2003 Lincoln Town Car Executive: Headlight lens cover are about shot,

[ScatCat]

I believe these are the ones I bought... Oracle Headlamp

I used Sylvania halogen bulbs if I recall correctly. My OEM headlamps were HID and supposedly the halogen lamps won't work. But after some research I became convinced they would work and guess what? They did! I was impressed with the look of the halos but slightly disappointed with the halogens after having the HIDs. But since the car is rarely driven, and almost not at all at night, there is no regret. I have recently bought a set of LEDs for them but haven't gotten around to swapping them in.

Here is a pic of the Oracle Halo headlamps installed:

View attachment 24241

Looks like the price has increased rather dramatically plus it doesn't come up for your model year? I'm not sure what the difference(s) are between these and the earlier model years.

Thanks a zillion!

 

[oktowncar]

When I did mine I used 2000 and 3000 grit wet/dry sand paper and wet sanded everything down then cleaned everything off with soap and water. Let dry then applied some mothers wax, let dry then buffed out with a wool pad on a battery powered drill.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Thank you all! Looks like a set of new ones is my most logical option.

Now, the question is: What makes the best quality replacement sets? Where do I begin to look?

IIR I just bought some from an ebay seller maybe 6-7 years ago. They’re looking tired at this point and I’ll probably replace them soon. Fortunately, it’s an easy swap-out.

Having a “spare pair” I might look into some LED bulbs. Most I’ve seen here (there's a thread that should be easy to find) involve some mods to the housing, so I won’t have to worry about accidentially trashing it.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

My 2003 Cartier

 

[Nongmin]

As I stated above, I have replaced my head lamps. There is no discoloration at this point. The headlamps I have replaced are anywhere from 6 months to 4 years from replacement. (And I did get the least expensive headlamps possible from various sources)

At this point, I would be very interested in being proactive to making the service life last as long as possible.

Is Cerakote for the repair of discolored plastic? Or can it be used as maintenance to make the plastic lens last longer?

Action

Cerakote will remove the haze from the surface of the lens. I recall reading somewhere that, when headlights switched from the old glass sealed beams to the new "stylish" plastic lens assemblies, the clear plastic used for the lens was not UV stabilized. And so, the hazing began from Day One. Improvements in materials and processes used today make the lens less prone to hazing. My F-150 is 11 years old and the headlights are as good as new.

I believe Cerakote claims to have something in their product that slows the re-hazing process over time. No picture, but I did one set of headlights 3 years ago and they just passed the annual NC state inspection. I see just a bit of degradation on the edges, likely because I didn't want to get too close to the painted areas. My bad. As far as using it to be proactive in stopping the hazing process, it may not be necessary as the replacement headlamps may use improved materials that will not haze.

I tried several other products and methods prior to the Cerakote exercise. It's held up the best over time. But it's not going to completely cure the problem of old, cut rate plastics when the headlights were first produced as new.