Write-Up: Yellowed Corner Lenses

deekster_caddy wrote:

1998 Riv wrote:

What kind of "cleaning" are you trying to do to the inside? Are they dirty? I wouldn't think they'd get dirt inside.

But they yellow on the inside... I've cleaned the outsides with all kinds of stuff, but the insides are still yellow.

yeah..and ive gotten a bit better results cleaning inside more than i did on the outside. im going to pick a pair up from the junkyard to experiment on since they are only a few bucks.

deekster_caddy wrote:

Hey Dave, I though somewhere in this thread you had posted the GM part numbers for the cornering lenses. Do you still have the numbers, or remember where they are?

Couldn't find the full list here, but they are on the rivfaq site:

w/o cornering bulbs:

95-96R 5976456
95-96L 5976455
97-99R 16524980
97-99L 16524979

w/cornering bulbs:

95-96R 5976414
95-96L 5976413
97-99R 16524978
97-99L 16524977

I've heard diesel fuel works really good. I havn't tried it yet. So I don't know if it will do more harm than good.(u've been warned)
I'll try it soon and get back w how well it works, for how long and if it can be trusted not t do nodamage

I wouldn't think it would be very effective. Seems more like it would remove grime from the surface, not the actual yellowed layer of plastic. Let us know how it goes. What I like about the sanding kits is this includes a coating substance to protect the new finish. I'll have to go over mine during the winter, ran out of garage time this fall.

mine are actually holding up quite well from the brillo pad and brasso scrubbing i gave it. they look damn good

I tried the deisel fuel and it worked for about 2 days. They looked alot better- now they look alot yellower. DON'T USE DEISEL TO CLEAN YOUR CORNERS. Unless you like them yellow, then it will work just fine.

I bought a Permatex kit at AutoZone today and plan to try it out this weekend. Stay tuned.

sburch23 wrote:

I bought a Permatex kit at AutoZone today and plan to try it out this weekend. Stay tuned.

I had noticeable results with it. I felt like if i had been more patient i could've done better too.

c-taylor-6 wrote:

I tried the deisel fuel and it worked for about 2 days. They looked alot better- now they look alot yellower. DON'T USE DEISEL TO CLEAN YOUR CORNERS. Unless you like them yellow, then it will work just fine.

lmfao

Buapo wrote:

Final picture is in. I know that it's kind of dark, I've been taking all of these with my cell phone.

You can see that the corner is very close to the color of the headlight, if not dead on. Thank god the headlight isn't plastic, this would have taken even longer. And I took 10 minutes PER lense, not for the whole job... lousy lyin' packaging...

I'm quoting an old post here, but the headlight lenses on my '96 are plastic.
They were yellowed along with the cornering lamps.
Should they be glass?

I cleaned mine up using Meguiar's clear plastic cleaner and polish I have on hand and a power ball or whatever it is called.
(1st thing I have found it is actually worth a damn for.)

I have been thinking, why does the plastic used for headlights etc. on all these newer cars yellow like they do?
Clear plastics used on older cars such as the turn lenses and cornering lamps on my '70 Riviera are as clear as the day they were molded 38 years ago.
You never saw this until the last 10 years or so.

Seems to be surface oxidization since it can be cleaned off.

My experiences have been that the yellowing happens on the INSIDE of the lens, not the outside. There is no amount of work I can do to the outside of my lenses that takes the yellowing away. I can see that the outside is polished clear, and there is some depth to the yellow part, about 1/4 inch below the surface. That's why these are such a pain to fix. You have to take them off and do whatever cleaning/polishing to the inside.

I have seen many headlight lenses from the late 80s that yellowed over, or the seal was bad and the chrome/reflecitve stuff inside rusted, there have been many poor designs of composite headlights before they seem to have gotten it right in the last few years.

Dale: how much tme does/has your '70 RIv spent parked in teh sunlight?

Albertj

albertj wrote:

Dale: how much tme does/has your '70 RIv spent parked in teh sunlight?

Albertj

It's been garaged since I bought it 13 years ago.
It was a Texas anf the South Dakota car before then.

Why do you ask? My comment on the lenses still being clear?

deekster_caddy wrote:

My experiences have been that the yellowing happens on the INSIDE of the lens, not the outside. There is no amount of work I can do to the outside of my lenses that takes the yellowing away. I

Did you try the Crystalview?

There is definitely massive oxidation happening on the outside of the lenses.

Jack the R wrote:

deekster_caddy wrote:

My experiences have been that the yellowing happens on the INSIDE of the lens, not the outside. There is no amount of work I can do to the outside of my lenses that takes the yellowing away. I

Did you try the Crystalview?

There is definitely massive oxidation happening on the outside of the lenses.

No, I've tried a whole bunch of different things and the outside of the lenses looks very clear. You can see that the insides are yellowed when you are up close to it.

i removed them and let the wife clean them. She sprayed em with some of her household stuff and then put them in the dishwasher a few times...

Bert

That's the smartest thing I've heard yet.
A long time ago I got caught cleaning my spoked hub caps in the dishwasher, did an excellent job!!!

You know, I really didn't have any "yellowing", they just weren't clear anymore. No yellow to it at all though, just foggy. I still haven't cleaned my originals with the CV kit, maybe this winter.

Hey guys, about the Crystal View - what does it cost to get shipped? I've looked on their site and they won't tell you the cost of shipping when you go to checkout and I can't see anywhere to calculate it without entering all your billing info and then just paying whatever they tell you it will cost. It says n/a next to the shipping but no where does it say free so I'd like to know the cost before buying. I looked everywhere locally and no one has any idea what this stuff is so I'm just going to have to order it.

I don't remember the exact price but it was a normal S&H fee. Of course that could have changed by now with the recession/depression and all.

jax95riv wrote:

Off topic...How was the audio clip attached to this thread???

Personally, I think he used a transparent script to embed a clip from the "Mad Max" Boattail Riviera parody...

I used brasso and a degreaser to remove the oxidation, which worked, but now they are cloudy. is there any way to make them clear without buying any of this cleaner stuff? removing the headlights is a PITA too!

Huh? They come out easy on my 98. What was the problem?

The products that seem to work best/last longest, include a sealant to apply after the outer layer is removed. I still have my CV kit and original lenses on the shelf, maybe this summer I'll put the stuff to use.

might b getto,,, but im gunna get rid of the yellow by painting them black