Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: ted_one on 02 August 2015, 15:17:47
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Just spent the morning trying to clean up the headlamp lense surfaces on all three cars using Uncle Pooters headlamp sauce etc and the result was disappointing to say the least...so I have come to the conclusion that all six units are Fubared! ...also tried a headlamp polishing kit and still they look like poo.So thinking about replacing them all and just need to know of anyone who can point me in the direction of a supplier who isn't going to talk telephone numbers for them TIA :y
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Persevere... Wet and dry is your friend initially ;)
Mine were yellow and came up like new after a lot of perseverance and elbow grease! Plus an electric polisher ;)
Make sure you mask off the adjoining panels though!!
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Have a chat with ianu he's the master at it with his little da machine :y
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Must admit ken I am with LD on the wet and dry as mine were yellow initially. it does take a while to get the desired results but you do have to persevere :y
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-OMEGA-10-1999-08-2001-DRIVERS-SIDE-HEADLAMP-HEADLIGHT-XENON-D2S-H7-/131512535630
I fitted one of these and an OE one the other side. The Ace one appears just as good, in fact the plastic adjuster was already broken on the OE lamp! Also the Ace lamp appears to have a removable lens, with steel clips around the edge, which will be useful when the adjuster goes. :y
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Did a similar project on mine ,Ken,sometime ago now.
I found it better to take the entire headlight unit from the car.If the adjusters are bust its the perfect time to remove the entire lense and replace the busted bit of plastic.Whilst lense is off car and easy to handle you will be surprised how quickly they can be restored ,both inside and out.
Far easier than trying to do on the car with the risk of catching the paintwork and you can get lamp/or lense,at the best working height and position.
Replacing HID,s with anything half decent on 3 cars will be remortgage time even using the Denso or similar manufacturer.
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Thanks all,just looking at them seems like they are all done in and in all honesty I can't see them coming back to life,almost looks like an original protective coating has been damaged in a previous life,but seeing that I'm now a man of leisure I guess I'll have to give it a whirl,but I'm seeing my Omega consultant (AKA... HKT) 8) on Thursday and I'll get a second opinion as to wether they are savable or if they're heading off to the nearest skip :-\ ::)
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3M kits work well, the key is the grade of abrasive that you start with - the first sanding is quite brutal but has to be to take the lense back to undamaged plastic
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I will have a second look at them, but I don't know wether they've been worked on in their previous ownership,and from what I've been told they can only be done a couple of times before there's nothing viable to work with.....could be wrong on that,so if anybody can verify that would help greatly.....not much point in chasing my tail if it's going to be a wasted effort by fubaring them completely :-\
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Persevere... Wet and dry is your friend initially ;)
Mine were yellow and came up like new after a lot of perseverance and elbow grease! Plus an electric polisher ;)
Make sure you mask off the adjoining panels though!!
:y :y :y
Keep at it with the wet and dry , then polish them up and repeat till shiny . Ive done the wet and dry on mine 3 times , a bit at a time by hand or if your brave a polishing mop ::)
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If you were closer, I'd do them for free - Only takes 20 minutes a side with a machine polisher.
I've revived lenses which looked like they've been in a pond for years. :y
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I have had amazing success with 3M kit. I was sceptical, even when doing it, right up to the final polish.
I need to do the Bullet now, as TBE's has really made the Bullet's look bad. Not sure there is enough stuff left in my 3M kit to do another pair, but I'll give it a bash :). I'd certainly buy another 3M kit if needed, based on my experiences. It comes with multiple grades of paper and some paste and a foam type polisher (designed for use in drills)
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Right then.....I'd better crack on and give it some welly :y
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https://youtu.be/Ji96xmAZtNo
Watch this German guy repairing it with machine...dry only, mine are still waiting for polishing
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Just watched it.....quite amazing :o was that in real time? if so,then I've got to get me one of those :y :y
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I have had amazing success with 3M kit. I was sceptical, even when doing it, right up to the final polish.
I need to do the Bullet now, as TBE's has really made the Bullet's look bad. Not sure there is enough stuff left in my 3M kit to do another pair, but I'll give it a bash :). I'd certainly buy another 3M kit if needed, based on my experiences. It comes with multiple grades of paper and some paste and a foam type polisher (designed for use in drills)
Is this the one you have, TB? Mine could do with a good sort out!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/111207179283?hlpht=true&hlpv=2&rlsatarget=&adtype=pla&ff3=1&lpid=122&ul_noapp=true&limghlpsr=true&ff19=0&device=c&chn=ps&crdt=0&ff12=67&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff14=122&viphx=1&ops=true&ff13=80
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
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I have had amazing success with 3M kit. I was sceptical, even when doing it, right up to the final polish.
I need to do the Bullet now, as TBE's has really made the Bullet's look bad. Not sure there is enough stuff left in my 3M kit to do another pair, but I'll give it a bash :). I'd certainly buy another 3M kit if needed, based on my experiences. It comes with multiple grades of paper and some paste and a foam type polisher (designed for use in drills)
Is this the one you have, TB? Mine could do with a good sort out!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/111207179283?hlpht=true&hlpv=2&rlsatarget=&adtype=pla&ff3=1&lpid=122&ul_noapp=true&limghlpsr=true&ff19=0&device=c&chn=ps&crdt=0&ff12=67&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff14=122&viphx=1&ops=true&ff13=80
Yeah, but far cheaper prices than egay. Mine was around £20 delivereed
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£16.97 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/3M-Headlight-Restoration-Discoloured-Headlights/dp/B0078IHJ1K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438627791&sr=8-1&keywords=3m+headlight+restoration+kit
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Plus there's a discount code on Amazon (today only) BIGTHANKS gets £10 off £50 spend.
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
They are a very expensive way of buying wet&dry and some rubbing compound.
A tube of G3 is £8 at Halfords, and will be enough to do more cars than you own. Add a couple of sheets each of 1000, 1200 and 1500(if you're feeling extravagant) wet&dry paper and you'll struggle to spend a tenner.
You will do each car under an hour.
They're not big enough to be worth doing by machine.
I don't see any need to remove them from the car either.
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-OMEGA-10-1999-08-2001-DRIVERS-SIDE-HEADLAMP-HEADLIGHT-XENON-D2S-H7-/131512535630
Yes, not cheap, but mine look like new lamps now.........Oh! they are. ::) ;D ;D
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
Bottle of T-Cut - £6.99
Couple of old T-Shirts - Free
Bucket of Elbow Grease - Free (Apart from aches and pains later on! ::) ;D)
Job jobbed! :y
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
They are a very expensive way of buying wet&dry and some rubbing compound.
A tube of G3 is £8 at Halfords, and will be enough to do more cars than you own. Add a couple of sheets each of 1000, 1200 and 1500(if you're feeling extravagant) wet&dry paper and you'll struggle to spend a tenner.
You will do each car under an hour.
They're not big enough to be worth doing by machine.
I don't see any need to remove them from the car either.
Also open bonnet, remove headlight trims, no need for masking tape.
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
Bottle of T-Cut - £6.99
Couple of old T-Shirts - Free
Bucket of Elbow Grease - Free (Apart from aches and pains later on! ::) ;D)
Job jobbed! :y
T-cut isn't man enough for any but the most lightly clouded lenses, as its not adbrashive enough
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
Bottle of T-Cut - £6.99
Couple of old T-Shirts - Free
Bucket of Elbow Grease - Free (Apart from aches and pains later on! ::) ;D)
Job jobbed! :y
T-cut isn't man enough for any but the most lightly clouded lenses, as its not adbrashive enough
Maybe it depends on the headlight. :-\
I cleaned up a pair of yellow opaque headlights on a Hyundai for a friend with T-Cut recently. :y
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Let's not forget something. The reason they go 'Lellow' is because they have lost their UV repellent properties.
You can spend all day cleaning them to a 'mirror finish' but it won't last long without some protection.......
So what do we recommend for this?
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Gtechniq Crystal Laquer.
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303 Aerospace Protectant at just over £10 on eBay/Amazon.
One bottle should last the life of the car if just used for the headlights that is.
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Gtechniq Crystal Laquer.
Interesting :y
Can't complain about Gtechniq products I use the G1 glass nano coat repellent lasts around 8 months much better than RainX :y
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Let's not forget something. The reason they go 'Lellow' is because they have lost their UV repellent properties.
You can spend all day cleaning them to a 'mirror finish' but it won't last long without some protection.......
So what do we recommend for this?
They have no uv repellent from new. They certainly don't leave the factory lacquered ::)
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Drove past a vectra bull nose yesterday and the headlights
were so yellow , wanted to stop and start standing them ;D Is it a vauxhall thing
this yellowing :-\
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Drove past a vectra bull nose yesterday and the headlights
were so yellow , wanted to stop and start standing them ;D Is it a vauxhall thing
this yellowing :-\
Nope... look at any poorly kept middle aged car and you'll see signs of it :y
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Drove past a vectra bull nose yesterday and the headlights
were so yellow , wanted to stop and start standing them ;D Is it a vauxhall thing
this yellowing :-\
Nope. Go to any hot country and every single car more than about 2yrs old will have cloudly headlights. The japs seem particularly bad.
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Ah , well they need to get sanding then or more like shelling out £200 a headlight :(
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Gtechniq Crystal Laquer.
Interesting :y
Can't complain about Gtechniq products I use the G1 glass nano coat repellent lasts around 8 months much better than RainX :y
have you tried the g5 and do you prefer the g1? their website recommends g5 for perspex but seems to say the g1 lasts longer (on glass anyway).
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
They are a very expensive way of buying wet&dry and some rubbing compound.
A tube of G3 is £8 at Halfords, and will be enough to do more cars than you own. Add a couple of sheets each of 1000, 1200 and 1500(if you're feeling extravagant) wet&dry paper and you'll struggle to spend a tenner.
You will do each car under an hour.
They're not big enough to be worth doing by machine.
I don't see any need to remove them from the car either.
Apprentice lad purchased a kit by Quix (or summat like that) and I couldn't agree more. Cutting compound and a couple of sheets of wet n dry.
Did it work? Nope. Still looked shit
I shall do what you say Nick and get the cutting paste and the sheets of wet n dry from hellfrauds. Hopefully with a TC card it will be cheaper still!
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*edit
Rubbing compound not cutting paste. . .
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I only mentioned Halfords to give some idea of the retail prices. Your trade suppliers will be much cheaper, and you can probably find the compound at work. You don't need very much!
Always use wet&dry on a block, otherwise you'll sand valleys into the surface with your finger tips. Sand in a criss-cross pattern with plenty of soapy water.
It takes seconds to protect the bumper and wing edges with masking tape, and it's really annoying to mark the bumper when it's easily avoidable. Ask me how I know this, and don't look at my car ;D
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:D
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Gtechniq Crystal Laquer.
Interesting :y
Can't complain about Gtechniq products I use the G1 glass nano coat repellent lasts around 8 months much better than RainX :y
have you tried the g5 and do you prefer the g1? their website recommends g5 for perspex but seems to say the g1 lasts longer (on glass anyway).
Not tried the G5 was tempted to try putting G5 on top of G1 awhile ago but never got round to it. G1 works best 50mph+ where as G5 apparently works from a lower speed with durability being its downside but still lasts much longer than RainX etc..
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Gtechniq Crystal Laquer.
Interesting :y
Can't complain about Gtechniq products I use the G1 glass nano coat repellent lasts around 8 months much better than RainX :y
have you tried the g5 and do you prefer the g1? their website recommends g5 for perspex but seems to say the g1 lasts longer (on glass anyway).
Not tried the G5 was tempted to try putting G5 on top of G1 awhile ago but never got round to it. G1 works best 50mph+ where as G5 apparently works from a lower speed with durability being its downside but still lasts much longer than RainX etc..
I tried G1, and wasn't impressed: it doesn't work any better than Rain-X and is much fussier to apply, although it does last much longer. I won't be buying anymore, as I find a £5 bottle of Rain-X lasts me about 18months across 4 vehicles which is much better value. The G4 intensive glass cleaner is pretty good stuff though.
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Frigg me!!that's going to be north of eighty quid for my three ::) but conversely £700+ for six new headlight units,a no brainer I guess :-\
They are a very expensive way of buying wet&dry and some rubbing compound.
A tube of G3 is £8 at Halfords, and will be enough to do more cars than you own. Add a couple of sheets each of 1000, 1200 and 1500(if you're feeling extravagant) wet&dry paper and you'll struggle to spend a tenner.
You will do each car under an hour.
They're not big enough to be worth doing by machine.
I don't see any need to remove them from the car either.
Apprentice lad purchased a kit by Quix (or summat like that) and I couldn't agree more. Cutting compound and a couple of sheets of wet n dry.
Did it work? Nope. Still looked shit
I shall do what you say Nick and get the cutting paste and the sheets of wet n dry from hellfrauds. Hopefully with a TC card it will be cheaper still!
Next time you're passing, swing by, and I'll show you the difference between before and after using 3M kit (one headlight on TBE was as bad as the Bullet's lights). Took approx. 30mins per headlight.
(I'm not advocating the 3M kit - its worked wonders, but £17 with enough stuff to probably do 2-3 headlights, isn't cheap, though I guess I can get some replacement paper from somewhere?)
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Why would you need to do what mark says in the second post :-\ :-\
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90515.0
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Belts and braces... Saves whacking the washer jets with the lamp unit ;)
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Belts and braces... Saves whacking the washer jets with the lamp unit ;)
:y
I take it you can unplug the Bulbs once the unit is pulled out a little,without the need to remove the Batt & air box. :y
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Belts and braces... Saves whacking the washer jets with the lamp unit ;)
:y
I take it you can unplug the Bulbs once the unit is pulled out a little,without the need to remove the Batt & air box. :y
All connectors can be released with lamp entirely in situ, and looms a little tight to remove lamp first.
Personally, I usually remove battery, as its so much easier for the 2 minute hassle of taking off battery.
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I usually remove the trim and unbolt the light... nothing more, and nothing less, takes less time than remembering to find the car pass once you remember that disconnecting the battery can be a right pita, plus I don't then need to reset all the windows etc ;D