yellow headlamps - does anyone rebuild/recondition them? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

texomawaves · 02-22-2012, 02:14 PM

I wanted to see if there were any options other than replacing them altogether. Thanks

Highlow · 02-22-2012, 03:50 PM

Mine were yellowing so I took them to the place that did my tint and they fixed them for me.

What they do is sand down the headlights with low grit sandpaper and then polish them with really high grit.

They aren't brand new but they look WAY better than before. (I wasn't expecting brand new on an 11 y/o car anyway)

$75 for both of them.

greenheckler · 02-22-2012, 04:10 PM

I bought the Turtlewax headlight lens restorer kit for about $10 at my local parts store and basically followed the instructions using old fashion elbow grease for about 20 min on my driver side light. Got rid of the "fog" and it is just about as clear as my passenger headlight which is in perfect shape. Definitely a major improvement.

Check out this hyperlink for some additional details if you wish to do it yourself.

Best Headlight Restoration Kit Reviews

rigofloresjr · 02-22-2012, 09:34 PM

I used the 3M Lens Renewal Kit on my wife's Jeep a few months ago and it worked great. It's a little scarry when you start sanding the lens, but amazing results. I have pictures if you're interested.

texomawaves · 02-23-2012, 09:52 AM

This isn't related to "foggy" lenses. The yellowing is on the inside lens and is common among the older Boxsters. There is some special heating process to separate the headlight housing (to access the lens inside). The inside lens (yellowed) needs replacement. I'm wondering if anybody knows anybody that does this.

amschnellsten · 02-24-2012, 08:33 PM

I have it and I think replacement headlights are the answer.

blk986 · 02-26-2012, 10:51 AM

I had a similar problem. The inner lens melted and looked really ugly. Since I thought the assembly was toast anyways, I decided to try a HID projector retro. For $300 and change, I couldn't be happier with the results.

Before:

After:

amschnellsten · 02-26-2012, 06:44 PM

Looks great, I still have the yellow turn lens lights still so I am just going to update.

texomawaves · 02-27-2012, 03:37 PM

wow blk986, nice pics, and thank you! They look great. Who makes them, and is it a DIY? I'm seriously interested in looking further into how you did yours. Chris

tuanle16 · 02-27-2012, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texomawaves

wow blk986, nice pics, and thank you! They look great. Who makes them, and is it a DIY? I'm seriously interested in looking further into how you did yours. Chris

yeah, i agree. looks awesome. a buddy on here tried to help me polish it out, but like you said, we think it's the inside lens. so maybe the HID upgrade is the best solution. i think i saw a post on here of someone doing it as a DIY, but was it hard? any huge mods needed besides the actual housing?

blk986 · 02-27-2012, 04:25 PM

I posted the details here:

http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/34106-dyi-hid-projector-install-instructions.html

Good luck. Let us know how they turn out.

kashmir · 03-01-2013, 06:07 AM

So, I've have been reading old post on what to do with my old yellow headlights. I think that heating and pulling apart the units is possible. Who out there has done this, I would like to hear from you.

blk986 · 03-02-2013, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kashmir

So, I've have been reading old post on what to do with my old yellow headlights. I think that heating and pulling apart the units is possible. Who out there has done this, I would like to hear from you.

I did this project a year ago, and the headlights are still going strong.