There is a sealer that comes with the kit. Believe it or not I use general purpose glass cleaner to clean them up then Vaseline to polish them off again. The Headlights looks just like the the day I did that mini shoot.
Headlight cancer - help! (11 Viewers)
- Thread starter Makakio
- Start date
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In the past,I have used plain old toothpaste on other vehicles.
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2003
- Threads
- 72
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- Location
- Broomfield, Colorado
- Website
- www.gamiviti.com
I sold out. Original lenses just too yellowed and far gone, bought a new "depo" set from discountbodyparts.com. $362 shipped for both sides.
Wasn't expecting to have to pull the bumper and some other little cross members below the lights, but once I did everything fell on and off fairly easily. Actually looking forward to it getting dark tonight, should be a considerable upgrade, good for another 8 years hopefully.
Wasn't expecting to have to pull the bumper and some other little cross members below the lights, but once I did everything fell on and off fairly easily. Actually looking forward to it getting dark tonight, should be a considerable upgrade, good for another 8 years hopefully.
- Thread starter
- #24
Wow - I just checked prices there and the "sport" light is $161ea and the "base" light is $246ea. What's the diff??
- Thread starter
- #25
Also - just called Lamin-X. $70 kit for headlights and fogs, special-cut for the GX. They offer a 5 year warranty on their films and do say because the films have a UV stabilizer baked through (versus baked on) it stops yellowing of the lens underneath. Might go that direction first if I can get mine back to near-perfect, but not opposed to new for $275 more if I can't -- and I can find a deal like you got, Nak. We're keeping this GX for a while - it's only at 85k miles and I have a 200k requirement for my Toyota products haha...
the sports have a darker more grey look to them, the standard or base ones have a green hue to them. personally i like the sport look better.
can you let us know how the quality of these are? do they have a good seal on them keeping out moisture? how about the fit and finish compared to the factory OEM ones, and light output on them, how is the projector cutoff? im interested in getting a set if all is good.
I was going to try this:
But I'll admit that just getting new ones for under $400 is tempting also.
But I'll admit that just getting new ones for under $400 is tempting also.
- Thread starter
- #29
Okay guys - undertook the polish/Lamin-X project. Results so far are mixed:
Before pics:
Before pics:
- Thread starter
- #30
Used this:
And spent 30 minutes and half the bottle using the finest-grit fabric disk, then powerball on each lens and got this:
Driver done, passenger comparison.
Had I gone all the way with the rougher paper I could have removed ALL the lens cover scratches and almost all of the rock damage, but I have read that increases the polish time and difficulty by a magnitude of order - and you really want pro tools at that point. Net/net, I got rid of ALL the yellowing, all the haze, 85% of the scratches and they look really good.
And spent 30 minutes and half the bottle using the finest-grit fabric disk, then powerball on each lens and got this:
Driver done, passenger comparison.
Had I gone all the way with the rougher paper I could have removed ALL the lens cover scratches and almost all of the rock damage, but I have read that increases the polish time and difficulty by a magnitude of order - and you really want pro tools at that point. Net/net, I got rid of ALL the yellowing, all the haze, 85% of the scratches and they look really good.
- Thread starter
- #31
Ordered the precut Lamin-X headlight and fogs kit for $70. This is where the fun begins. Noteworthy: Lamin-X notes that this is a high-degree-of-difficulty install and now I know why: the film is THICK. Called in a pro via a friend (he's the local professional clear bra installer) and he spent a lot of time (two hours), energy and heat on applying these - for a tiny price. The big problem was fingers created by all the curve at the top of the headlights. The rest went down just fine.
I've worked it back into place with time, patience, heat and squeegee for the past three days in a row and every day they return. The Pro says the film is ridiculously thick for this much curve (note: when applying the entire length of the top edge was probably 60 fingers and it's down to this). I have sent this to Lamin-X for their advice and a possible resolution. Waiting on that and will update.
You can see in these pics how well the Mothers kit worked. Also of note in the closeups: you can see how thick the film is in that up (very) close you can see it makes everything behind the cover look wavy (look at the lines on my camera reflection third pic down). From three feet out you cannot tell. Right up close you can, so BFD.
I chose the Lamin-X film because they boast UV protection and at 5 years have a decent warranty. Most films do not have much (if any) UV protection (clear bra films do not - paint-fade issues). So I thought this would be a good path to avoid further hazing and yellowing (much of it caused by exposure to air combined with UV). The film the Pro recommended is about half the thickness of Lamin-X and just laid right over the curve no problem. No UV protection in that film, but it does carry a 10-year warranty and if I cannot get a resolution I'll probably strip the Lamin-X off the headlights and go with the clear bra film (lack of UV filter and all).
If you have a tried and true process let me know. I'll post up when Lamin-X gets back with me and keep this rolling along.
At this point I'm $100 in (and of course time and some grumpiness). That's all I can think to add to this report.
I've worked it back into place with time, patience, heat and squeegee for the past three days in a row and every day they return. The Pro says the film is ridiculously thick for this much curve (note: when applying the entire length of the top edge was probably 60 fingers and it's down to this). I have sent this to Lamin-X for their advice and a possible resolution. Waiting on that and will update.
You can see in these pics how well the Mothers kit worked. Also of note in the closeups: you can see how thick the film is in that up (very) close you can see it makes everything behind the cover look wavy (look at the lines on my camera reflection third pic down). From three feet out you cannot tell. Right up close you can, so BFD.
I chose the Lamin-X film because they boast UV protection and at 5 years have a decent warranty. Most films do not have much (if any) UV protection (clear bra films do not - paint-fade issues). So I thought this would be a good path to avoid further hazing and yellowing (much of it caused by exposure to air combined with UV). The film the Pro recommended is about half the thickness of Lamin-X and just laid right over the curve no problem. No UV protection in that film, but it does carry a 10-year warranty and if I cannot get a resolution I'll probably strip the Lamin-X off the headlights and go with the clear bra film (lack of UV filter and all).
If you have a tried and true process let me know. I'll post up when Lamin-X gets back with me and keep this rolling along.
At this point I'm $100 in (and of course time and some grumpiness). That's all I can think to add to this report.
get them done professionally for like $20 bucks each, they have the experiance and tools needed. ive experimented with multiple products techniques and its just a waste of time.
- Thread starter
- #33
Did you not read the "called in a pro" part of my post?
So I finally broke down and when to the auto parts store and bought some 800, 1000 1500, and 2000 grit sand paper and some clear coat spray paint. I started off my masking of the head lights with just the the masking tape(about two layers deep and about 4" total space out from each light) I wet sanded each light starting with 800 and then went to 1500. Cleaned the lights off really good and then fully masked off the front of the truck leaving only the lights exposed and sprayed them with several coats of clear. They turned out way better than the headlight restorer kits you can buy of the shelf. They look brand new again. And now they should not fair again like they did after the of the shelf restorer kits did in about a month.
Glad to hear it worked well - I might have to do the same thing.
Just took our GX to the Sam's Club and they polished the lights for $29.95, and they guarantee it for 5 years.
THeGeNTLeMaN
WooD GRaiN WaRRioR
Mine aren't bad yet but its bound to happen as iv seen it on a friends gx ... Iv considered tinting the head lights (with actual tint film like used on glass not a spray) and i think that may protect from the harmful "UVs" of the sun that break down the plastic ... and you get a smokey look if your into that kinda thing ...
check it ---> http://www.ebay.com/itm/330793597696?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
check it ---> http://www.ebay.com/itm/330793597696?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Meguires 205 polish,1000, 1200, 1500 grit paper. Some people clear the lenses. I tried to clear mine with clear lacquer, I got some orange peel. So I had to repeat the wet sanding with 1200, and a quick buff. I will report back with which light yellows first.
They sell a two part epoxy clear for headlights, I have no experience with it.
They sell a two part epoxy clear for headlights, I have no experience with it.
Just saw this, follow this guy's style. This is what the dealers do to prep cars for sale. Solid move.
Here is what my lights look like after this. I just took this pic with my phone so sorry if if he quality is subpar but you get the idea. If you can let the lights sit for a couple days to help cure. I drove mine the next morning (paint.cam said dries within 2hrs and cures in 12hrs. I was at about 14+hrs when I drove it and hit a bug... When I got home and tried to clean it off with a wet cloth it didn't clean up/out perfectly and you can still see where the bug was if you know where to look and what to look for. I'm OCD so it bothered me but not enough to redo the light. Since then I have had no issues with bugs or anything else damaging the clear coating. Washed the truck several times, both hand washes and drive thru automatic washes, hit thousands of bugs etc. Obviously a rock or other harder object could and can cause damage but so far I've been lucky(knock on wood). Anyhow I think had I let the lights sit longer without driving the rig I would not have had that issue so I say double to cure time on the can and you should have zero issues. But if you are impatient like me its not super noticeable. -Impatience, ADD and OCD are not a good mix when it comes to vehicle mods BTW. Lol
