Brighter headlights

The other day I cought the tail end of a car talk show on radio that
seemed to address one of my pet peeves: dim headlights on my old Accord.
The show seemed to indicate that there was a way to clean those deposits
from the lens and chrome reflector to make the headlights as bright as
on a new car. Unfortunately I missed all the important info from the
beginning of the topic and I am not even sure if I got the tail end
right.

Can anybody here tell me if there is some procedure to brighten old
headlights that is affordable for the average motorist?
pj

 

If your headlights have cataracts (that is, if the lense over the lights is
becoming cloudy) they can be polished to restore the original clarity. I was
dubious at first, but it turns out all that cloudiness is on the outside. I
usually do it with a buffer and auto polishing compound but it can be done
by hand... it just takes a lot of rubbing. There are also kits with fine
sandpaper, like http://www.levineautoparts.com/lensrestore.html that are
available on-line. I haven't seen them in stores.

But if the reflector is actuallly damaged you need new headlight assemblies
to bring them back to like new, and they aren't cheap.

Mike

 

WalMart sells a product called Crystal View for $20 that has all the stuff
needed to refinish your headlight lenses.It's in a silver envelope,in the
auto section.
Most importantly,it includes the UV sealer that keeps the lens from
clouding up again in two months,like an uncoated lens would.Otherwise,you
could just use plastic polish from any auto parts store.

I used this C-V product on my 94 Integra,and it worked great,but my car was
stolen so I can only say it lasted a year and a half.

WalMart will also refinish your headlights for $50.

 

Wow, this sounds very promising! It also might be what that car talk
show was talking about. I'm going to look into this next week.
Thanks a lot to both of you,
pj

 

Yeah. It just results in your lens clouding over again in six years, like
the original finish did.

Plastic headlights suck.

 

Yes, they do.