Google stated the pastic headlight lenses were first introduced in the early 1990's But the 78-79 dodge magnum has clear plastic headlight doors. Which technically are not the same thing, but they look and function the same. And was wondering what kind of plastic they used ? And can they be restored like modern car plastic lenses. And what's the best way to clean or restore 42 year old plastic ? Replacement lenses are not made, nos and Good used ones are expensive. Or just leave the headlight doors down? All suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
If it is like newer headlight buckets that yellow, you can wet sand them with 1000-2000 and polish them and then clear coat them if you want to protect them. If the plastic has yellowed all the way through, then you are stuck replacing them.
Don't forget to consider St Regis as they used the same covers except for no "XE" inside logo in front of each headlight and the add on external "Dodge" logo. I recently purchased a NOS set for a St Regis to keep as a backup.
I have lightly sanded them and polished it with McGuire's plastX and it's better. but I'm hoping for better. Its looks like it's yellowed all the way through. There's a video on YouTube that shows a yellowed plastic overflow tank soaked in a acid solution bringing the plastic back to pure white new condition again. Anyone know if this would work on clear headlight plastic?
I was told different. Have you tried to actually fit/swap them. SOrry, the video does nothing for me, as in convince me otherwise.
I looked at my St Regis NOS driver's side and found a completed listing on EBAY and compared. The inside bottom plastic chrome is about one inch deeper on the Magnum vs the St Regis one. My NOS width is 15 4/8" and 5 1/2" tall.
From what I recall, those clear covers were polycarbonate, the same tough plastic used in safety glasses. If you polish them you'll probably remove the hard coating but you can replace it with something like this: https://www.cerakote.com/shop/cerakote-coating/AH-CHLKIT00/cerakote-headlight-kit
Looks too easy in the video. And even though the magnum is almost 43 years old, I might try it. Thanks!
3M make a headlight restoration kit that works fantastic. Just about every parts store sells them. The kit uses a drill for the sandpaper pad and polish pad. I add a step, a good quality arousal clear coat after they are looking good again (just one more layer protecting the plastic from the sun). I have done this to a few family vehicles and several customers cars. The transformation is usually very dramatic and the results last a long time.
