We used Meguiar's Headlight...
We used Meguiar's Headlight Restoration Kit to rejuvenate the headlight lenses on our aging '03 Mustang GT. We want to sell it later this year to make way for a new Camaro or Challenger, and getting top dollar is important. In this shot, the passenger side is untreated, but the driver side has been polished.
We know you're not used to seeing coverage of ordinary car care products in a magazine dedicated to hard-core muscle, but hear us out. Meguiar's Headlight Restoration Kit is no ordinary car care product. Like a lot of you, our daily drivers have had to last a little longer, drive a little farther, and have seen a little more wear than usual as we stretch the life expectancy of our commuters in these hard economic times. Truth be told, we want a new '10 Camaro (see page 48), or a Dodge Challenger R/T (see our December '08 issue), and the old '03 Mustang GT is looking a bit dingy.
Getting top dollar for a 6-year-old trade-in is tough when the plastic headlight covers have been sand blasted white for 120,000 miles. We took a look in some of the Mustang mags and found the cheapest new headlight lenses for around $230 per set, and that isn't in the budget. We did have $25 in the budget for Meguiar's Headlight Restoration Kit, and figured that even if it didn't work all that well, we could still ask a few hundred more for the car. What we didn't expect is the miraculous transformation of our headlights to near new, and that's what we're here to talk about.
The active ingredient of Meguiar's Headlight Restoration Kit is a 6-ounce bottle of Meguiar's PlastX, which is a polymer-based cleaner and polish for hard automotive plastics. PlastX is sold separately for about $7 a bottle (street), and is described by Meguiar's as using "Microscopic Diminishing Abrasive Technology (MDAT) to remove light oxidation, chemical degradation, surface contamination, stains, and light surface scratches." PlastX is a water-resistant polymer too, which promises a long-lasting protection, according to Meguiar's. The Headlight Restoration Kit also includes a 4-inch polishing pad for a high-speed drill, and a microfiber polishing rag to finish the job.
The entire restoration took about 45 minutes, and besides the material in the kit, we needed a roll of automotive-grade masking tape, a high-speed drill (ours was a variable-speed Craftsman 3/8 -inch drill with a 2,500rpm top speed and reversible rotation--which came in handy), and a Craftsman roller stool that put us perfectly at work height. Not very much pressure on the drill polishing pad is needed to work the PlastX into the headlight lens, which was nice. We ended up using almost a quarter of the bottle, so the kit should be good for about four or five cars, provided the drill-mounted pad holds up (it did shed quite a bit at first).
The photographic results should speak for themselves. We used no photo trickery to make the "after" shots look better, in fact, we went out of our way to gussy up the "before" shots, and our passenger side lens had benefited from an earlier (non-effective) attempt at some fine wet sanding with some 2000 grit.
Selling the Mustang GT should be a lot easier now. Those horrible headlights stuck out like a bad case of acne, but now they look almost new. We should easily be able to get $500 more for the Mustang over what we would've otherwise, thanks to Meguiar's Headlight Polishing Kit and PlastX.
The Meguiar's kit lists for...
The Meguiar's kit lists for about $25, and includes a 6-ounce bottle of PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish, a 4-inch polishing wheel, and a microfiber towel for final buffing.
Chuck the Meguiar's buffing...
Chuck the Meguiar's buffing pad into your high-speed drill, and squirt about a quarter-sized dollop of PlastX on the buffing pad. If you just buy the PlastX, you'll need to pick up a mandrel and a fresh buffing pad for your drill. The kit is the best deal though.
Before starting, you need...
Before starting, you need to mask off the painted areas adjacent to the plastic headlight lens. This prevents any damage to the paint by the buffing wheel. Of particular concern on Mustangs is the black coated rubber trim surrounding the headlight opening. These get buffed by accident all the time at body shops, and the damage can't be repaired cheaply.
Start out slow so the pad...
Start out slow so the pad doesn't sling the PlastX off, and try to polish with the pad as flat to the lens as possible. The masking tape really helps when you're working the deep corners. The reversible drill helped us control the pad better at the edges, and prevented the tape from rolling up.
After you're satisfied with...
After you're satisfied with the buffing job (Meguiar's says the amount of pressure and the rpm of the drill speed don't really matter that much), finish the job by polishing the remaining PlastX with the microfiber towel in the kit.
These before and after shots...
These before and after shots really show the difference. In the before shot, you can barely see the reflection of the flash fill on the left. That's what 120,000 miles will do to a plastic lens.......
......In the after shot, you...
......In the after shot, you can see the entire flash unit, and even my reflection holding it. We took about 100,000 miles off the age of these lenses, and that translates into better nighttime illumination, and more cash for our trade-in.