Just curious before I spend the money on a new set, is there anyway at all to restore the faded black grids on my tail lights or is there nothing that can be done? I've seen quite a few of T/A's with semi or completely faded grids so it seems as to be a pretty common problem.



Thanks!

 

Not sure about the grids inside but I had everything clear coated including the center piece with the bird and I gotta say it made a big difference. Looks like new.

 

Have you tried polishing them at all? Mine were pretty faded and I just used a plastic polish for ~10 minutes or so per light. I'm sure they could look really good if I spent some time on them.
Before;


After;

 

Wow those did come out nice.

The clear is starting to check on mine. I'll probably have to reshoot it

 

I say try some plastic polish first. If you don't like the outcome then you are only out about $10 bucks and a bit of time.

 

Ok guys, will do on the polish. Iansane yours came out great! I do think the grid is too far gone for the polish to make them look like new, but they may help enough to put off buying a new set for a little while.

Thanks guys!

 

Yeah, use plasic polish. No - you can't use it on the inside of the lense since the grids are painted on the inside. But that side is usually fine, it's the outside that oxidizes. Even one of those kits that clean the plastic lenses on headlights work.

 

It looks to me that in the OP's pic, the black grid has delaminated, its not faded. Polishing will not fix that problem.

 

Not sure how you can tell that with the lenses so oxidized. I bet when he polishes them, they'll look a lot better.

Hope the OP will post results?

 

I use a 3M foam waffle pad on my makita buffer and 3M perfectit for dark colors on my lenses every time I de-swirlmark my car..

 

hey guys, i read where a guy cleaned his headlight covers with toothpaste and it worked real well

 

Toothpaste is a mild abrasive, like rubbing compound and polish. It will work, but rubbing compound and polish are doing the same thing.