Headlamps, getting them re silvered ?
Discussion
lowdrag said:
With an Audi Coupé (Quattro style) we used a can of Halfords spray chrome after carefully removing any rust with fine emery paper. Got the car through its MOT!
Might have got through an MOT where the tester just checks if they switch "on", but I bet they were hardly useable as headlights at night. Silver paint is not the same as the original mirror "silvering".One of the problems with doing this is separating the headlamps lens which is the outer glass from the headlight bowl in which is housed the silver reflector - which is the bit that's gone rusty. In some cases, the outer metal of the bowl has been 'turned' on the lens and the big risk for anyone quoting to re-silver the reflector is damaging the lens as they 'un-turn' (not a technical term) the metal over the lens. There are plenty of people happy to re-silver the reflector very reasonably but there are many who are very wary about actually getting at it. This may not apply to you! PS. If there's anyone out there who would like to put this into plain English - understood by engineers - they are welcome.
I had my Cibie headlamps resilvered at Dual Metallising in Bromsgrove. I removed the glass by gently heating the mastic until it became soft enough to pull the glass away. I did some blasting to get rid of the rust, to hopefully drop the cost a bit. The general finish is excellent, the car had failed the MOT on insufficient output in 2009 and it's passed since then.
"I had my Cibie headlamps resilvered at Dual Metallising in Bromsgrove"
The Sunbeam Lotus OC also use DM, & had a batch of S2 shells resilvered a while ago which they sell to members on an exchange basis (assuming that the member's lamps & glass are reusable) to keep the costs down.
The quality of DM's work is excellent, & removing / replacing the glass is simple. Either the member can remove / replace the glass themselves (instructions + recommendations for the sealing material are supplied) or the Club will do it for them.
The Sunbeam Lotus OC also use DM, & had a batch of S2 shells resilvered a while ago which they sell to members on an exchange basis (assuming that the member's lamps & glass are reusable) to keep the costs down.
The quality of DM's work is excellent, & removing / replacing the glass is simple. Either the member can remove / replace the glass themselves (instructions + recommendations for the sealing material are supplied) or the Club will do it for them.
Use a hair dryer ..... carefully.
The lower setting should be sufficient heat, directing the air uniformly around the glass so that it all expands at the same rate, & once the glass is all at the same temperature it should come off quite easily.
We've done a lot of these like this & not lost a single one.
The lower setting should be sufficient heat, directing the air uniformly around the glass so that it all expands at the same rate, & once the glass is all at the same temperature it should come off quite easily.
We've done a lot of these like this & not lost a single one.
I used a hot air gun on the lower setting, I've heard of people sticking them in the oven as well with good results, I practised on an old lamp I had with a broken glass to get an idea of how long to leave it. I tried scoring the mastic and pouring in thinners and the like, but it didn't work.
The bowls on the flat lens Carello lights on my MK2 Escort were properly rusted out, too bad for resilvering. I baulked at the cost of NOS items (old Ford parts tax ) so I did a proper heath robinson bodge,...
Stuck them in the oven for 5 mins. The glass then came away easily using a stanley knife.
Sanded the bowls down as much as I dare
Got a sample of self adhesive aluminium ducting tape (£1 for a metre)
Cut into thin triangular slivers, stuck them around the bowls smoothing down to avoid wrinkles if poss.
Heat resistant silicone to seal the glass back on.
Time will tell come MOT time, but they seem bloody bright, far better than I anticipated . If they are totally crap at night i'll have to look into fitting some run of the mill H4 units,.
Stuck them in the oven for 5 mins. The glass then came away easily using a stanley knife.
Sanded the bowls down as much as I dare
Got a sample of self adhesive aluminium ducting tape (£1 for a metre)
Cut into thin triangular slivers, stuck them around the bowls smoothing down to avoid wrinkles if poss.
Heat resistant silicone to seal the glass back on.
Time will tell come MOT time, but they seem bloody bright, far better than I anticipated . If they are totally crap at night i'll have to look into fitting some run of the mill H4 units,.
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