[Shotimes] Yellow Headlights

[Herman Anker]

The reason unprotected polycarb goes yellow is UV rays. Plastic headlamps have a special UV & anti scratch coating on the outside. This coating is relatively frigile and will dissolve by usage of what you normally would use on glass (ammonium based cleaners like Windex), or paint claeners with petroleum based solvents. Other strong liquids like laquer thinner will not only remove UV coating, it will start disintegrate polycarb.

In real life, it doesnt really take more than a trip to a detailer to get coating removed, think about that!

I think Ford skipped anti scratch treatment to plastic headlamps. I have done a test with sand paper, and they are not any better than plain construction quality lexan sheet. One of the few headlamps front glass out there today that I have found today is actually VW Golf IV. They seem to hold up much better than average!

Donald Mallinson wrote:

> I wish we had a for-sure reason why some headlights turn
> yellow and others do not.  The lenses on my '89 are still
> original, and are like new other than the sand blasting that
> puts tiny chips in them.
>
> I have never had headlights yellow on me, but my son's '95
> are both going bad.