Restoring colour to tail lights.

[Silk]

The tail lights on my Volvo are not faded, the colour is there, the indicators are orange, brake and tail red, but they appear sand blasted and look to have no colour.



If I put some oil on they look a lot better. I use vaseline every 6 months. Then they look like this.

 

[Billbert]

A headlight polish kit will bring these back to 'like new'

 

[Colt45ws]

Yeah, I would try polishing them, then once they are looking nice and new, wipe them down with alcohol real good and clear coat them to keep that from happening for as long as possible.

 

[Silk]

Way, way too far gone for polish, because of course I've tried that. Gone a step further and sanded them 400 wet and dry, which got them a lot better. The surface is porous, the top surface would need to be ground to get down to the colour...for now vaseline does the job.

 

[555]

I'm use a "tire shine" product. My Tahoe has gray plastic trim and I use the tire shine on those areas and lights. Works great.

 

[Silk]

Yes, I've used quite a few products, but vaseline lasts longest. Furniture polish and oils, silicons etc.

 

[earlyre]

that's UV Damage. if you get them polished up you then need to apply a good UV blocking clear coat. basically what Colt45ws said.
a Good layer of clearcoat will last the longest. until mother nature sand blasts them again.

they originally had a layer of UV protection on them from the factory, but with years of use, that layer wears off, and you get the cloudy lenses we see so often anymore.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Time for a new set, really.

 

[Kira]

That's a '96 850 wagon, no?

 

[Silk]

Yes, 850 T5.

NZ has some of the highest UV in the world, in the car world it damages paint and plastics of all sorts, seatbelts too. New for a $500 car? Not likely, but used from another car that's been kept under cover, or one day I'll do a clear coat. Normally lenses just fade to clear, I've never seen this sort of damage before.

 

[meep]

U-pol aerosol clear coat on amazon.com has held up for 2 years plus for me with no fading or yellowing. It's not cheap but the UV protection seems legit on it. It was recommended here on Bitog, and it's the best headlight fix clearcoat I've seen. take the light off, lightly sand it with very fine grade or even XXX steel wool, then hit it with a medium coat, then a very fine coat.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Originally Posted By: Silk
Yes, 850 T5.

NZ has some of the highest UV in the world, in the car world it damages paint and plastics of all sorts, seatbelts too. New for a $500 car? Not likely, but used from another car that's been kept under cover, or one day I'll do a clear coat. Normally lenses just fade to clear, I've never seen this sort of damage before.


If you are keeping the car, yeah new. Have you tried Depo or other Taiwan brands, Ebay? Have a shop power buff and clear coat I agree.

Brake lights are a safety item, and it is a good thing to be noticed when braking.

 

[Trav]

A little late for this thread but anyway. You really cant polish 400 out, you need to use 3000 on an random orbit sander, they make Trizact disc in 3 and 6" that do a great job, finish with 5000 if you want (less buffing) then buff it out with an orbital buffer at about 1500 rpm or less with rubbing compound then swirl remover.
Microfiber wipe down with prep-all then alcohol and U-pol clear, they will look like new and stay that way for years.

 

[Silk]

They are so porose that you'd have to grind the top layer off, no sanding or buffing would do it. Come summer I'll give it a good buff and clear.

 

[Silverado12]

Wet sand with 600 grit (400 if really bad), follow up w/1000 and clear coat paint. A D/A sander is great if you have one, but not necessary. They'll look like new and last a long time.