Headlite Lense Restoration

[icanfixall]

For several years my headlite lense have been yellow. I have tried differant repairs in a bottle with little luck.. Well I got some Maguires polish, powerball and 4 differant grades of wet and dry sand paper. It was a kit. Start with the number 1 grade paper and continue up to the number 4 grade. Each grade is finer than the rest. Then some liquid pate on the power ball and drill it in. Not a high speed drill but a variable speed drill. Works out great. They look new again finally. Before it was nearly impossible to see without the high beams on.. I even have the headlite mods with the relays installed. That helped by allowing more power to reach the lites instead of it all going thru the headlite switch... Thats thw wrong way for the power to reach the lites. They draw so much power that sometimes the headlite switch plug melts. Worst caes it will start an under dash fire... Many trucks have been lost due to this problem. A few years back a member here had just gotten home and parked his truck... About 15 minutes later his neoghbor was pounding on his door to tell him his truck was on fire... Lost that rig... Sad too cause it looked like a rally nice rig in the pics...

 

[gdhillon]

I wasnt aware that the problem caused fires, the relay mod just jumped to number one in my list

Edit: heres the link if anyone is looking for the lmc kit
http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fd/full.aspx?Page=66

 

[Dave 001]

I've done several sets of head lights now and think I've got the process down to the minimum amount of time while still gertting excellent results.

I used the Mothers kit for the first set I did......it takes FOREVER (all day...10 hours if you want a great job) doing it their way. But that experience taught me what was going on and how to do it.

Now I do it my way......I use an air powered "jitterbug" with 600 grit wet/dry paper, then 800 grit, then 1000 grit with a trickle of water running down the lense the whole time to wash away the dust.......just like wet sanding a car. After that I finish with the Mothers power ball and polish. Doing it this way, I can get excellent results in only about 2 hours....not 10 hours by hand. (I DO NOT recommend using an electric sander with the trickle of water.....you could electrocute yourself....that's why I used the air powered jitterbug.)

My Ranger head lights were so bad, I actually started off with 180 grit to aggressively remove the layer of "dead" plastic. Then proceeded as above. I also went back and did the first car again my way and got much better results then the first time I did them by hand.

When I recently had my gauge cluster all apart, I did that lens too......it now looks unbelievable, just like brand new. Having always bought used vehicles, I never had a gauge cluster looking so good.

Dave

 

[franklin2]

I have noticed that too, a lot of the kits assume you are starting with a "cloudy" headlight lens, but most people wait till the lens is actually rough and pitted before they decide to do something with it. The kit will make it look better, but you have to be brave and really cut it down with some rougher grit paper and then work your way up. And it does take a long time to do it.

The headlight switch has been a problem on these trucks for years, and that's also why they sell new wiring pigtails at the store, along with the switches. A new switch will fail very soon unless a new plug is used also. And even though the headlight relay kit will take a lot of the load off the switch, the marker light circuit is still a problem. A kit is not offered for this part of the switch, but you could wire a relay in without too much work.

I believe the marker light wire(the tan/white going to the switch) is probably the cause of more fires than the headlight circuit part of the switch. I see it over and over on the other board, people lose their marker lights all together because the tan/white has melted completely off the headlight plug terminal. Just fixed a f350 a couple of weeks ago for this problem.

 

[sandrow]

JUST USED THAT KIT Awesome results keep putting the sandpaper on till it is white as can be

 

[79jasper]

The problem is, the UV coating yellows, and that's what you sand off. This thread covers it http://www.oilburners.net/forums/sh...ng-a-UV-clear-coat-to-protect-your-Headlights!

 

[idi_econoline]

Thanks for a timely thread. Got the LMC sealed-beam relay/harness kit, will be getting ceramic 9007 sockets and upgraded relays. Front piece with the factory-optional lenses (most often seen on ambulances and E150 conversion vans) was an easy find, but it needs a good polishing, for sure.

Didn't know that the marker light circuit is also an issue. Definitely putting a relay into there before I next plug in my travel trailer. Like a DOZEN MORE marker lights, right? (Even 194s add up, right?)

 

[franklin2]

The factory actually added a marker light relay on the dually trucks, because of the extra lights on a dually pickup. The dually doesn't have but like 6 extra lights? So the marker light load on the regular pickups must have been close to the limit when they designed it.

 

[79jasper]

The factory actually added a marker light relay on the dually trucks, because of the extra lights on a dually pickup. The dually doesn't have but like 6 extra lights? So the marker light load on the regular pickups must have been close to the limit when they designed it.

Really??
Would it be under hood or hidden under the dash?

 

[franklin2]

I am assuming it's under the hood, but I am not sure. It's hard to keep track of small relays like that. The factory like moving stuff like trailer battery charge relays and towing relays all over the place from year to year, and it's hard to keep track of it.

 

[79jasper]

Yeah, with ford, no telling.
Does anybody know what year ford started using a headlight relay?

 

[laserjock]

The 3M kit works pretty good. It comes with a new UV protectant that I am pretty sure is just wax. Without it, I went a couple years before doing it again. Wax once in a while cant hurt.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

i have read that this relay harness is WAY better than the LMC harness.......

http://www.rjminjectiontech.com/products/headlight-harness

 

[79jasper]

I used the turtle wax brand kit. I guess if you store the protective wipe pretty good, it may actually work. The first time I used it, it last a year. The second car I used it on only lasted a few months.
I want to try want one of the types you use a drill with. The hand kits cause too much finger fatigue. Lol

 

[ah1988ford]

I used the 3m kit it helped a bit, still a little yellowed.
Btw I read somewhere to use tooth paste and it actually worked and remove a few layers of yellow, not as well as the kit though.
Its the cheap ******* way of doing it lol.