hazy/stress cracked headlights

lexusgs

New member
My dad has had a issue with his 03 Acura CL for a few years with his hazed headlights. Unfortunately he has to park his car all day in the hot sun when at work and it appears to be prematurely aging his headlights. Parts of his headlights are not just hazy but appear to have small fine stress cracks/scratches and they feel a bit rough to the touch. They are getting worse and worse. I have seen a few other cars like this but I want to ask what you guys would recommend doing. Taking them off is going to be a real PIA and it appears it is mostly on the outside. About a year ago I did try polishing them and it cleaned them up a little better but they went back after a few months. I am thinking about wetsanding the rough parts, then polishing/compounding with 3M fine cut rubbing compound, then Menz IP, then Megs Plastic X. then Zaino AIO, followed by Z2, and topped with Collinite 476S. The Acura dealer said they were stress cracks from being in the hot sun too much but not all cars get this being parked in the hot sun and the dealer wanted like $300 for each light to correct it which was out of the question.



Unfortunately I can't post the pics I took because they won't upload to this site for some reason but in certain areas like on the tops the headlights have large areas that are cloudy hazy with small scratches/fine stress cracks that are rough to the touch.
 
Wetsand and use plast-x on a mother's polishing ball. Plast-x is stronger than 3M's rubbing compound so you won't have to bother with that.
 
I used 1000grit , 1500grit & then compounded w/ 3M extra cut follwed by 3M dark foam pad polish. Topped off with Klasse & collinite 476.

The scratches in this light were from a hit n run, They were too deep to level off - but I made them more presentable.

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My dad did some wet sanding with with 1000, 1500, then 2000grit followed by some compounding with the 3M and then some Plastic X. Man what a difference, looks are night and day which surprised me and it now pretty much looks like there was never a problem compared to before where it looked really bad. Some very little scratches remain and that is mainly due to where he missed that he taped up. There is a little bit of a haze on them but nothing too bad which I will try to get out with my PC with a white pad with either Menz IP, PlasticX, or Zaino AIO. These headlights will need max protection so I am going to put Zaino AIO, Z2, and then Collinite 476S on them to hopefully prolong them.
 
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