<VV> [fastvair] Non-Corvair but headlight oriented

Tue Sep 13 20:16:38 EDT 2016

OK,  few things...

Often you can get just the lens. It bugs me they won't spend the extra couple of bucks for truly UV resistant plastic. the problem is, the damage goes in some distance. Wax the headlights routinely, and they'll last longer. 

Someone worked on a clear coat, which is a great idea. But first, you need to make the lens pristine again. Maybe Imron clear? This stuff is seriously UV resistant, and will block all UV from getting to the underlying layer. Just thinking out loud...

At this point, no one makes an HID sealed beam replacement that's worth a damn. And the Sylvania ones are among the worst. A good set of Cibie E code replacements work very well, far better than any other option out there. 

John Roberts

-----Original Message-----
From: sethracer at aol.com [fastvair] <fastvair at yahoogroups.com>
To: virtualvairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org>; fastvair <fastvair at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Sep 13, 2016 5:50 pm
Subject: [fastvair] Non-Corvair but headlight oriented

Most of the Corvair folks I know – NOW, in 2016 – own other cars, besides their Corvair(s). Some people own new cars. Not me, I own “older” cars. My daily driver is a 2005 car. Built in September 2004, it is now 14 years old. Because of my Corvair hobby, and the fact that I live in Northern California, I do not have any cars in my Garage. My cars live outside – in the sun (mostly). Besides the 2005 Corvette, we have a 2002 Avalanche which usually parks at the curb. Both cars have Composite (AKA plastic) headlight assemblies. This was a first for the Corvette, which had used hide-away headlights since the early 60’s. About 5 years ago, I noticed the creeping discoloration on the Corvette headlights. For some reason, the driver side headlight clouded much faster than the passenger side. They were both on the car since new! The car has HID headlights (which I love) so, even with some discoloration and “clouding”, they still produced enough light. New headlight assemblies are over $500 each and are color specific. (The color is inside and hard to alter). Since my car color is early-2005 specific, the chances of me finding the right headlights is small. But still larger than the chance of me dropping $1000+ on a set. I had them polished once by a detail shop, and later, about 2 years ago, by a dealer. The first one was okay, but not great. The dealer job? The service guy looked at the results and declined to charge me at all.  So recently, they were looking really sad. Although one generation old, the C6 Corvette still looked great – but the headlights looked like crap. I went to my local Automotive Paint supplier/job shop and asked for guidance. He suggested sanding to 1500 (600-1000-1500 progressive) then coating with a two-part spray can of a clear they sold. (special one-time-use can, pretty trick). I bought the stuff, but didn't use it.  
At the SEMA show last year, I had stopped by the OSRAM Sylvania booth to ask about new HID lights for our 5 ¼” 4-headlight systems. Still on a back burner, I’m afraid. But when I talked about the Corvette clouding, the rep gave me a new kit they had produced for Do-It-Yourselfers, like me. I had tried some of the headlight-specific polishes, Mothers, etc. with piss-poor results. So, yesterday being a perfect, high-70s, sunny Northern California day, I decided to try my hand at the headlights. I opened the OSRAM kit and took out the information and the array of products. It was basically like the Paint supplier had suggested with a few twists. Since I was doing them on the car, (removing them on the Corvette is a pain), I masked off around the headlights and got to work. The OSRAM kit had a solvent that you apply to soften the original UV preventative coating. You wash it off then begin the sanding routine. 600-1000-1500-2000 sandpaper (the 2000 being from the OSRAM kit). At this point, the headlight lens looked a dull white color. Then you apply a rubbing/polishing compound – OSRAM calls it “clarifying” compound - for a few minutes. A final application of the solvent, then a water rinse and dry. The OSRAM kit includes a liquid UV coating, probably a clear-coat paint of some type, which is applied via the edge of a folded paper towel (included in the kit) in a sweeping motion across the lens, with a slight overlap and a complete coverage.  Then they need to sit for a few hours to dry.  Well, I am happy to say that the coating dried clear and shiny. The headlights don’t quite look like new, but very close. Yesterday I got a car wash and the car looks great, as it should.  It inspired me enough to take the headlight assemblies off the Avalanche and do those! I finished them in the afternoon and they look great as well. So, if you have an 80s-90s-00s car where the plastic headlights have turned brown or yellow, this kit may be the easy solution, especially if you want to save a ton of money.  If I can do it, you can do it.  The kit costs about $20-$25 at your local Auto Accessory store (I don’t call them Auto Parts stores anymore!) 
– Seth Emerson

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        Posted by: Sethracer at aol.com        

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