Mucky Headlamp Covers

[Rojo]

I'm now on my second older Fabia 1.  

 

Both have had headlamp lens covers which looked as though they had lacquer over-spray on them and correspondingly poor light output.  The damage was actually caused by general wear and tear.

 

For the first car I bought specialist German polish, which improved things a little, after many hours of polishing.  For the 'new' car I used very fine wet and dry with plenty of soapy water, followed by a good rub with Brasso (ask your Granny) on a soft cloth.  The improvement has been remarkable, both in terms of the appearance of the car and in headlamp performance.  I tested this approach on the sidelight sections of the covers first; you might want to do the same.  I made a point of rubbing all the Brasso off when I finished.  I hope this helps someone; it's cheaper than new headlamps!

[faradaycage]

I'm now on my second older Fabia 1.  

 

Both have had headlamp lens covers which looked as though they had lacquer over-spray on them and correspondingly poor light output.  The damage was actually caused by general wear and tear.

 

For the first car I bought specialist German polish, which improved things a little, after many hours of polishing.  For the 'new' car I used very fine wet and dry with plenty of soapy water, followed by a good rub with Brasso (ask your Granny) on a soft cloth.  The improvement has been remarkable, both in terms of the appearance of the car and in headlamp performance.  I tested this approach on the sidelight sections of the covers first; you might want to do the same.  I made a point of rubbing all the Brasso off when I finished.  I hope this helps someone; it's cheaper than new headlamps!

I've got a weird stipple effect set of annoying blobs all over my drivers side headlamp,it looks like someones gone mad and sneezed holding a tube of superglue.It passed its MOT without any comment from the tester but I'd like to remove whatever it is but haven't been brave enough to try just yet from worrying about the possibility of buggering up/blurring the lens then having to take the damn bumper off to fit a new headlamp unit.Someone suggested it might be tree sap/resin,I might give your suggestion a try and see what happens.

[TMB]

There's a kit made by 3M that works very well. http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/328980-yellowcloudy-headlights/

[Rojo]

Good luck Faradaycage.  

 

I found that the 'wet and dry' left the covers looking very matt, but the Brasso brought the shine (and transparency) back quickly.  The whole task took less than an hour.  I suppose the time you would take will depend on what has caused your stipples.  The cost is negligible too.  

[faradaycage]

 

Good luck Faradaycage.  
 
I found that the 'wet and dry' left the covers looking very matt, but the Brasso brought the shine (and transparency) back quickly.  The whole task took less than an hour.  I suppose the time you would take will depend on what has caused your stipples.  The cost is negligible too.  

 I'm going to take the plunge and dive right into it tomorrow if its not heaving down with rain,I'm starting to get really niggled by the cosmetic flaws my Roomie has picked up,its got a beautiful deep mirror gloss to its near 9 year old paintwork thats been utterly peppered by car park visits and morons who can't even steer a pigging supermarket trolley never mind a car.Sorry I'm on a rant today after finding a 1 inch dent and scratch down to the bare metal after a visit to Halfords. :'( :swear:Thanks for your tips Rojo

Edited 25 February, 2015 by faradaycage