Headlight Damage?

[Shouey]

I do apologise if this has already been covered before,

 

My passenger facelift headlight appears to have cracking, webbing or layers of plastic peeling off within the headlight itself. I have used Autoglym's headlight restoration kit, Meguiars PlastiX polish and G3 Compound to resolve this as I initially thought it could have been yellowing on the outside. I can definitely say it is on the inside. it is really spoiling the look of the car. Has anyone seen this before?

 

I have seen several videos and guides on the internet of owners taking the lights out, putting them in the oven, peeling the lenses off etc to repaint them. Anyone who has done this, what are your honest reviews and opinions of doing this? As I'm sure everyone on here knows, the price of a new set of headlights are through the roof and I don't want to pay for a new set from Toyota for the likes of £900 when I might be able to sort it myself.

 

My main concern is if I go through the process (which I'm worried I will mess up) and take the lenses off, is there a way I can sort out the 'webbing'?

 

I have seen some pre-facelifts which were resprayed black but as mine has facelifts, I'm not sure whether this will just look wrong or if there are any fitment issues on fitting a pre-facelift onto a facelift.

 

Any advice or contacts for people that might be able to help me get this sorted would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

[rider]

You could split them and spend hours trying to polish away the imperfections or you could save a lot of time and just buy in some headlights, new or secondhand.

[evinX]

I watched a video by scotty kilmer on youtube, using meguiars 2 step headlight kit as opposed to using clear coat. It lasts up to a year and prevents yellowing and cracking from starting. I coated my 3 year old new.facelift headlights and they still look new. If i have to coat every year to prevent yellow and crackling starting its all good. The insides of all lights yellow but never seem to be as bad as the outside.

[SupraP-Z]

That webbing looks to be heat damage. Have they been split open before? I've seen them on supra headlights quite often where they are left in the oven with a certain part a bit too close to a heated element or heat gun focused on an area for a bit longer than necessary. I'm afraid to say that its going to be hard and potentially near impossible to get those out depending on how deep the crazing/cracking goes.

 

Best thing to do is start sanding them down, most people start at 1000grit and move upwards. On my headlights I have started at 500 grit previously, but if you arent thorough enough moving up the grits, it will leave scratches.

 

You have 2 options after sanding, you can clear coat them (best option for wearability IMO. Most lacquers have UV protectors nowadays, and UV light is what makes these old jap headlights go that way) Or you can polish and coat with sealant/wax

[Mk4Gaz]

I wouldn't recommend clear coating any plastic lenses.

The solvents in 2k clear coat can attack polycarbonate, and also they will be susceptible to constant stone chips, which will make them look even worse.

 

The crazing unfortunately is stress fractures within the polycarbonate lense, and cannot be reversed. You'd be better off searching for a pair of replacement headlights, or poor condition ones that you could split and swap the lenses over.

 

It's not a difficult job to do, but you do need to be patient, and very thorough when putting them back together. You need to use a sealant that stays soft, similar to windscreen sealant.

 

 

[Shouey]

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly you’ve really clarified the concerns for me. Ideally I might try and save up for a new set. I know there is a company in the states that provide brand new clear lenses for about £300 which isn’t bad but obviously I’d have to do the install. I would prefer to replace the lot at some point, il have to leave with it a little longer and not be soo picky