501Paratrooper

Not sure if anyone tried this yet? My taillights were a little dull so I figured Headlight Restorer would work and it came out very nice almost like new.
I used Sylvania's kit.

I thought removing them first would be better but I don't think it made a difference.

droptopron

The '70 tail lights are set back with a gray surround that is part of the tail light. Are the '69 tail lights closer to flat once they are removed?

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501Paratrooper

droptopron, the 69's are recessed too.

Allan R

I did this a couple of years ago when the headlight stuff was in it's infancy stages. I ended up using 600 wet paper, Maguires plastic finish and a LOT of patience and time polishing the lenses. Then I carefully masked them off (removed from car) and shot them with silver paint. They look better than some of the ones I've seen advertised as NOS. You can see some very minor taping mistakes if you look real close at the top lens. You have to be real careful trimming the tape with an exacto knife. Problem was part of the tape lifted ever so slightly. Found a new tape now that doesnt do that. Not worth redoing the lens though for that small a detail. Anyway, if the HR kits do as good a job as you say, it might be worth buying some lenses cheap, cleaning them up and offering FS on evilbay. Ha ha ha ha..... someone from this site saw the pic I posted and asked me to restore their lenses too, but I didn't want to go through that again. Now there's a solution for everyone instead of buying NOS?

501Paratrooper

AllanR, those look nice. I can't believe how good this stuff clears the plastic up. I just did the backup lights even though they have small stress cracks, it still worked great.
It made me realize how bad the bezels need re-chromed.
Sorry for no pic's I've been trying all day to upload them but it's not working.

501Paratrooper

OK, finally here are the pic's

Allan R

Great job! Same fantastic results but probaby with less time spend polishing

Now it's you who's going to get orders for restoring!

501Paratrooper

lol, It was way too easy.

Allan R

I think the guys who will have a harder time are the ones with 70 lenses. They also have a silver trim line on the lens IIRC? That's where one of those chrome pens and a steady hand would be needed?

RetroRanger

nice before and after pics thanks

I can see the difference even in just the thumbnails !!!!

redoldsman

What a great idea. Thanks for the before and after pictures. Very nice job. These are the kind of tips I love to see on here. It is a big help in restoring old cars and saves lots of money.

501Paratrooper

Glad I could provide some help, I've gotten so much here on CO.

tru-blue 442

Nice job both of you guys!
I was wondering how I could get the ones
on my 69 to look so good.
My car is in pieces, so I can just lay 'em
out on the bench and go for it...

501Paratrooper

Yep, I just did my side marker lens' too.

hookem horns

Dang, now I have another project....
Looks good.

jerseymike

here's a little tip, go to a local glass shop and see if they have any plastic polish called Novus. There is 3 grades, I use the #2 on motorcycle plexi windshields and all my plastic/acrylic headlights and it works great. A little bit goes a long way.

The #1 is for cleaning and shining.....the #3 is for heavy scratches.

The #2 adds a polish and water will bead for a peroid of time until weather and other stuff causes it wear off. Works good in winter as snow will not build up too easily on headlights

Napoleon Solo

I got this tip from my buddy who sprayed my '92 GMC for me. The truck tail lights are a lot easier to work with since there is no surround on them. To start with, the lenses were all milky looking with streaks everywhere. I took a scotchbrite pad to them and stripped all of the top layer off. It was pretty cloudy looking but my buddy shot them with clearcoat while doing my truck. Hot Dang if they don't look better than new. Shiny like the paint. The clear filled in everything.