General 500 headlight restoration

Baglady1990 · Nov 8, 2019

After my garage run today it stopped raining so I thought I’d give my headlight restoration kit a go...... I’ve made a mess ? I think because I was a bit tired but I started using the little 3 step sanding without lubricant...... so now my headlights look scuffed I bought the rainex kit and didn’t read the box properly (yeah yeah I know) SO how the F do I sort this? I got a buffing head for drill I got the rainex stuff but also got mothers mag do I just buff till my hand falls off!?

jrkitching · Nov 9, 2019

Don't be too hard on yourself; polishing plastic is much harder than the folks selling the kits would have you believe. It requires a degree of finesse on about the same level as installing a fibreglass roof.

I'd suggest you watch a few videos on youtube before trying again; there are loads out there. The key is not to let the surface of the plastic get hot, or it will change chemically and you'll end up ruining them completely. This means always using an appropriate lubricant, and not staying too long with the power tools in one place.

Ideally get a scrap headlight and practice on that first.

Having a decent random orbital sander/polisher would make the job easier. Remember also to protect the adjacent paintwork, or you'll have another problem to sort.

Baglady1990 · Nov 9, 2019

jrkitching said:
Don't be too hard on yourself; polishing plastic is much harder than the folks selling the kits would have you believe. It requires a degree of finesse on about the same level as installing a fibreglass roof.

I'd suggest you watch a few videos on youtube before trying again; there are loads out there. The key is not to let the surface of the plastic get hot, or it will change chemically and you'll end up ruining them completely. This means always using an appropriate lubricant, and not staying too long with the power tools in one place.

Ideally get a scrap headlight and practice on that first.

Having a decent random orbital sander/polisher would make the job easier. Remember also to protect the adjacent paintwork, or you'll have another problem to sort.

I’ve managed to sort it today it took me almost 2 hours with mother’s mag drill & buffing attachment [emoji23] didn’t look like I was getting anywhere at first ... but persisted and it all polished out! So looking much much better!

Gina500 · Nov 10, 2019

Hope it‘s better than before you started ;-)

John202020 · Nov 10, 2019

Need to do my Mazda ones they're not bad but have a general yellow cast to them as well as some slight fogging

Piccolo Nero e Bella · Nov 10, 2019

Are the FIAT lights prone to yellowing? This is my first car with polycarbonate lenses - my last car had real glass (it also had a choke knob!).

John202020 · Nov 10, 2019

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:
Are the FIAT lights prone to yellowing? This is my first car with polycarbonate lenses - my last car had real glass (it also had a choke knob!).

Most modern cars seem to to some degree, that said my old Accord was almost 20 with plastic headlights and it never had any issues, it was however built in the USA so might have had "California spec plastic"?
Noticed our 10 year old 500 is just showing slight signs

Piccolo Nero e Bella · Nov 10, 2019

Thanks John; something else to look forward to. If it's a UV issue then I won't be too worried as mine spends 90% of it's time in a dark garage but the UV here can be pretty damaging.

Baglady1990 · Nov 10, 2019

Mine had/still has slight haze and a few tiny chips from stones .... it’s such a tough job to do for me anyway [emoji23] even with a buffer n drill my drl look like there is slight moisture inside .. very very slight but it’s bugging me!! I know how to sort it but it’s bumper off job ? and I have a threaded screw right under car !!!!! Something else to sort what I’d love to do is replace ALL my front lights what I don’t know is what would be [emoji817] compatible some lux looking angel eyes on eBay

Piccolo Nero e Bella · Nov 10, 2019

Yeah, I want to remove the bumper this summer because I've got a blown fog-light and I want to fit an air horn to replace the anaemic little buzzer the car comes with, as well as find a way to fit a couple of driving lights.

What are "angel eyes"?

Baglady1990 · Nov 10, 2019

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:
Yeah, I want to remove the bumper this summer because I've got a blown fog-light and I want to fit an air horn to replace the anaemic little buzzer the car comes with, as well as find a way to fit a couple of driving lights.

What are "angel eyes"?

there are a few variants available I don’t think these will fit my 500 but there must be something out there that will [emoji23]

TrevC · Nov 10, 2019

Be careful. My wife's "facelift" 500C has projector style headlights and as I said in a previous post, they needed extra bright bulbs to make them as good as the pre-facelift reflector type.
Also, if you are in the UK, don't be tempted to buy HID or LED headlamp units to retrofit, as this is now an MoT fail.

stevo123 · Nov 10, 2019

"Also, if you are in the UK, don't be tempted to buy HID or LED headlamp units to retrofit, as this is now an MoT fail."

Hallelujah! I hate being blinded by chavvy HID's!

Baglady1990 · Nov 10, 2019

LED I knew about but HID I didn’t but yeah I’ll stay clear I’m desperate to upgrade I’ve done the bulbs but these headlights are D R A B

Ralf S. · Nov 11, 2019

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:
Thanks John; something else to look forward to. If it's a UV issue then I won't be too worried as mine spends 90% of it's time in a dark garage but the UV here can be pretty damaging.

It's all polycarbonate lenses that are affected. Fiat's headlamps are made by people who make headlamps, not just for Fiat.. so it's not going to be a Fiat problem in particular.

My old Stilo (15 years old now) is not toooooo bad but the headlights on that are small and relatively vertical. On the other hand, my sister's Nissan 2005 Murano, which has big and quite angled-back lights (like the 500) is pretty nasty for it.

Occasionally I give them a *hand* polish using a cutting agent (even T-Cut doesn't hurt them) which helps keep them clear-ish but doesn't really change the overall "fading" appearance.

I haven't found any miracle/wonder cure that converts a yellowed lens into the bright white and clear "like new" lenses of the adverts. If you find such a product, let me know.

Ralf S.

Baglady1990 · Nov 11, 2019

Ralf S. said:
It's all polycarbonate lenses that are affected. Fiat's headlamps are made by people who make headlamps, not just for Fiat.. so it's not going to be a Fiat problem in particular.

My old Stilo (15 years old now) is not toooooo bad but the headlights on that are small and relatively vertical. On the other hand, my sister's Nissan 2005 Murano, which has big and quite angled-back lights (like the 500) is pretty nasty for it.

Occasionally I give them a *hand* polish using a cutting agent (even T-Cut doesn't hurt them) which helps keep them clear-ish but doesn't really change the overall "fading" appearance.

I haven't found any miracle/wonder cure that converts a yellowed lens into the bright white and clear "like new" lenses of the adverts. If you find such a product, let me know.

Ralf S.

Have you tried mother’s mag ? It worked really well for me

John202020 · Nov 11, 2019

My Mazda lights have a yellow/smoked tint and very slight pitting/hazing might try a refurb kit for the hazing, though you can buy new lense covers cheaply, though that involves removing the bumper to remove the headlights

Baglady1990 · Nov 11, 2019

John202020 said:
My Mazda lights have a yellow/smoked tint and very slight pitting/hazing might try a refurb kit for the hazing, though you can buy new lense covers cheaply, though that involves removing the bumper to remove the headlights

I’m gonna have to do that anyway but prob spring now there’s some crap in 2 of my lights and misting in one drl any ideas how to unscrew a threaded star like screw? It’s under bumper [emoji848]

jrkitching · Nov 11, 2019

Baglady1990 said:
...any ideas how to unscrew a threaded star like screw? ...

These are called Torx screws; you just need a Torx screwdriver or screwdriver bit of the appropriate size.

Suitable screwdrivers &/or bits are widely available (just do a google search for Torx screwdriver); prices will depend very much on the quality of the product.

Sometimes (I can't recall seeing any on the 500, though) you'll encounter security Torx screws, which have a hardened point in the centre of the star to prevent the use of a normal Torx screwdriver. Just in case you do ever encounter one, this is a cheap and very useful bit set to have in your toolbox; it'll also undo most every other type of security screw you're likely to come across.

Ralf S. · Nov 12, 2019

The Mothers Mag looks like a metal polish.. which I guess must be similar to Solvol Autosol or similar. I didn't go that aggressive yet... I started on toothpaste, then tried Safe-T Cut and then Full Fat T-Cut and none of them do any damage or make toooo much of a difference, the way I polish it (by hand). I get the impression that all I'm doing is removing bugs and stuck on road grime, more than removing old polycarbonate.

I might dig out my old tube of Solvol and give that a try...

Ralf S.

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