UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

My headlights had quite a few scratches and swirl marks (the passenger side also had one quite deep scratch) so following a recommendation from sam7wright I tried Meguiars Plast-rx polish with my DA polisher. Really pleased with the results and only took a few passes with the DA polisher.

Before
After

Driver side before After

impressive

Very nice results.

But by polishing, are you not scared about the fact of yellowing ? Because there is no more varnish to protect the plastic ?

Le_Combattant wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 5:46 pm Very nice results.

But by polishing, are you not scared about the fact of yellowing ? Because there is no more varnish to protect the plastic ?

I wasn’t but am now lol.

All the info I found on headlight restoration talked about applying a new clear coat after sanding and polishing. I thought that as I just polished rather than ‘sanded’ it wouldn’t have taken off all of the protective layer. I have however found this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123821292309

Is it worth applying just in case?

I wouldn't be in a rush to spray clear coat lacquer on them, especially as you've done such a good job on the restoration. What I've read it's more of an issue if the headlight has been wet sanded, and depending on the type of polycarbonate used in manufacture. You'd probably have to degrease the headlight with rubbing alcohol, and it's hard to tell how the paint would react.

Meguiars do a specific headlight protectant or 3M headlight cleaner and wipes should work, that's what I would use before any aerosol paint.

An alternative to clear coating the freshly restored headlamps, you could consider wrapping them with PPF. As far as I know, PPF should protect against UV damage and yellowing of the clear plastic on the headlamp, and should also provide protection against stone chip damage too.