hazy headlights
 

I have a 2000 GT, my headlights are hazed over. Is there any way to clean it, or do I have to buy new ones.

Depending upon how bad they are, you could just grab some Mothers or Meguiars plastix polish.

Or you might have to grab some wet sandpaper and remove some of the surface oxidation on them. Start off with 500 grit and work up to 2000 (1000, 1500 then 2000). If they arent bad you could just start off with 1000/1500 just to smooth it all out.

Is the haze just on the surface, or is it actually set into the plastic? What grit you start with depends on how deep the damage is. I refinished the 3rd brake light on my car, and it was pretty deep, so I started with 500 grit, went to 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and finally a polish. Remember to wetsand, sticking with each grit until the surface is smooth and washing the paper and the surface frequently to get rid of little particles that could possibly leave a deeper scratch than you would want. It will cost you a good bit in sandpaper, as well as a few hours of your time. I watched a movie while I worked on mine. It will never be as clear as new ones, but you'd be surprised at how much of a difference it will make. My 3rd brake light looks brand new, but it's not clear so you can't tell as much.

If you do decide to replace them, or are able to get them cleaned up well enough, wax them every time you wash them, and keep bugs off them. Consider it preventative maintenance. That's the only reason my 99 Civic's headlights still look decent. Also, you might consider having new headlights professionaly clearcoated, as it seems paint stands up better to the weather than the plastic Ford uses.

For the trouble I would just buy some new ones. If you polish them you will have to do it again in about 4-5 months.

Not if you do it right...

Well being that the 99+ are actually clear and not like the 94-98 ones, I can't say your wrong. But the ones on my 97 sucked, maybe because the car was so old and the damage had already been done, but everytime I did it, they needed another treatment after about 6 months.

thanks guys, I will try to fix them. If it doesn't work, I always wanted the smoked lenses so good reason to get them now.

On my 88' I used silver polish from the cleaning aisl in Wal-mart (the paste in the blue/white container that was about the side of a small tin of car wax. It worked great.

Also, if you need a quick (and temporary) fix, throw some tire shine on the headlights. You'd be surprised how much it can help.

Try toothpaste and a brush.........it actually works, I didn't believe it either til I was shown how well it worked.