, a wet sand first if its really bad, follow up with the plastic polish, then the clear coat for polastic and your good 2 go! >Lon, >sorry friend, no check from the finance minister of Nigeria. Just trying to [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >> finish, which must be renewed periodically. Some, e.g. Mothers, come with >> their own buffing tool to make it easier. So how do you apply the clearcoat? With a sprayer or a fibercloth? >I have used the permatex plastic polish with great success. actuually, a >wet [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >>> with >>> their own buffing tool to make it easier. I purchased a can of spray paint and used that >So how do you apply the clearcoat? With a sprayer or a fibercloth? > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >>>> with >>>> their own buffing tool to make it easier. Pretty much anything works. UV safe plastic paints tend to last longer, but you'd want to really mask off the front and avoid winds, or pull the lights for the refurbish. > I purchased a can of spray paint and used that > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >>>>> with >>>>> their own buffing tool to make it easier. I have heard that wiping the lenses down with acetone-free nail polish remover does the job. Haven't tried it, all my vehicles have glass headlamps. > I have heard that wiping the lenses down with acetone-free nail polish > remover does the job. Haven't tried it, all my vehicles have glass > headlamps. That's one of those methods I've read about but would not try unless it was on a junk lamp. Same with using brake/parts cleaner. SignatureDougW |
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