McKee's 37 Headlight Coating

Update 6/28/19: after 7 months, some clouding is coming back on the Acura headlights. Note that the driver side headlight is original (2004) and passenger side was replaced circa 2009. Driver side always clouds much faster. I wouldn’t say it’s grossly cloudy now, but it’s noticeably cloudier than when I applied in late 2018.

The passenger side still looks good except the edges, where grime builds up that I don’t clean well enough and/or maybe I didn’t coat these areas as thoroughly. To be honest, it seems like water got in from behind the headlight on the edges, not sure if that’s an illusion, but will find out soon when I re-Polish and apply new coating.

Passenger side (2009 replace):
View attachment 67140

Drivers side (2004 original):
View attachment 67141
View attachment 67142
View attachment 67143


Based on my Acura results, I went ahead and used coating prep polish and recoated my wife’s headlights even though they look pristine (as they should, they are from 2016 and should still have UV protection). I’d rather be safe than sorry by Coating way sooner than needed with those newer headlights.
 
Bump!

I just wanted to share something inconclusive but having potential.

My Mckees Headlight Coating bottle turned jelly in late 2019 or early 2020. Then at some point in 2020 (March or April maybe?) I decided to put some 91% IPA in there to see if it could be saved. I shook it, added a couple more small amounts (I’m guessing 0.25-0.50 ounces of IPA total into the 4oz bottle) until the product seemed to be the right consistency of liquid as the original.

I still wasn’t brave enough or ready to apply it until a few nights ago. I polished the Acura headlights and gave it a shot. The headlight coating + IPA mix applied very similarly to how the headlight coating applied when new.

I wouldn’t expect it to be as durable with the IPA mixed in but I’m hoping the added solvent made it good again. I won’t know for some time but I’m going to try to remember not to apply anything else to these headlights and see how long it appears to last.

I’m really just sharing this because it’s a bummer when a $50 bottle of headlight coating goes bad while it’s 75% full (and that’s after applying multiple coats to about 12 different sets of headlights). Worth a shot for that price.
 
acuRAS82 said:
My Mckees Headlight Coating bottle turned jelly in late 2019 or early 2020.
Click to expand...

I’ve had my bottle of the headlight coating for a long time and it hasn’t turned to jelly.. I just recently used it for the 1st time in a while on that Toyota Camry that I posted pics about..

3e36ba37fb88c258da2e6bf5d15c5f5e.jpg

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I also applied the coating to my own cars headlights that same day for the 1st time.

That Camry should be a good test subject for the coating since it lives outside and is always parked facing the sun all day. I now have a firm date to pin the results to and will try to update how it turns out.

The coating hasn’t jellied, but it’s become harder to wipe off. It’s very sticky upon removal. I keep a tight lid on the bottle and it’s always stored indoors.
 
Eldorado2k said:
The coating hasn’t jellied, but it’s become harder to wipe off. It’s very sticky upon removal. I keep a tight lid on the bottle and it’s always stored indoors.
Click to expand...
Those headlights look nice, good work.

You are lucky, or I may not have closed the lid right enough after one of my numerous uses. But it did become sticky and hard to wipe off for the last few months before it jellied. I would basically apply to half the headlight and immediately begin wiping, and still have to use quite a bit of force to remove the final residue spots.

Either way, good to know you’re is still kicking. And we’ll see if my alcohol experiment has any benefits.
 
acuRAS82 said:
Those headlights look nice, good work.

You are lucky, or I may not have closed the lid right enough after one of my numerous uses. But it did become sticky and hard to wipe off for the last few months before it jellied. I would basically apply to half the headlight and immediately begin wiping, and still have to use quite a bit of force to remove the final residue spots.

Either way, good to know you’re is still kicking. And we’ll see if my alcohol experiment has any benefits.
Click to expand...

I remember leaving it out overnight on a couple different occasions thinking that might’ve screwed it because it got down to 50 degrees or so.. But other than that it’s always been stored in my cabinet. I was pleasantly surprised when I recently shook it and heard liquid. Lol.

Wipe off is so sticky you almost wonder if you’re completely removing it and should apply it twice..

Isn’t it somewhat weird that OP says he applied it and just let it self level and dry on its own without wiping it off? I can’t imagine ever applying it that way.
 
Eldorado2k said:
Wipe off is so sticky you almost wonder if you’re completely removing it and should apply it twice..

Isn’t it somewhat weird that OP says he applied it and just let it self level and dry on its own without wiping it off? I can’t imagine ever applying it that way.
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Yes, I worried the same during my vigorous wipe off and ended up applying twice to one headlight to see if it makes a difference, although wipe off was almost harder on the second coat I think, so either that’s a good sign or my arms were just tired while wiping the second coat completely away from wiping the first coat completely away, lol.

It’s like reminiscing back to highschool, thinking back so far that the headlight coating could be so easy to just dry/disappear on its own. Way too distant a memory to picture such a thing.
 
acuRAS82 said:
Bump!

I just wanted to share something inconclusive but having potential.

My Mckees Headlight Coating bottle turned jelly in late 2019 or early 2020. Then at some point in 2020 (March or April maybe?) I decided to put some 91% IPA in there to see if it could be saved. I shook it, added a couple more small amounts (I’m guessing 0.25-0.50 ounces of IPA total into the 4oz bottle) until the product seemed to be the right consistency of liquid as the original.

I still wasn’t brave enough or ready to apply it until a few nights ago. I polished the Acura headlights and gave it a shot. The headlight coating + IPA mix applied very similarly to how the headlight coating applied when new.

I wouldn’t expect it to be as durable with the IPA mixed in but I’m hoping the added solvent made it good again. I won’t know for some time but I’m going to try to remember not to apply anything else to these headlights and see how long it appears to last.

I’m really just sharing this because it’s a bummer when a $50 bottle of headlight coating goes bad while it’s 75% full (and that’s after applying multiple coats to about 12 different sets of headlights). Worth a shot for that price.
Click to expand...

I have two bottles that turned to jelly. I will give it a try and use it on some polycarbonate that I don't really care about. I never thought about IPA. It should be fine. I think it turns to jelly because it was too close to saturation at time of manufacture.
 
Contact Nick. He is usually pretty good about replacing it. He came out with a new formula a few weeks ago
 
Did Autogeek stop carrying this product? I can't seem to buy more.
 
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