foggy headlights

the headlights on the Bora are a bit foggy/faded.. any hints on polishing em up to get the clear again??.. or just replace them?

warb wrote:the headlights on the Bora are a bit foggy/faded.. any hints on polishing em up to get the clear again??.. or just replace them?

I think replace them
you cannot really clean the reflectors in headlamps but can get them chromed..

the glass or lexan lenses should be ok...

is the lense foggy??

I have seen headlamps that have gone flat [foggy]
but the lenses must be plexiglass...

I thought VW would have used glass or lexan [polycarbonate]

how old is the Bora?

Lee

Ryan, have they just got that yellow hazey UV damage look?

I've heard you can get the kits from supercheap or autobahn with everything you need

I was too mean to spend that on an old Korean shitter I used to have so tried wet sanding with 2000 grit sandpaper and then buffing with good quality polish cleaned them up like new again.

you can't get them cleaned. I will make it worse. No chrome either as they are vacuum deposited aluminum.

Chrome absorbs too much light and the reflector overheats. Not to mention less light output.

Either vacuum deposit aluminum or silver. Silver was the old fashion material but aluminum is used now as its got and even higher reflective index.

Or buy new one, yeah thats the easy way out.😂

Vlad, you're missing the point abit, it's a Bora which like all modern cars has plastic polycarbonate lenses which go yellow and foggy from the sun or people running non UV cut bulbs.

The reflectors in them is plastic which is chrome plated, pretty much every car in the last 15 years have had chrome plated reflectors cos they're all plastic these days, it was only old cars like our VWs that had metal reflectors that couldnt have chrome due to the heat.


Even the new projector headlights in my bug have chrome plated reflectors

cheers mate, yeah its the lenses, not the reflector, very cloudy looking. i will look into these kits you speak of!..

oh lol my bad. I forgot cars now have plastic crap 🙅

The plastic lenses can be cut and polished a bit to make them better, as is common practice to get roadworthy for second hand car sales.

Yep, definitely give those plastic lenses a polish. You can get special plastic polish for headlamps and they will come up beautifully.

Pee on them warby:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy_WF5Iei_I

nice vid mate, will trot off and buy some of that polish stuff thats made to do the job.. its the missus' car, just want to give it a spruce up.. (as for the urine test.. i think if i piss on her car i dont think i will be spoken to for a while... hmmmmmm) 😀

Interestingly, my missus got one of those kits about 3 weeks ago to polish the lights on her Bora, but I havn't had time to do it yet. She got it from Repco. I will let you know how it goes when I get a chance to do it.

Just work late into the night Jeff, you know how to do that now 😁 howz it working ?

Brilliant - thanks very much Don.

That wasn't late - not even close to midnight, let alone after it.

Gosh, must be the 10th time I've heard this question this month😂

Supercheap sells a Permatex kit for $33.70 (last time I checked)
Its just a simple kit with various grit sandpaper, instructions and some polish.


What Joel described with 2000 Grit paper and wet sanding is bang on what this kits does, but I beleive it has 1500, 2000 and 2500 to give a 'better' finish🙄

Once you clean the lenses up, consider buying a can of stuff called "Vuplex".
I was told and have used this stuff on the plastic windscreens/windows of light aircraft with great results.

watched a motor show and a demo of foggy lights cured by polishing with a cutting compond
good luck