2000 Mercury Grand Marquis headlight options

-Virgil-

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Mar 26, 2004
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The problem is, what you're polishing (the first time) isn't the lens material, the actual polycarbonate. It's the hard clearcoat that protects the polycarbonate from abrasion and UV-induced degradation. You sand that off and yeah, you can make the polycarbonate look nice...briefly. But now it's exposed, with no hard coat, and that is a death sentence for it. And no, "Plast-X" or any other such product isn't going to help.

More permanent results require a real, serious, UV-blocking, abrasion-resistant hard coat. The only kit with a hard coat worth messing with (i.e. long enough protection to be worth the effort) is this one, or good results can be obtained with this method.

Keep in mind, though, that the lens is only one part of the headlamp. Reflectors degrade with age, too, and there isn't a kit for that.
 

bykfixer

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Aug 9, 2015
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Dust in the Wind
It was the hard coat on my Lexus lenses that was the problem. Once removed they polished up nicely. So like polishing the paint, I just polish the lenses a couple times a year. And plasti-x does help them stay cleaner longer than not using it after a polish. At least it does where I live.
 

Alaric Darconville

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Sep 2, 2001
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Stillwater, America
It was the hard coat on my Lexus lenses that was the problem. Once removed they polished up nicely. So like polishing the paint, I just polish the lenses a couple times a year. And plasti-x does help them stay cleaner longer than not using it after a polish. At least it does where I live.
The hardcoat bore the brunt of the UV damage but you've removed it. If you don't replace the hardcoat with something decent, you are making your lenses more susceptible to UV damage. I can tell from your previously-posted pic that those lenses are suffering. Plast-X, unfortunately, ain't it.
 

Bitter

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Apr 12, 2015
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125
Another option would be to have a body shop sand them down to good bare plastic then finish sand them with 2000 grit, apply some plastic adhesion promoter, then clear with some 2K with flex additive . It won't be as hard as the original but long term that can be a somewhat good thing, smaller impacts have a harder time abrading away a surface with a little give to it vs one that is hard. If the OEM lamp isn't available and aftermarket are not either or are of such low quality then this is the way forward. You can do the sanding prep yourself and either deliver the whole car or just the lights to the body shop for the paint steps. They should come out looking very close to brand new so long as the poly carb isn't chequed and cracked and crazed. 2K clear is the same clear that goes on the body paint and has excellent resistance to UV damage over a long period of time and will allow the headlights to be coated and sealed in the same way that the body paint can be cared for. Extremely hydrophobic coatings, wax, whatever floats your boat. Certainly there is something to be said for having water, snow, and weather roll off your lights like water down a ducks back.
 
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