[lcplpunk]

Howdy all,

I am looking for some clear 96-99 Sable headlights. I've found some on Ebay but they don't ship to APO addresses.


I am located in South Korea, but for shipping would be an APO address.

Thanks!

 

[KhanTyranitar]

Why not just polish yours with a top quality restoration kit? Rebright is what I use, simply amazing. It starts the same as other polishing kits, but it differs in that it actually replaces the UV blocking polycarbonate clear coat.

 

[T_swensen]

3M headlight restoration kit is where it's at! Waaay cheaper than a new set of headlamps. Just takes some time and a lot of masking tape.

 

[lcplpunk]

Thanks for the suggestions. Khan, where can I get this rebright kit?

 

[KhanTyranitar]

It looks like the Rebright store is offline right now.

This product would be an ok second best. It won't last as long as Rebright, but until they get their store back online, this will have to do.

Diamondite® Clear Plastic System Kit cleans, polishes, restores headlight lenses. Diamondite plastic polish scratch remover for headlights.

 

[danhasenauer]

The 3M kit works great, and the headlights are easy to remove from the car, and a lot easier to polish that way.

 

[lcplpunk]

Great, lemme see if Autozone has it.

 

[danhasenauer]

3M/Headlight lens restorer kit includes pad holder, 6 pcs. sanding disc, 4 pcs. finishing disc, Trizact disc, 1 oz. headlight lens polish and Buffing Pad (39008) | Headlight Lens Restorer | AutoZone.com

Cordless drill works great with this kit.

 

[lcplpunk]

Then I have to buy a cordless drill!

 

[T_swensen]

Just find someone with an air-powered sander. A corded drill is about $20 and will work just as well as a cordless. I bought one just to do my wife's lenses. I'm sure I will use it again when mine get cloudy.

 

[KhanTyranitar]

The problem with the 3M kit is it effectively strips away the protective coating on the headlamp. If you don't replace this coating, the sun will scorch the polycarbonate directly, meaning the lenses will fog much faster than they did the first time, and will discolor deeper.

You have to replace the protective coating to keep the headlights in good condition.

 

[lcplpunk]

hmm, 50 bucks on the Rebright kit or 100 for new headlights...

 

[KhanTyranitar]

hmm, 50 bucks on the Rebright kit or 100 for new headlights...

Looking at it wrong. The Rebright kit will do more than one set of headlights, and has a higher quality clearcoat than some OEMs use. A $100 set of headlights will have a low quality clearcoat, or no clearcoat at all.

The goal behind having clear headlights is not so much that they look pretty, but that they light up properly for maximum safety. So it is important that they stay clear.

 

[T_swensen]

The problem with the 3M kit is it effectively strips away the protective coating on the headlamp. If you don't replace this coating, the sun will scorch the polycarbonate directly, meaning the lenses will fog much faster than they did the first time, and will discolor deeper.

You have to replace the protective coating to keep the headlights in good condition.

Just put some wax on 'em. That is how you should protect uncloudy lenses in the first place.

 

[danhasenauer]

Just put some wax on 'em. That is how you should protect uncloudy lenses in the first place.

I wipe mine down with motorcycle helmet wax. Excellent UV protection formulated for plastics, and my refinished lenses look brand new still.

 

[KhanTyranitar]

Wax is a good way to protect the clearcoat, but it is not a good replacement for clearcoat. But I do like the wax idea don't get me wrong. You want something with excellent UV protection, especially if the car isn't parked in a garage or in the shade. The idea behind Rebright is that its a one-time treatment. The factory headlights on Ford use a cheaper clearcoat that wears through pretty easy and doesn't offer the best protection. Sometimes it flakes of because its thermal expansion rate is different from the polycarbonate.

The Rebright is tougher than the stock clearcoat. It is actually cured and hardened in place by UV rays. It has the same transparency and index of refraction as polycarbonate, so it is truly clear, and the idea is it can last 5 years or more on one application, longer if you take care of it.

 

[lcplpunk]

Alright, i just need the Rebright store to work now..

 

[KhanTyranitar]

The actual magic behind Rebright is the clearcoat, the rest of the kit is the same stuff you would find in any other kit.

I have several spare cans of the stuff. I might be willing to send you one. PM me for more details. I could also package up most of the rest of what you would find in their kit. The problem with shipping the stuff if I would need to send as a hazardous material (I need to declare that it has a flammable can of aerosol spray) I haven't done that before, so I don't know how that works.

 

[lcplpunk]

Ya, and there might be more restrictions sending to an APO address.

 

[KhanTyranitar]

I got in touch with the Rebright people, apparently their supplier has stopped making the smaller aerosol cans and are instead doing larger business oriented cans. I can part with one of my smaller cans. I bought several cans cause I wanted to restore all the headlights in my fleet, but ended up not needing them all. If I needed more in the future, that would be fine for me to get a larger can.