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Old 05-08-2023, 10:03 AM   #1
rajee
 
Drives: Yaris I
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 19
Head light restoration

Hiiy

My yaris 2006 headlights are like this.

This matter is in outside or inside.

Any idea how to get rid of this.
Can I try youtube sandpaper methods?

Regards



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Old 05-08-2023, 11:05 AM   #2
sh0rtlife
 
Drives: 2007 5dr canadian import
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: pacific north WET
Posts: 1,025
let me be clear, no headlight can be "permanently" restored

now thats not to say you cant get "some" improvement or even make them look new, but they will NEVER perform like new again....while you can get them to look nice, the plastic is damaged by UV and while you can sand, buff and polish them, it will always diminish the light output

with that said, you can useualy "restore" a set of lights once without too much effort, id reccomend sanding starting at 220 dry then wet and working up to 2000grit, after that polish with your choice, tho i reach for rubbing and buffing compounds for paint, and work from course to fine...the end results will be stunning but will likely only last a year 2 and youll have atleast 2 full days into the lights

all said..the amount of time and trouble it takes to do them, your almost always better off just buying new lights unless you have something genuinely special
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Old 05-14-2023, 02:25 PM   #3
Neinris
 
Drives: 08 Yaris 3 Door Hatchback
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: ‘Murica!
Posts: 453
I've used aluminum wheel polish to remove the oxidation. However, it after a few months it goes back to being yellowish again, and I'd have to rebuff. No sanding required at least.
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Old 05-14-2023, 02:52 PM   #4
sh0rtlife
 
Drives: 2007 5dr canadian import
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: pacific north WET
Posts: 1,025
yup aluminum wheel compound does work well, at best youll get 6 months

going full out sanding will get you a year or more,

now "if" you clear coat it with a quality UV automotive finish clear ive been told you can get 5-10 years, but the thing is, youll still have a "hazy" headlight...ive been tempted to try doing it on a brand new headlight to see how much longer life you could get, as then the clear coat takes the UV abuse not the headlight
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Old 06-07-2023, 02:17 AM   #5
IndestructibleYaris
 
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yaris Sedan
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Posts: 149
Meguires plastX or ScratchX works well.

240 grit and then clear coat.

I washed the plastic dust off then sprayed the clear too quickly and got a permanent white fog effect haha

Sometimes if it ain't broke don't fix it is true
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Old 06-07-2023, 01:59 PM   #6
Neinris
 
Drives: 08 Yaris 3 Door Hatchback
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: ‘Murica!
Posts: 453
Quote:
Originally Posted by IndestructibleYaris View Post
Meguires plastX or ScratchX works well.

240 grit and then clear coat.

I washed the plastic dust off then sprayed the clear too quickly and got a permanent white fog effect haha

Sometimes if it ain't broke don't fix it is true
240 grit is too coarse. The kit that I had started with 400, then 600, then 800, then 2000, and finally buff with something equivalent to 8000.

I switched to just using the aluminum polish compound and it works just fine.
I'm thinking of retro fitting a projector headlight, so I might buy new headlight to install them in. We'll see...

https://www.yarisworld.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=22124
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Old 06-08-2023, 01:57 PM   #7
sh0rtlife
 
Drives: 2007 5dr canadian import
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: pacific north WET
Posts: 1,025
240 isnt exactly too course..depends on how far gone they are, but stopping at 240 you may as well not do anything

i know when i did mine i had to start at 220 dry then 220 wet, followed by wet from there out 320, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1200, 2000, then a full polishing of 6 steps of meguires paint polish starting at course ending at fine...the results were STUNNING. and lasted about a year
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Old 03-09-2024, 07:38 PM   #8
Billiam
 
Drives: '10 White Yaris 4D LB
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 561
Just to revive an older thread:

For the past few years I've been trying to salvage the OE headlights on our '10 Liftback. Every 2 or 3 months I would buff them with some Plast-X. That would help but not last long. And increasingly it became difficult to even buff them out. So I gave up and ordered a set of Eagle Eyes from Rockauto. $110 and that included shipping and tax.

No issues. They bolted up fine and adjust fine. Figured since I was replacing them I would throw in all new bulbs as well. Perfect for a 14 year old car with a 170k miles on it.
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