Advent of a new year is a perfect time for new beginnings and renewal. While cold temperatures rage and raindrops or snowflakes fall, getting ready for those warm days and car events is a great way to pass the time until car show season returns. Our Lincolns of the late 1990s and early 2000s are beginning to show signs of age. A sweeping design statement on almost all cars of the era was an expansive headlight cluster with a protective plastic lens cover.
They look great, but the outdoor environment attacks these coverings and oxidizes the plastic, creating a film over the light cluster. Lincoln does a better job than most brands, and my 2013 MKZ headlights are still sparkling clear, but in extreme cases headlights can deteriorate to this.
Nothing is worse than headlights which not only look cloudy, but also can be dangerous when the film blocks the beams from illuminating roads at night especially during this season of added dark hours and slick roads.
But a solution to this problem is at hand. One simple—and inexpensive—project we can do indoors or outside—weather permitting— is bringing our cloudy plastic headlight coverings back to life. Many noted car care companies advertise headlight renewal kits, but do they really work?
I decided to find out on my 2013 NIssan Altima, and here is my report. Seldon do products perform as advertised and almost never do they live up to their hype. But one car care family—Cerakote— has worked very well for me so I decided to give their headlight renewal kit a try. Not only that, but the kit is readily available at Walmart and other outlets and sells for under $20.00.
A word of caution here. The steps are simple, but you must follow the directions to get the best result. That sounds easy, but the kit contains a number of packets and pieces. Instructions are printed on a card with the same color scheme and markings as the packets and could get lost among them when you empty the package, thus thwarting your efforts to correctly execute the steps. Make sure you find the card before beginning!
First wash, then rinse the headlights thoroughly and dry. Don the supplied protective gloves before using the pads to remove the oxidation. It may take several pads for each headlight to remove the oxidation. Then rinse thoroughly and dry. The lens may still look a bit cloudy.
Remove the gloves. Then stick the magenta 2,000 grit sanding pad to the sanding tool from the kit, Keep wetting the lens and sand it in a uniform non-circular motion. Then wet sand again using the green 3,000 grit sanding pad. After sanding thoroughly rinse and dry the lens and surrounding area. Lens should look frosty at this point.
Then don the second pair of clean gloves and apply the protective coating one time in a horizontal motion from top to bottom across the lens. Do not overlap the areas during application. Once the application is complete allow the affected area to air dry thoroughly for at least 60 minutes before driving or exposing the lens to moisture.
So does it work? See for yourself. Here are the “before” photos—not terrible, but definitely oxidized. Click each image for a closer look.
Here are the after results!
Amazing, like new clarity, and the manufacturer offers a lifetime warranty on this product. So now there is no excuse. Happy renewal!
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