Date:         Sat, 7 Sep 1996 23:19:57 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Austin <austins@ix.netcom.com>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon  Headlights/cleaning 

At 05:14 PM 9/7/96 -0500, you wrote:
>Greetings from the red neck riviera,Panama City ,FL.  has anyone 
>addressed the misting or haze that developes inside vanagon headlights .....  

Disclaimer up front - fair warnings, etc.:  this was a problem with a
previous vehicle that also had removable bulb headlights.  Typically these
are 'aero' headlights, and quite expensive to replace, so I figured I had
nothing to lose and put 'em in the dishwasher - upside down of course, & on
hottest water setting using Cascade dishwasher detergent.  They came out
crystal clear & the reflectors looked perfectly polished.  It was done to
Nissan headlamps, & I'm not sure it'll work on European headlamps, but for
the several hundred $'s to be saved by not having to replace the 4 I'll be
trying it on my '87 RSN. (*) Incidently, the increase in light output was
dramatic - they dim over the years from this misting/frosting so slowly that
you think your 'old' vehicle has outdated lights compared to new ones - then
you get the original brightness back & you go 'ooooohh - nice'.

(*) = RealSoonNow = things I want to do to *my* car wait 'til every other
project is done

Austin