Tail light restoration

Hi again, my tail lights look to be original and are in good condition, but are a bit dirty and yellowed. I was looking for tips on cleaning / polishing these. I saw a post about hot soapy water and rice to clean the inside (followed by compressed air to dry) and I was considering the Novus plastic polish kit to clean up the outside lenses. Any tips appreciated.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

It was bleach and rice that I’ve heard for the inside and shake it thoroughly

 

Turn signal lamps are outboard, not inboard.

 

Excellent point, I'll swap them around. Thank you

 

...unless you prefer to have your brake lights in the outermost position possible.
- Dave

 

for the outsides, try mothers mag polish and/or maguires cleaner wax - don't think you need to buy another specialty plastic polish:

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

euro rear driving lights polished with mother's (after and before):

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I haven't tried and would test before risking, but have seen YT videos having yellowed Plexiglas parts soak in the sun in a glass jar filled with 12% hydrogen peroxide will clear the plastic.

Here's Adam Savage's technique:

 

I used the rice trick on the inside and machine polished the exterior with standard auto lack polishing compound medium and then fine. They came out better than the new aftermarket glass that I've bought from SF.

Best Peter

Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Rear Fog lights...

 

Could someone please describe this rice & bleach process? This sounds like a project I need to take on while my car is being painted.

 

This works great for removing surface yellowing on plastics, but probably won't do much for polyacrylate. Also, it's good to add a catalyst to produce the active species (iron salts or enzymes). I used it as a paste with a commercial soap (Vanish) and it worked wonders.

I'm also in the midst of renovating my taillights (GT4) and lightly wet-sanded them with 800-2000-3000 grit sandpaper to remove the scratches, then polished them with a small orbital sander. The result is really good, they shine like new!

 

Yes - You can have the lights any way around you prefer.

Factory correct though, is with the rear indicators / reversing lights on the outer edge, and the tail lights / brake lights on the inside, next to the rear licence plate recess - Even on US-spec 3*8 GTB's / GTS'

 

I did mine with Rice (brown rice it’s harder)and dish soap and warm water shake it around and rinse with cold water a lot let it dry upside down or blow it out

 

Hydrogen peroxide - I used it on an old set when the reverse lamp was yellowed and after a few days sitting in the sun they came out white/clear again. Bleach is harsh and might prematurely make the plastic brittle. HP is more of a gentle chemical reaction process.

 

Chemical formula for bleach is NaClO (or more complex when mixed with other elements) and the plastic used for those lights is probably C3 4546 from Akro-Plastic Acromid. If that plastic contains chlorine, it will effect and disintegrate over time.

 

Yes,
It could be a costly mistake. Hydrogen Peroxide works wonders.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The rice and bleach process was one I posted for the first time a few years ago and it was taught to me by my Dad many years earlier.

The basic concept is that the inside of the tail lights get dirt and debris in them over time as they are not air tight. This dirt is easy to remove with some light scrubbing but is on too much to be able to get at with just soap and water. The problem is that there is no way of getting your fingers or a brush in there to do the scrubbing. To solve this problem you can partially fill the light with some un-cooked rice and a solution of water, soap, and a little bleach (your formula may vary but I find that one to work well). Once filled you can manually shake the light and the rice sloshing around acts as a soft brush that will gently get into all the nooks and crannies that are otherwise impossible to reach. Once done the rice solution can be poured out and the dirt can flow out and eventually be rinsed away. It is genius in its simplicity and super easy to do. The same technique also works great on any container you may have with a small opening and hard to reach angles. I first used it on the coolant bottle of an old Alfa Romeo and it worked great to get built up scum out.

I hope this explains it.

 

I love creative ways to do things like this. Thanks for sharing your tip.

 

Just exercise great care in two areas, the back plastic shells are quite brittle at this age, so the Spring barbs retaining the metal light socket bridge are fragile.

As well as the three mounting studs into the housing, it's VERY easy to break the plastic surrounding the original assembly method.

Buying FOUR new ones, then gets you a good clean set!!


A Body Shop working on my car learned all this the hard way.
Agree on the Mothers Polish trick I use it on all my modern cars to clean headlights from hazing.

Works wel on Nambe bowls too!!