Are 89 Headlights Better?

[sperold]

I just noticed something that has me thinking. My old abandoned 89 is rusted beyond belief, but the headlights are sparkling like new. I know for sure that no one has spent a dime on the car in the last 25 years, so the headlights are original.
Yet my 90, which has had a more charmed life, has cloudy headlights. Both cars are local and shared the same environment.
Has anyone else noticed this, or am I dreaming.
Maybe the early housing had a better chemical composition. Or not.

 

[TimboSHO]

Both of my 89s had pretty cloudy headlights. One from Michigan, and one from California. No different than any other Tauruses I've owned (or the Sable!).

 

[tommyturbo]

All my fords have had cloudy headlights, gotta love it.

 

[sperold]

How can some be so much better than others. I recently got an excellent set from a forum member (SV&HOdan) and they were superbe. Yet, I am sure they are not new, or recent replacements.
Maybe some get waxed either by the owner or in drive through car washes..... I am out of ideas.

 

[RonPorter]

Purely luck of the draw. I personally think it has more to do with sun exposure, but abrasion from driving, car washes, etc, may contribute.

 

[JRA2000TL]

My 89's looked like crap. Replaced them with NOS Ford ones. Made the car look new.

 

[zak]

Polycarbonate will yellow quickly from UV light coming from the sun. To reduce this headlight makers use UV protective coatings. Some of you might have gotten headlights with thicker coatings on them so they stayed looking new longer. Maybe during th production run someone noticed they were going through UV coating too fast and cut back the amount used on the headlights.

That is why I get a chuckle out of people that spend hours polishing headlights. Once that layer is gone they yellow quickly from UV (e.g. 6 months). There are one or two kits out there that have UV protectant you spray on afterwards, but no way is that as good as a baked on coating such as what the OEM's use.

YMMV

 

[RonPorter]

The 3M kit really works very well. But it needs to be done annually, and at 10-15 minutes per side, not really a big deal.

 

[groove83]

I used the 3m kit on all my cars that had cloudy headlights, worked great and was pretty easy to do for a first time out.

Zak, I get what your saying about taking off the factory UV protection, But you also have to realize is it more cost effective to by the headlight kit for 20 bucks and a bottle of plastic protection spray, and take a extra 2 minutes to spray the headlights when you wax the car, or buy 2 new headlights for who knows how much? (I did a search, eBay is 60/side or 90-120 for 2, the price is just for the Sho, imagine how much some other newer cars might be.) I think it just really matters on how cheap you are / how long will you keep the car.

 

[DeepPower]

I replaced the headlight assemblies on my '89 during some front end body work about eight years ago because they were cloudy and pitted. But now each headlight has a square silver clip rattling around inside the headlight assembly. Anyone know what that's about?

 

[kevinspann]

Probably a reflector on the inside that has come loose.

 

[DeepPower]

Probably a reflector on the inside that has come loose.

That's what I thought too, but it has holes in it, more like a bracket.