So, the plastic headlights on the wife's 2006 Kia got all hazy like they all do eventually. When she hit the deer and I fixed the car, one of the things I did was to polish the headlights with Blue Magic metal polish and a buffing wheel on a drill. This restored the plastic so it was clear again. That was 4 years ago and they started getting hazy again. I was in Walmart, and they had the Cerakote kit I previously had only seen sold on the Cerakote website. Decided to give it a try.
Here's Cerakote's instructional video.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx5gsIuKLEg
Being I had previously cleaned the headlights, it didn't take all three of the cleaning pads before the pads stopped removing oxidation and remained white. If yours have never had anything done, then it probably will take all of them. The cleaning pads are gauze with and oily cleaning agent on them. These alone make the lens appear clear again, but so will the old used car dealers trick of wiping the lights down with WD-40. Looks great until it washes off.
I followed the directions and after the cleaning pads I water sanded the lenses first with the provided 2000 grit paper, then with 3000. You could feel the difference and see the water turn a bit gray as the sandpaper removed the rough layer of plastic.
The cleaning and sanding are where all the elbow grease comes in. I probably went a bit further than the instructions said, but they also said that proper preparation will give better results. So I scrubbed and sanded twice as long as the instructions suggested. One of the lights had a place where it was more than just hazy, and I gave that area extra attention.
The final step is the ceramic coating which is the secret sauce that is supposed to keep them clear from now on.
Anyway, here's the before and after pics. Will it last? Or a year from now will they be hazy again? Time will tell. If I forget to update in one years time, someone remind me and I'll take some pics at that time.
Before:
The kit.
The sandpaper.
After:
Here's Cerakote's instructional video.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx5gsIuKLEg
Being I had previously cleaned the headlights, it didn't take all three of the cleaning pads before the pads stopped removing oxidation and remained white. If yours have never had anything done, then it probably will take all of them. The cleaning pads are gauze with and oily cleaning agent on them. These alone make the lens appear clear again, but so will the old used car dealers trick of wiping the lights down with WD-40. Looks great until it washes off.
I followed the directions and after the cleaning pads I water sanded the lenses first with the provided 2000 grit paper, then with 3000. You could feel the difference and see the water turn a bit gray as the sandpaper removed the rough layer of plastic.
The cleaning and sanding are where all the elbow grease comes in. I probably went a bit further than the instructions said, but they also said that proper preparation will give better results. So I scrubbed and sanded twice as long as the instructions suggested. One of the lights had a place where it was more than just hazy, and I gave that area extra attention.
The final step is the ceramic coating which is the secret sauce that is supposed to keep them clear from now on.
Anyway, here's the before and after pics. Will it last? Or a year from now will they be hazy again? Time will tell. If I forget to update in one years time, someone remind me and I'll take some pics at that time.
Before:
The kit.
The sandpaper.
After:
