Another Mustang question

Janis Sauncy · #1 09/15/06, 10:52 AM

I got so many suggestions about my Mustang problem last weekend, I thought I would pose another one to all you nice people........

My '91 Mustang's headlight assembly (both sides) need to be replaced BADLY! The present ones are "fogged" over (the term my mechanic used, although it isn't literally fog). I can barely see ahead of me when other headlights are coming in my direction.

Unfortunately, I am having a hard time finding them. I've tried a couple of junkyards with no results. My mechanic priced them new and he was quoted $150.00 EACH. I didn't pay much more than that ($300.00) for the entire car!!!

Is there a way to polish the inside/outside of the assembly to provide better illumination? Any suggestions to deal with what I already have on the car or suggestions as to where I can locate new/better used ones is greatly appreciated!

Janis

dodgewc · #2 09/15/06, 01:00 PM

I think Eastwood has a kit to polish fogged headlights. http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?i...emType=PRODUCT

Beeman · #3 09/15/06, 01:07 PM

You can try toothpaste. 3M and Mothers both make a product to clean those headlights. My daughters headlamps were yellow and dim. i tried both brands and the 3M worked the best. I bought mine at the NAPA store.

Janis Sauncy · #4 09/15/06, 01:27 PM

Dodgewc:

Have you tried (or know anyone who has) the product by Eastwood? I went to the link you provided and the before-and-after pictures they showed were impressive. The "before" picture definitely looks like my headlights! But, I'm hesitant to order a $35.00 (plus shipping) product without maybe hearing from someone who has actually tried it (you know, tight budget and all).

Beeman:

Again you come through! I think I will go in to town tomorrow to NAPA and pick up the one you recommended. At least I can try that before ordering the Eastwood product.

And the toothpaste suggestion.......years ago, in the days of the old hard plastic contact lenses, I used to use toothpaste on them and it worked very well. Not recommended by the optometrists, though!

Thanks.

**clovis** · #5 09/15/06, 04:50 PM

I would try toothpaste on them before spending any money on the Napa kit. The cost savings alone would be worth the time. My very strong guess is that you will need a paste, and NOT gel. The pastes usually have a small bit of grit/pumice in them that acts as a small abrasive.
Have you tried ebay for the headlight assemblies???
clove

BigBoy · #6 09/15/06, 05:23 PM

$77 each here.. Headlamps

Janis Sauncy · #7 09/15/06, 05:23 PM

I called NAPA and I was told they (my local store) don't keep 3M in stock but could order it from their warehouse. It comes as a cleaner and a polish. They can have the polish at the store first thing tomorrow (Saturday) morning but the cleaner comes from a different warehouse and will take a couple of days to come. I told her to go ahead and order the polish in for me (you're actually supposed to use the cleaner first, then polish) and I will see if there's any result from that. It will cost around $10.00. If that shows any promise, I will go ahead and order the cleaner, too (around $10.00). I figure the most I will be out, if I order both, is around $23.00 (including tax), but ultimately, I more than likely need to get the whole assembly. I called a couple more junkyards today and one said they don't have any used but can order new and the price he quoted me was $88.00 each. Still a lot of money but less than what I was first quoted. I suppose I could order one out of one paycheck and the other out of the next paycheck. Maybe not the best way to go but at least I should have good illumination out of one side.

My problem is, I have to drive my kids about 65 miles away (130 miles round trip) on a dark, mountain highway to meet up with my ex-husband for his every-other-weekend visitation. And, I have to do this on Fridays and Sundays. I lucked out this weekend because my two high-schoolers wanted to go to a football game and asked him if they could skip this weekend. So, I have to try and have something done by next weekend.

As for the ebay question: I thought about it and I think I will see what I can find there. I'm a little concerned about buying something sight unseen, though, and spending money on something that might not be any better than what I already have.

Janis Sauncy · #8 09/15/06, 05:29 PM

BigBoy:

Thanks, but I went to the link and the $76.75 headlight assembly is for the passenger side only. They offer the set for $221.75.

If I could get the set for $150.00, I'd be happy. (And, no shipping for orders over $50.00!)

Beeman · #9 09/15/06, 05:47 PM

I used the 3M cleaner and it works great, the polish isn't coarse enough. If NAPA doesn't have it try an auto body supply store (auto paint). For 2 headlamps it might be worth asking friends or stopping by an auto detail or body shop and see if they will sell you a film container full or possibly let you use a little of theirs on the spot, bring a soft rag with you.

Janis Sauncy · #10 09/15/06, 05:55 PM

Beeman:

Thanks! I'll go ahead and pick up the polish tomorrow, but am going to look in the yellow pages for an auto body shop. I'm not sure if the little town that NAPA is in has an auto body shop but will check it out. I appreciate the suggestion. If I can't find some cleaner that way, I will go ahead and have them order the cleaner, too.

But, oh, my ........in the "ads by Google," below the reply to threads here (I don't even know what everything is called), there were some links for headlight assemblies and other stuff. I clicked on the one link, which gave me a list of other links.....I clicked on the one for ReNew lens cleaner and got an ad for a cleaner/polisher.....with really cheesy music!

buck_1one · #11 09/16/06, 06:46 AM

Here is my two cents on the matter. Forget the cleaners and polishes. Sand down the lens to good clean un-oxidized plastic. Get a buffing kit from Sears and buff the lens back out to a smooth clear plastic.

I did the cleaner thing on my Subaru and the lens look like doo doo again. They looked great at first, but faded within a year. I sanded and buffed the lights on my 93 Mustang GT over a year ago and they still look like new. I have done the sand and buff thing on several different cars and the lens still look as good as the day I did them. It takes me about an hour to do both sides (sand and buff). Its a much better long term answer to the problem.

Buck

Janis Sauncy · #12 09/16/06, 09:32 AM

Well, if I can buy some time with the cleaner/polish stuff, at least then I can continue to look for the assemblies themselves. To be honest, once I get past the next couple of paydays (a couple of unexpected things came up, financially), I can look at buying the assemblies (the best price so far at $88.00 each).

As for the sanding and buffing suggestion: do you mean regular sand paper and is the buffing kit something I can get at NAPA? Where I live, NAPA is 12 miles in one direction and Sears is 25 in the other.

Thanks.

buck_1one · #13 09/17/06, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janis Sauncy

Well, if I can buy some time with the cleaner/polish stuff, at least then I can continue to look for the assemblies themselves. To be honest, once I get past the next couple of paydays (a couple of unexpected things came up, financially), I can look at buying the assemblies (the best price so far at $88.00 each).

Janis, here is my thinking on this. First, if you replace the assemblies you will need to have them aimed as well. Sometimes this can be hard to find someone to do it right. Second is the cost. $176 for both sides at the price you stated plus shipping, plus labor cost to have it done ( if you don't do it yourself) plus cost of aiming, plus the cost of all the cleaner and polish used to "buy some time". This could add up to more then a few hundrend dollars.

But if you sand and buff you may have $50 wraped up and a couple hours of your time. Plus this will bring them back to like new. So unless they are broken you don't need to replace the lens, or have them aimed etc, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janis Sauncy

As for the sanding and buffing suggestion: do you mean regular sand paper and is the buffing kit something I can get at NAPA? Where I live, NAPA is 12 miles in one direction and Sears is 25 in the other.

Thanks.

I don't know if you can get something like it at NAPA or not. I guess you could ask. I found it at Sears when I was getting more buffing compound for my bench buffer. It has four small containers of different buffing compounds (like different grits of sandpaper). It has a couple different sized buffing wheels that go on a drill. Pick the proper compound, put the buffing wheel on the drill and buff away.

As for regular sandpaper I'm not sure what you mean by regular. When I do it I use both dry and wet dry sandpaper. If that is what you mean.

Like I said I did my GT over a year ago and the lenses still look like they are brand new. And I do mean brand new. If you looked at them before and after you would swear I had replaced them. And yes it makes a huge difference at night. I really could not believe how much brighter the headlights were after I sanded and buffed

.

If you decide to do this I can tell you step by step how to, if you'd like.

Buck

Beeman · #14 09/17/06, 08:11 AM

Before anyone starts sanding their headlamps they should know what grit paper to use. I can just see someone sanding with 80 grit paper and trying to clear that up. I have never sanded headlamps but I would guess you would have to use 1000 grit wet or dry.

Janis Sauncy · #15 09/17/06, 10:44 AM

Ok, I went to NAPA yesterday and got the polish. I thought I would try that since I had already asked them to order it. While in NAPA, I asked the guy about how to remove the headlight assemblies, because I thought I had to do that to polish the inside also. He sold me a $12.00 metric wrench because I wasn't sure if I had the right size. Got home and had my son take one of the headlights out, which was a challenge in itself because there is very little room to work there. Then, when it was off, we realized it is all contained and you can't get inside the headlight!!! So, spent the $ for the wrench, and wasted my son's time (it's so valuable, you know).

But I did polish the outside of the headlights and, maybe it's wishful thinking, but they do look clearer. We turned on the lights and it seems there is more illumination. This was all done in the daylight, though, and I guess the proof won't actually be until tomorrow morning when I head out for work at 4:15 a.m.

As for the labor to install new ones, now that I have the right tool, we would try to do it ourselves. If not, the mechanic down the road would do it. His shop rate is $49.00 per hour and I can't imagine it taking any longer than that.

Oh, and the guy at NAPA gave me the phone number to a guy he says has several broken down Mustangs. I tried to call him several times yesterday but only got his voice mail and no return call yet.

We'll see........