Hi all. I have an 04 C70. The driving lights seem to be foggy. When I look at them I cant see the bulb from the outside. I am wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to clear them up or if I need to buy a new lens. Are they made out of plastic or glass? Also the headlights are clear but do seem to have deep scratches on them. I am wondering if anyone has experience with this and how to either remove the scratches or if you need to replace the lights or lenses? Thanks for any advise

 

anyone??

 

Deep scratches will be hard work to get rid of completely. My advice is just to pony up and buy new ones. Could try a glass polish iirc cerium paste. Lenses for the jewel style lights are not available separate. Corner lamps are plastic and cheap. Fogs are glass, are they hazy on the outside or the inside? Mine were hazy inside. Two ten mil bolts and unplug to remove. Use some q-tips and a cleaner. Acid magic(safe acid) works well.

 

i belive they are plastic if so they make a kit at the parts store for that or you can go get a leveling compound from a auto body store and use a speedball on your drill

 

you can buy the kit at the store, but if you have the right stuff laying around you can really get a good shine on those headlights.

400 or 600 grit sandpaper
1000 grit sandpaper
1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper

You get the idea, start with the coarsest (which will take almost all of the yellow/haziness off) and use some soapy water to keep the sandpaper moving well on the lens. Spend about 5 minutes per side per grit and it will progressively become very smooth. Then use some rubbing compound, followed by some fine scratch remover or meguiars Scratch-X works awesome.

Then just buff the headlights well every couple months with regular wax to keep it looking good. It takes some time and some effort, but it's well worth it in the end.

If you're really feeling good about your skills, take that final scratch-x layer off with some alcohol and mix a 1:1 ratio of spar urethane with mineral spirits and apply with a 1/3 sheet of scott shop towel that has been folded down to about a 2x2 square. Use the smooth folded edge for application, not the edge with the loose ends, and "paint" a thin layer on top of your headlight. THIS WILL LOOK PHENOMENAL!!! but the headlight looks good if you just don't do this step, you'll just need to wax it often. The purpose of this last step is to increase the time it takes to reoxidize the plastic. Gives it a little protection.


I've also heard rumors of people using transmission fluid to remove the oxidation??? anyone know about that?

 

No yellowing on the headlights at all. they just look like they have some scratches which is why I am wondering if they are glass. Also the fogs/driving lights are not yellow but they do look hazy and not clear. I cant see through them. They might be fogged from the inside but I do feel they are rough from the outside. Are they glass?

 

If they are glass, I have a hard time thinking they would be scratched. I do the flick test- take your finger and softly tap the headlight in the same motion that you would flick something off a table. If it's glass you'll get a dull soft (almost inaudible) sound. If plastic, it will be much louder and have a lot of "pop" to it. If you upload a picture I could be more helpful. If it's glass usually it's condensation that's INSIDE the glass.

 

Here is a pic of the front.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15522403/fron1t.jpg

 

Thanks, have anything close up? I once owned a honda fit and both foglights were cracked and they fogged up like that. there must be a lot of debris flying around at the level of the fog lights. If you can inspect it really closely, you might see some cracks or chips where a rock hit the lens and cracked it. Also try the flick test, and you should be able to tell the difference between glass and plastic lense.

If they are plastic, you can polish them with the above method, unless they are cracked of course, which makes it much harder to fix.

 

Flicking it the headlights seem like they are glass and the corner lights seem to be plastic. The fogs feel like glass. I might remove them next week to try and see if it is from the inside but the outside feels rough. No cracks though

 

The headlights on my '99 C70 are glass. I assume they still are on your '04.