Tired Taillights

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PistolGrip

PistolGrip

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Joined
Dec 8, 2005
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Location
Northern Kentucky
I've messed with a few old ( mostly 1960's) MOPARS & trudged through a few Kentucky & Ohio junk yards searching for parts. Give me a cigar & a machete & I'll go on a hunt. I enjoy that as much as some of my friends enjoy fishing or golf. Recently I came across a couple of '66 Barracudas with the obligatory tree growing through the engine compartments & other signs indicating they've been there for quite a while. I've pulled off a few pieces to experiment with and have become particularly interested in the challenge of restoring tired, faded, (but still intact) plastic red tail light lenses. They're faded to an almost pink color on the outside & are spider-webbed.
The insides are still as red as new. I've begun experimenting to find the best technique for removing the top, faded, spider-webbed part in order to make 'em look like new. I'm sure I'm not the first guy to take a shot at this - so rather than re-invent the wheel, I thought I'd ask what any of you have done. With all of this Corona virus thing going on, I thought it would be the time to do something productive. Anyone?

Junkyard rear & '66 taillights.jpg
 
I'm with you on "The Hunt"... I can't think of a more relaxing way to kill a day than to stomp through an old boneyard if I can find one. We're a dying breed.
That said, in the past I've had reasonable results with 0000 steel wool, wet sanding, and buffing/polishing compounds- how aggressive you get depends on how good the lenses are that you're starting with. With all the plastic headlight treatment/buffing kits that are out there now, it might make it a simpler process to deal with- especially since it's the same cloudy/discolored issues you're dealing with on the taillight lenses. Spider cracks may take more work though.
 
I'm with you on all counts. So far my best success has been 150 grit sandpaper, then 1500 wet/dry, then that plastic headlight polish stuff & they look OK. Now I'm getting greedy & looking for that mystery magic ingredient that will make 'em sparkle! I'm too tight to spend $90 - $100 each for re-pops!
 
My problem is if I make any one part of my car look too good, then the rest of it starts to look crappy!
 
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