I just started a "restoration" of my 2000 Jetta I bought 2 weeks ago. The headlights were looking pretty bad so I thought I would freshen them up and document it incase others were interested as well. Its pretty simple to do, took me about 2 hours, and has great results. Heres what I used, but you can use any combination of compound/polish and wax you would like. This is what I always use/had on hand and it did the trick well:
Bucket
Dishsoap
Plenty of micro fiber towels
1500 grit sandpaper
1000 grit sandpaper
Novus stage 3 heavy scratch remover
Mothers Powerpolish
Zymol cleaner wax
3m masking tape
Before:
Notice the heavy buildup of something peeling/growing/who knows in the bottom left corner here....it almost look like a clear coat was peeling or something.
Tape off around the headlights to protect the paint. I used a 1" strip around the headlights and then a 2" strip over that to protect a little farther. You can remove your bumper but I didnt want to go through the extra work and then deal with realigning everything. I also popped the hood so I didnt have to mask the hood/have better access to the top of the light.After that start with 1000 grit sandpaper, soapy water and start scrubbing! Make sure you get uniform coverage and keep the sand paper wet/clean to prevent heavy scratches. After working both headlights switch to 1500 grit and go at it again. I would do one headlight, clean it with the hose and then go to the next one. After the first headlight dried you could see spots you missed or parts that were still yellow and then you could go over that spot again.
Left sanded with 1000(still wet so in reality it wasnt that clear), right untouched:
Left with 1000, right with 1500 (both wet)
Bucket
Dishsoap
Plenty of micro fiber towels
1500 grit sandpaper
1000 grit sandpaper
Novus stage 3 heavy scratch remover
Mothers Powerpolish
Zymol cleaner wax
3m masking tape
Before:
Notice the heavy buildup of something peeling/growing/who knows in the bottom left corner here....it almost look like a clear coat was peeling or something.
Tape off around the headlights to protect the paint. I used a 1" strip around the headlights and then a 2" strip over that to protect a little farther. You can remove your bumper but I didnt want to go through the extra work and then deal with realigning everything. I also popped the hood so I didnt have to mask the hood/have better access to the top of the light.After that start with 1000 grit sandpaper, soapy water and start scrubbing! Make sure you get uniform coverage and keep the sand paper wet/clean to prevent heavy scratches. After working both headlights switch to 1500 grit and go at it again. I would do one headlight, clean it with the hose and then go to the next one. After the first headlight dried you could see spots you missed or parts that were still yellow and then you could go over that spot again.
Left sanded with 1000(still wet so in reality it wasnt that clear), right untouched:
Left with 1000, right with 1500 (both wet)
Last edited:
