Cornering Lamps

Hello all. What are you guys doing about the yellow cornering lamps on your cars? My 99 is in excellent shape with the exception of the yellowed cornering lamps. Really bothers me.

I see GM still has the cornering lamps available for the 95-96, but the 97-99's are long discontinued. I wish someone made an aftermarket reproduction.

Can the 95-96's be adapted to fit the 99's? I'm wondering what's different on them? The housing, the lens, or both? I'm wondering if I could get new 95-96 lamps, then possibly dissect then lens and adapt to my current 99 cornering lamp housings?

Here's a pic of my car.

It's hard to believe the cornering lenses changed after 96.  How much do new ones cost now?

I tried cleaning my old ones up, to no avail, and bought new ones.  I took the brand new lenses, sanded off the coating GM treated them with, and applied a better aftermarket coating.  That must have been a decade ago.  Can't remember the name of the stuff, but my lenses are still clear.  My Riv doesn't see much sunlight/UV though.

YouTube has a bunch of videos about taking the yellow out of plastic.  One of these techniques might work - Link

Pretty positive there is no difference in cornering lamps from 95-99. Hard to believe they are still available…

I DA sand mine and buff them and they look pretty perfect from 10 feet away. Needs to be done about once a year

Curious what DA you have? I bought a Porter-Cable recently but the instructions say it only likes 6" pads. I'd like to be able to use 2-3" in some areas.

I'd prefer electric, having watched a few YouTube videos about air compressors that blew up.

th3fr4nchi5e wrote:

Pretty positive there is no difference in cornering lamps from 95-99. Hard to believe they are still available…

I DA sand mine and buff them and they look pretty perfect from 10 feet away. Needs to be done about once a year

There are different part numbers according to my research.  According to several parts sites, they show some of the 95-96 part numbers available, but nothing at all for the newer part numbers.  I have no idea if they cross reference, or will work.  I may for sh!ts and giggles order a pair to see. The only things that STICKS out on my car is the fugly yellow cornering lens.

Jack the R wrote:

Curious what DA you have?  I bought a Porter-Cable recently but the instructions say it only likes 6" pads.  I'd like to be able to use 2-3" in some areas.  

I'd prefer electric, having watched a few YouTube videos about air compressors that blew up.  

To be honest, Im not sure the brand. Its an older 6” orbital air sander. There are a few at my fathers collision shop but there is one in particular I like. And then I polish with a little 3” battery powered buffer/polisher. I dont put the screws in my cornering lights. They are snug with the clips and it is super easy to pop them out and clean them up whenever needed.

th3fr4nchi5e wrote:

Pretty positive there is no difference in cornering lamps from 95-99. Hard to believe they are still available…

I DA sand mine and buff them and they look pretty perfect from 10 feet away. Needs to be done about once a year

I bought some several years ago, they did not have holes for the lamps, that may account for more than one part number.
I cut holes in them for the cornering lamp sockets, my Riv spends most of its time indoors so they still look new.

Jbird

TTT. Does anyone have any NOS lamps available? I still can't find any. It's the only thing exterior that bothers me about the car.

I looked around and didn't see them either. Even the main light lens and housing appear to be discontinued. The remaining parts had to end up somewhere, but who has them?

Moral of the story - don't wreck the 8th gen.

DJROBJ wrote:

TTT.  Does anyone have any NOS lamps available?  I still can't find any. It's the only thing exterior that bothers me about the car.

Many years ago another list member wrote that he got rid of the yellow aging on the cornering lenses by running them thru his dishwasher (with dish detergent). I'm not sure I believe that worked but FWIW there you are.

There are a bunch of videos on YouTube about removing yellowing from plastic with SalonCare 40. I'm going to try it in the next couple days. I don't know if it will help with our cornering lenses though. I believe the problem was in the coating on the lens. That's why I sanded the original coating off my replacement lenses and recoated with a better product.

Jack the R wrote:

There are a bunch of videos on YouTube about removing yellowing from plastic with SalonCare 40.  I'm going to try it in the next couple days.  I don't know if it will help with our cornering lenses though.  I believe the problem was in the coating on the lens.  That's why I sanded the original coating off my replacement lenses and recoated with a better product.  

I actually believe that the problem is the type of plastic that the morons at GM used....
Our headlights are plastic as well, yet despite the sun & the heat from running them all night they don't turn color...

It must be close to 10 years since I did my cornering lenses. The new ones haven't yellowed. They don't get much UV in the garage though, and the new coating could be blocking out the UVs that do sneak in.

Jack the R wrote:

It must be close to 10 years since I did my cornering lenses.  The new ones haven't yellowed.  They don't get much UV in the garage though, and the new coating could be blocking out the UVs that do sneak in.

I'll be curious about the SalonCare 40...  Really??

BTW, just for the data, having learned my lesson about parts obsolescence with the V8-6-4 Eldorado I think I bought new lenses shortly after I bought the car, say 2006 or 2007.  Mine has mostly been garaged as well and I just noticed some darkening early this year, bone stock.  M

I'm currently attempting to restore some 50 yr old nylon parts from my Charger with SalonCare 40. It hasn't done much yet, but they didn't get much time in the sun today either.

I've still got my original, very yellowed Riviera cornering lenses. Maybe worth an experiment?

I'm gonna' have to research this when I get off the phone...

BTW, which gears? I hope not the headlight eyelids.

Gears? I did some white nylon retainers from around the engine bay. Some of them came out good, some of them need another day or two. Overall I think the technique is working.

I'm going to call this test mostly successful. SalonCare 40 did get most, if not all, of the yellow out. I left the product on for 3 days and some of it dried on the lens, which is probably not the right way to do it. I sanded the product off with 220 grit, which is why the lens is so dull. But IIRC this is what the cornering lenses that are on the car looked like after I sanded off the factory coating. So, if you can't get a set of new replacement lenses, it looks like it's possible to pull the yellowing out of the old lenses and recoat with a better UV protectant film. Or you could try any of the other techniques found on YouTube.

Well, I'd say that the lights on the car look like Frosted Flakes... They're Grrrreeasaaattttt!
Sorry, couldn't resist...
Having said that, I'd venture that your sanding with 220-grit is the REAL answer. In fact, I think when my NOS lenses need it I think I'm gonna' use 320 with a squirt of Dawn dishwashing liquid...

Here's the lens before sanding -



The SalonCare worked. If I hadn't let it dry for 3 days I wouldn't have had to sand it off. The lens would still need to be sanded if applying a new UV coating. Maybe 320 could be used instead of 220 - I only used 220 because I'm out of 320 ATM.

Hey Jack, I forgot to ask what the backstory is on the lenses on the car...  
Are they NOS or have they had previous 'treatments'?  

Speaking of, I told a friend about this thread and he gave me another recipe.  Ever heard of:
12 ounces of original Coke with a heaping teaspoon of salt dissolved into it, then mixed with an equal 12 oz of dishwashing liquid?  
I think the soak time was only minutes as opposed to days.

He says it worked well on his headlights and his dirty/stained/burned pots & pans...  

Eldo wrote:

Hey Jack, I forgot to ask what the backstory is on the lenses on the car...  
Are they NOS or have they had previous 'treatments'?  

I bought replacements when they were still available (just pricey), sanded off the factory coating, and recoated with a better aftermarket coating. It was terrifying. I didn't think the new coating would bring back the shiny look after sanding dulled the lens, but it worked. The new coating may have lasted longer than GM's coating now. I bought the car with yellowed lenses and it was only 9 years old. I think it's been at least that long since I put the replacement lenses on. I've had the car garaged but the original owner may have as well.

It may be farther back in the thread, but what DID you use to replace the factory clear-coat?

Only the forum knows. It must be on here somewhere.