<VV> Non-Corvair but headlight oriented

[Sethracer at aol.com]

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-9
0s-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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