How to restore faded tail light lens? Options

[jim77070]

OK, How does one restore faded tail light lens like those on a 74 Charger? I know BEA Parts sells them as repos but I'm trying to save a buck or two now that I'm laid off!

Rumor has it one can lightly sand them with 1000 or 1200 grit sandpaper and then clear coat them. Does this work?

[BuckNeccid]

I think that'd be my last resort Jim. Before you do that, have you tried polishing them with something like Mother's aluminum & mag polish, Brasso or even toothpaste? It might take some elbow grease, but it has the same effect as buffing paint, essentially taking off the dead outer coats till you're back down to good clear plastic. If you try it at all on a power buffer, be VERY VERY careful, heat builds up in them fast, and you can melt a lens before you know it.

[67Mopar]

If it's just surface damage that's one thing, but my experience with old tail light plastics is that they just start breaking down after to much UV exposure to the sun. The dull cloud like appearance runs all the way through the plastic. They fade and dry out, fractures start to form within the plastic, and then they crack.
I've tryed various polishes etc, which do look good for a little while in some cases, but it's only a temporary fix.

[flap]

depends on the lens itself and how deep the damage goes. color sanding and buffing will do wonders, but not if the damage has penetrated too deep

[mrmopartech]

The key to this is in the polisher and the compond.At the shop I do the head lights in about 5 minutes or less to bring back the clear look.On tail light lenses you need a small air polisher with a 3 inch pad or a intake polishing kit from eastwood with the small polishing arburrs and some compond.I use the compond for clear coats/paint to bring back the head lamps to just about new,its very fine,so it some times takes 2-3 times of polishing.I woould remove the lense,and mount it in a jig and slowly polish it,being carefull of the polishing disc to not catch it on a edge,mrmopartech

[Angus]

Try the mothers headlight restorer. I am sure it would work on the tail lights as well as it works on the newer plastic headlight lenses. I for sure would not sand them

[tggodfrey]

I have restored the halogen cases on my Eclipse when some lady backed over one. Easy but time consuming.

If all your going after is clouded or fogged lense then wetsand it with 800/900, then 1000 and buff it with a compound like Perfect-IT III. Now if you cant get any type of power buffer in there to polish it you can wetsand one more step to 1500 and polish it by hand. Should have no problem.

I have tried the mothers Plastic restorer and it only lasted for a short time.

Wetsanding has lasted 2 years so far on my headlights. The eclipses are known for the issue real bad and the Wet sanding concept is tried and true regardless of what anyone wants to argue over it.

Terry

[jim77070]

tggodfrey,
This confirms what I've heard for the newer headlight lens, especially like on the Dodge minivans. Out in the country the headlights get so many stone chips in them that after just 6 months there is little different between low and high beam. Wet sanding and a clear coat seems to work just fine to restore them.

As for the tail lights onthe 74 Charger I'll just have to wait till I get the $$$ to replace them. They are brittle from UV exposure.
jim77070

[Grumpy]

tggodfrey,
This confirms what I've heard for the newer headlight lens, especially like on the Dodge minivans. Out in the country the headlights get so many stone chips in them that after just 6 months there is little different between low and high beam. Wet sanding and a clear coat seems to work just fine to restore them.

As for the tail lights onthe 74 Charger I'll just have to wait till I get the $$$ to replace them. They are brittle from UV exposure.
jim77070

Hey, before everyone starts to cringe, and this will make you cringe. (DISCLAIMER-DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME)
I like to experiment here in the lab and put a couple old junk tail lenses in my blast cabinet. I use glass bead. I very light lightly pully the trigger on the gun and cleaned up, aired off, then shot with clear acrylic. IT WORKED.
I've done this on parking lenses as well. You have to be careful and not use anywhere near full air pressure. Here's a parking lense that as you know is painted silver on the inside. No more.
 12aIMG_0604.jpg ( 75.54K ) Number of downloads: 6


Here's an old junk tail lense I picked up on Ebay.
 12aIMG_0640.jpg ( 161.68K ) Number of downloads: 10


I have used a 3 step plastic polish with a 3" round rubber sponge ball with success too.

[Grumpy]

Hey Jim, one more thing. You might have to sand or blast them. Just wash and dry em good and shoot em.