Saturday, August 07, 2010

Mexican sun oxidized your headlights?

Been watching my headlights deteriorate over the last few years but didn't think much about it because I don't often drive at night. Not only do they look bad if severely oxidized but can refract the beam enough to reduce your night vision on the road. After one experience a few months ago of abnormal vision coming home from Chapala I decided it was not only old age but also my fogged headlights.

I read the procedures on the Internet but my first attempt was only with rubbing compound and it did not even begin to remove the rough plastic. Yesterday I stopped by a ferreteria (hardware store) and picked up a sheet of the recommended 1500 grit wet/dry sand paper (lija).

Rather than mask the surrounding paint I just cut the sandpaper into small pieces and was careful. I figured I could remove any paint dulling with the rubbing compound. About a 1/2 hour of sanding both with water and compound on each light ... then about 15 minutes with a plastic sponge and rubbing compound. A little cheating at the end with Armor All.

I've had the car wash guys in the Walmart parking lot offer to fix my lights but they would have been at it all day as bad as they were.




Left light (in foto) getting there

Light after previous try with rubbing compound

Light after sandpaper and compound - could go further

1 comments:

Calypso said...

Good job - good tip amigo!

The construction of the house finished in April 2011 and I'm pretty much settled in. As of March 2014 I'm in preparation for rain mode for this coming summer. That includes sealing and painting things and dealing with drainage issues from last year.

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