Headlight Restoration

It was not long ago when headlights were simply designed one beam at a time. Then came, aerodynamics and the headlights were designed right into the car.

There is a problem with these aerodynamic units. Over time, they would lose its crystal clear finish. Instead of a clear lens, they would become yellow-ish and dull. It is not only bad for appearance, the beam bulbs would not be able to emit the kind of light they used to from your Volkswagen.

When this happens, it is time to restore your headlights.

There are two ways of doing this. You can do this yourself by buying a cleaning kit. Kits usually have a cleaning solution, a buff pad for a power drill or buffer and an after-clean solution to shine and protect the lens. Other kits usually have several attachments for your power drill for buffing out the fade and glossing it over.

Since all fading occurs on the outside of the lens, the first thing to do is to use the cleaning solution to get it off. Most likely, the faded “crust” will not all come off – but most will. The second part is to work harder on getting the rest of the “crust” off to become crystal clear. This is where the buffer comes in. Simply buff out the crust. Another coat of solution would work to get the crust or fade off. Then, the after-clean solution comes on. A buffer or a good polishing cloth would work to get that crystal clear lens to shine through.

If this does not work out – or would rather have someone else do it – the service department would be happy to do this for you. They could also check the condition of the lens to see if it could be restored through cleaning. If not, the worst case is to replace the headlight lens assembly.

If the lens is faded or yellowed, a simple clean would do. The beam should be as bright as the day it was first sold.

Bud Brown Volkswagen has all of the resources you need to get your old headlights back to factory specification. We can also do the job for you, by making an appointment with our service department.