Headlight restoration
Headlight restoration.
At five thousand feet the light is harder and the lenses haze faster than they do at sea level. Yellowed housings get sanded back and polished until the lens is clear again and the beam throws where the reflector aimed it.
CodeHMD-68 FinishGunmetal Silver ServiceHeadlight restoration
CodeHMD-69 FinishPearl White SectionWhat the job is
What is in it, and what is not.
What the service covers
- Both lenses, wet sanded backThrough the oxidized layer in stages, finest last. Skipping a stage leaves the sanding marks in.
- Polished until the lens is clearClear, not just brighter. A lens that is only polished a little goes yellow again by spring.
- A UV sealant on the finished lensBare polycarbonate with no protection hazes again fast, and at this altitude it hazes faster.
- The surrounding paint and trim, maskedTape goes on before anything touches the lens. Sanding a fender is not a repairable mistake.
- Fog and driving lamps, if they have hazed tooSame lens material, same problem, and they are usually further gone than the headlights.
- A wash of the front end afterwardsSanding residue does not get left on the bumper for the next rain to streak down it.
Not in this one
- Cracked, chipped or leaking housingsA crack lets water in and polishing will not close it. That lens needs replacing.
- Condensation inside the housingThe problem is a failed seal behind the lens, so working the outside changes nothing.
- Bulbs, wiring and beam aimWe clear the lens. Anything electrical or aimed is a mechanic's job, not ours.
- Coated lenses that have started to peelSome factory coatings flake rather than yellow. We will look and tell you honestly.
- Interior or exterior cleaningThis is the lenses on their own. Book it with a wash if you want the car done too. Full detail
CodeHMD-70 FinishGunmetal SectionTime and cost
How long it takes, and what it costs.
- How long
- Told to you on the phone It is one of the shorter appointments, but a lens that is fully clouded through takes more passes than one that has just gone dull.
- What it costs
- No price list Two lenses on a small hatchback and four hazed lamps on a truck are not the same job, so there is no single number to post.
- What decides it
- How deep the haze runs Surface yellowing comes back in a few passes. Oxidation all the way through takes longer and we will say which it is.
- Who it is for
- The car that is dim on a county road The bulbs are fine. The light is being stopped on its way out of the lens.
Slot — photography
PHOTO — one headlight done, one not, same car, straight on. The one shot this page actually needs. Nothing here yet, and we would rather show an empty frame than someone else’s stock photograph.
CodeHMD-71 FinishDeep Forest Metallic SectionThe other six chips
The other six.
CodeHMD-72 FinishCandy Red SectionBook the visit
Book the headlight restoration.
- Tell us
- The car, and what has been living in it
- Hours
- Every day, 8am–6pm
- Where
- Your driveway or your office lot — there is no shop to visit
- Or write it down
- The booking form