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Hi.

Having just had the front end of my car respayed due to some focker scuffing the osf wing, bumper and headlamp, I've also replaced the osf headlamp with a shiny new one.

So now I have one shiny new headlamp, and one 8 year old looking one!

Does anyone know if you can replace the lens of the unit by itself? Thus I could take off the lens, clean the reflector up and have matching lights again?

Cheers,

Andrew.

The headlamps are sealed. They are bonded then clipped. You can get the clips off, but unbonding them is tricky.

Also, the dullness of the reflectors is almost certainly not due to dirt but to oxidation and environmental tarnishing. Trying to clean them would probably make them worse, I'm afraid

Perhaps buy a new headlight and flog the old one since there's nothing "wrong" with it?

Probably good suggestion - thanks Shop.

You can wet sand and polish the lenses.

Might have a go at that if can find some fine enough grade paper or compound...

I was thinking about your comment Shop - if the units are sealed how could the reflectors oxidise this much? there must be a vent of some sort?

drybeer wrote:Might have a go at that if can find some fine enough grade paper or compound...

I was thinking about your comment Shop - if the units are sealed how could the reflectors oxidise this much? there must be a vent of some sort?

You can take the lenses off but is it a right pain in the arse, do a search for the joey mod.

drybeer wrote:Might have a go at that if can find some fine enough grade paper or compound...

I was thinking about your comment Shop - if the units are sealed how could the reflectors oxidise this much? there must be a vent of some sort?

What exactly is the problem? The lenses or the reflectors? Polishing the lenses won't help with dull reflectors.

The units are sealed but not perfectly airtight. The heat of the bulbs and the UV from the sun breaks down the laquer covering the metalised coating of the reflector and allows it to oxidise and pit, making it less reflective.

Here is the joey mod, but I'm not sure what it's for. Colour coding non-reflector parts of the headlights?

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?1567138

Make sure you remove the motors before putting your headlights in the oven

My mate has had a go using the Turtle Wax headlight restoration pack with pretty decent results. There is also a video on You Tube of some American guy doing his, also looks like he got a decent result.

Obviously this is only going to resolve the issue if its external discolouration.

Shoppinit wrote:

drybeer wrote:Might have a go at that if can find some fine enough grade paper or compound...

I was thinking about your comment Shop - if the units are sealed how could the reflectors oxidise this much? there must be a vent of some sort?

What exactly is the problem? The lenses or the reflectors? Polishing the lenses won't help with dull reflectors.

The units are sealed but not perfectly airtight. The heat of the bulbs and the UV from the sun breaks down the laquer covering the metalised coating of the reflector and allows it to oxidise and pit, making it less reflective.

Here is the joey mod, but I'm not sure what it's for. Colour coding non-reflector parts of the headlights?

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?1567138

Make sure you remove the motors before putting your headlights in the oven

Hi Shop.

The lense is a bit stone chipped, and the reflector simply looks a bit dull in comparison to the brand new one.

Both things combined make the older lamp look, well, a bit old.

I've ordered one of these to make a simple job of the lense...

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/megu ... riant=4835

It should arrive tomorrow and I'll get some pics up.

My lenses are both looking the worst for wear at their tops , as if they have been roughly sanded , in appearance , actual glass is smooth , just obscure (