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So after some debate on what kind of bulbs to get, I decided to go with the 9004 sk2 Piaa's. My lenses were also very yellowed, and drving from Seattle, to Spokane WA everyweekend to visit the girlfriend, wasn't very fun on high beams alone.

I took 1500, & 2000 wet paper, and used those, then used just a normal waxing compond with an orbital waxer. I then removed the stock bulbs and replaced them with my PIAA's that i bought for $97.00 for the pair. At the same time I got a set of driving lights "fogs" and put them on the bumper. They came 55watt stock, so I bought H4 100watt lights and put them in the fog housings.

Lets just say after putting both stuff in and cleaning the lights, i'll never have to use my high beams again. The PIAA's act as high beams alone and the fogs act as Airplace Beacon lights. It's pretty cool to be driving down I-90 interstate over the pass, and have people flashing you from the other direction cause your fogs and normal lights are so fucking bright. Keep in mind I never use my high beams.

I didn't have to upgrade my stock wiring for the lights either.

~Ben
 
you can get them crystal clear and they'll still suck, just not as bad.

Every ford I've ever had with the early Aero-style lamps suck. They glare so much that the only light they're good for is the high-beams the on-coming driver throws on you.

...but I am working on a fix for this... As soon as I get my heat gun and try it out, i'll let you know what happens.

-Harry
 
The plastic headlights on here are one of the reason's im really picky about which headlights i'll buy for my other car. I make sure that they're glass. But I'm glad that I can clean the headlights on the Escort and get the grundgy yellow crap off of them.
 
scort-auto-xr said:
It's pretty cool to be driving down I-90 interstate over the pass, and have people flashing you from the other direction cause your fogs and normal lights are so **** bright.

~Ben
Yeah its really cool to be driving along and get blinded by some kid with too much money to blow on headlights that don't belong on the road to begin with. REALLY cool.
 
4d_Me said:
I just did my lights, i just picked upa kit at auto zone, they have a headlight restoration it for like $12, comes with 4 types of wet sandaper (1500-2500) a polishing rag, platic polish, gloves, and easy to read instructions i did both lights in about an hour

man they look good, i cant belive i almost spent $80 on new ones, there just about perfect
does that headlight restoration really work? and does it come with everything u need or do u need to buy something else? :p
 
Mine werent real bad, mostly covered with a white broken down plastic type film that made em look foggy-like.
I rubbed the hell out of both headlights with good ol turtle wax.
They look great!

Used all my wax, now my turtle wont be as shiney :roll:
 
I decided to see if I could improve on this, and did. I used Flitz. I've had a tube of that stuff around for about 10 years. It didnt take that much rubbing but the improvement was noticeable. The headlights are now even shinier and clearer :D
 
here is a pic of my headlights. obviously the one on the right has been cleaned and it took about 2 minutes or less to get it like that. What I used was Mothers aluminum and mag polish. For the economy sized 10 oz. tub its like 8 bucks at Discount auto parts. just take a little bit (it doesn't work good with a lot because it is abrasive) on your fingers and rub it on the headlight. it should start turning black or gray which means that its working good. then after your whole headlight is black then wipe it off good with a dry paper towel or rag and it will look brand new. if you repeat the process it will come out even better. that is only with 1 rubdown and wipe. That polish works wonders on metal too, just don't use it on your paint unless you want it scratched.

 
After reading about that Mothers Mag n aluminum polish stuff I decided to give it a try and the difference is seriously like night and day. You also really don't need to use much either so the 10oz you get for 8 bucks really is a lot.

Here's the before pic:


And the after pic:
 
blue magic

used Blue magic aluminum and metal polish and finished it off with a mothers powerball and a drill;
corners side by side left 1 done right 1 not
Headlight before

and after

I used a mothers powerball to finish the polish process after about 2 coats, of course to more coats=better polish but I just wanted to show you boys the results after about 10 mins apiece of work.
 
A little note on the mothers aluminum n mag polish... don't accidentally leave it in the back seat of your car on a hot summerish day.... It'll esplode leaving funky white stains all over your back seat.
 
I got a question guys. I've seen at meijer and wal-mart this thing that says "restore your headlights" on it and it's in like a pouch type thing that's blue and silver I believe is that the blue magic stuff or something different??? I've noticed that my headlights are just starting to turn yellow-ish so I prolly will be cleaning them up soon b/c I've notice that the headlights ain't very bright/ as bright as they should be. After or before I do this I'm gonna be replacing the bulbs too so with both of them hopefully I'll see clearer
 
These are some great ideas. thanks. Before I found this thread, I had been planning to follow some of these procedures that a record LP turntable repairman uses to restore the plastic dustcovers. It also includes some interesting insights from an experienced aircraft plastics refinisher: Polishing a dustcover

I have Meguiar's Paint Cleaner and Turtle wax, I suppose I'll just try those first, because my headlamps are a little blurry but not real bad yet. I don't know if the petroleum distillates in those 2 are safe for plastics, so I'll just try a small area first.

If that doesn't work, I might try #0000 steel wool and/or ajax cleanser first, then those 2.
 
Its either that or you get colgate tooth paste and a rag. You dont even need to take the headlights out and its even easier to do. I did it to mine and they look great a little tip i picked up from two guys garage on spike.
 
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