My head lights were pretty dim on this '98 K2500 I bought a few weeks ago, so I thought I would try out one of those head light restoration kits that are sold by the car polish companies. I figured if I simply put in higher output bulbs, I would still have the faded lens issue to contend with anyways. So, do the job right and polish up those lens first - then see if you need brighter bulbs!

I ended up getting the Meguires headlight restoration kit and it works pretty good. For obvious reasons, I had to spend a bunch more time on the front lights than I did the rear lights due to all the crap that has been hitting the front of the vehicle during the past 13 years of use.

I casually worked on it for about 4hrs today. The passenger side required a bunch more effort than the drivers side did, but they are both fairly equal now. I did about 4 or 5 applications on the drivers side, 7 or 8 applications on the passenger side and only 2 applications on the rear tail lights. The tail lights didn't need nearly the same attention, plus considering the application of the tail lights I wasn't too worried about them.


Here's what you'll need if you want to do this kind of a light duty project:

1. Headlight restoration kit, available from most common autoparts stores. I chose the Mequires kit that had the liquid polish, buffing wheel/pad, and a micro fibre polishing cloth; but these kits are offered by many car polish companies.
2. Wash and dry your vehicle first. Get rid of as much crud during the wash as you can.
3. 3/8's drill with variable speed. I used a cordless.
4. Painters masking tape to protect your paint surrounding the lights
5. Beverage of your choice.
6. Music of your choice.
7. Dry location to do the work.

Read the directions on the kit. It's not rocket science and virtually impossible to screw up.

Enjoy the newly re-found bright headlights.

 

My headlights look pretty horrid, but I got the NAPA headlight restoration kit that has like a chalk stick... and it was horrendous... didn't do a thing. Plus, it didn't have directions.

If I wasn't selling my truck I'd be doing what you did

Thanks for the post by the way!

 

No problem! IMO, the entire point of these forums is to help each other find solutions.

I found that the Meguiar's kit worked pretty well. Companies like Meguiar's & Mother's spend a great deal of time making sure that customers find their products work well, so I felt pretty sure it would do the trick. Plus, I appreciated the fact that I could get multiple uses/applications out of each of their kits - and that wasn't an option with the 3M product that was available at the store I shopped.

Ya know, for a little bit of effort while enjoying a nice afternoon the results are impressive. Definately makes the truck look MUCH better than it did before I started, plus the increased illumination of the head lights is fantastic. So, it would certainly help a person get top dollar if they were selling their truck and cleaned up the headlights. Call it a face lift for $30.

Here are some links:

Meguiar's Direct Headlight Restoration Kit

https://store.mothers.com/product_in...roducts_id=218

3M

 

I used the Meguiars Plastix on the headlights of my '95 and it worked so good, that I did my taillights and the plastic lense for the speedo/tach and gauges in the dashboard!

 

I have always just used 400 then 1000 grit then soap and water, several coats of clear coat and like brand new. The clear coat has held up for 3 years now and hasn't faded a bit. But nice work though, good write up!