Cloudy headlights are one of those things that can make an otherwise well-kept car look much older than it really is. Over time, UV rays break down the coating on the plastic lenses, causing them to turn yellow and hazy.
Besides affecting the appearance of your car, that oxidation can also reduce visibility when driving at night.
My project car is over 20 years old, so its headlights were long overdue for some attention. I’ve used restoration kits in the past (on a different car) that required several different grits of sandpaper and a lot of time and elbow grease, so I wasn’t expecting this one to be much different.
After trying the Cerakote Headlight Restoration Kit, I was surprised by how fast the process was. The oxidation removing wipes did most of the heavy lifting, and I was done just in time for dinner (about half an hour).
Inside the kit, you'll get eight oxidation remover wipes, four sanding discs, a sanding applicator to attach them to, two pairs of gloves, and two ceramic coating wipes. Thankfully, no extra tools were required, and the included gloves are helpful if you don’t already have a pair.
To protect the paint around the headlight, I first applied masking tape around the edges. Next, I used the oxidation remover wipes, which removed a noticeable amount of the foggy oxidation that had built up over the years. The first couple of wipes became completely yellow after just a few passes over the surface, making it easy to see how much oxidation they were removing.
Sanding is usually the part I dread the most, but after using the oxidation remover, there wasn’t much left to do. The kit comes with two grits of sandpaper that attach to the included applicator with Velcro, and I only had to sand for about 2 to 3 minutes with each grit.
Once the headlight was wiped completely dry after sanding, it turned cloudy again, but that’s a normal part of the process. Applying the ceramic coating wipe was easily the most satisfying part of the project, transforming the lens with just one wipe.
The difference was immediate. I could clearly see through the lens again, and it looked almost brand new. Seeing it from different angles, it was hard to believe I had started the restoration about half an hour ago.
After seeing the before and after side by side, I probably should have restored these headlights a long time ago. I knew they were cloudy, but I hadn’t realized just how much the oxidation had dulled them until I looked at the comparison photos. The difference was much bigger than I expected, especially considering the whole process only took about half an hour.
It made me realize how much life was still hiding under years of oxidation. Finishing something as simple as this made me excited to keep working on the car again. Sometimes the things we already have don’t need to be replaced—they just need a little care.
