Roy Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Hi, I have the original deeper square headlights in my 1977 SR'B series. The silvers are faded to the point of not being existent. Does anyone know if the reflectors can be resilvered? If so what do they need to be resilvered with? Thanks Roy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stradacab Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Not sure about resilvering, but you could swap out the bowls out of a later set of lamps but I appreciate even those are getting sparse now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumster Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I'm sure this has been asked before & resilvering is a bit of a non runner, trawl ebay & look for scrappers, you never know. I managed to get two new old stock lamps, one for under a fiver. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Depends on the bowl material, if its pressed metal you might be able to get a chrome platers to re-do it, failing that you are looking at companies in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fish Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 pritt stick and some kitchen foil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 you can cut the glass off headlight base with a drimmel or small grinder (Stanley knife) inside of light can be repainted, did mine silver, with lacquer. polished glass inside and out. dish washed! white base on back of light, four 8mm nuts hold this on glass can be resealed using tiger seal, to new shiney base, This was a fault will chevys and manta etc, when new, glass would pop of base! not good at 70mph Now for the import shiney relective section, that reflects the bulb on a sliding scale which isn't very good. 1, reflective chrome look vinyl. real hard to lay although there is perforated vinyl now, small pins holes to allow strinkage both concave and convex shapes. not sure if its available reflective chrome I cut it into 1 inch strips, it layed ok, but would not pass mot. due to reflections of each strip. 2. chrome effect spray can, not shiney enough! but ok result, just not shiney enough. problem is the paint is poor quality 3. ideal method is, example Toy motorbike, chrome exhaust, shiney chrome effect, These are molded plastic, must have been dipped info a liquid of some sort, as inside its either white or black molded plastic. Ive tried searching for a base from a newer car, maybe Sierra, merc etc, didn't see one close enough. but the hunt is on? even tried some bikes zxr10 kwaks etc, too small Also similar method for quads round lights. possible donor vehicle with similar shape of base, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MANTAMAN Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I am sure A few years back Nick Lawson ( nutty Nick with the purple V8 Manta from Orpington ) was trying to get a bussiness going to do plastic 'chroming' he reconed the process could be done on Manta headlamp bowls, Don't know if he did succeed in getting up and running or if there are any other companies that can do this process. In the Model making world there was a foil that could be bought and laid on to replicate bare metal, don't know if this would stand the heat etc in a lamp, the other method i have heard used was to paint the subject in model paint ( typically Humbrol silver enamel ) then polish it, specifically with Johnson's floor polish, goodness knows how someone discovered this ! but that results in a shiney finnish like bare metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 If you want to remove the lens from the assembly then leave the whole lot soak in a couple of inches of thinners for a while, the glue will melt and the glass will come off. Then try sending the reflectors to S&T electro plating in Yate, Bristol, I have had good results with chrome and bright zinc coating from these guys. They will tell you if it is possible to re-silver them. With regards to plastic parts that are silvered, it was done in a vacuum, its a weird machine and there are vids on youtube showing the process or this process in the US : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny6LcgV5qJY seems to be a more modern way. If you look hard enough someone in the US will redo the silver on your reflectors ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 Thanks for all the responses guys! I was hoping someone had discovered the answer and done it before. Resilvering in another country must be SO expensive!! Has anyone seen the mirrachrome spray finish from the states? Companies in the UK are doing it now and is probably the best spray on finish you can expect. Im not sure how it would stand up to the heat from the headlamp as Iain says? I havent checked the reflector but Im assuming its some kind of metal already? If it is hopefully it can be nickel plated? Or maybe you could get clever with a sheet of stainless? A friend of a friend works at a plating company, I think I'll take it apart, take the reflector out and see if he can find out. Other than that Im going to have to go quads! Lastly does anyone know if its the same reflector in the later headlight units? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 I took one fo the headlights apart yesterday and now have the silver reflector to show my friend tomorrow. The reflector itself is some kind of pressed metal, Im not sure what it exactly is and will test it with a magnet later. I couldn't get the metal frame out of the middle of the reflector though, I expect this will have to be removed for the reflector to be plated and polished? Are these reflectors interchangeable with standard square manta reflectors does anyone know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 The reflectors are being resilvered this week. Trying to seperate the metal outers from the glass (must get some thinners) and then these can be plated too... I wonder how all this is going to turn out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted April 9, 2014 Author Share Posted April 9, 2014 In case of interest, apparently the chroming process on the reflectors is going well. I still need to separate the metal body from the glass in order to get them to take a look at plating the inside of the headlights. From what I can see it looks like a bright finish rather than a chrome mirror finish. So maybe a nickel plate here would be sufficient? Anyway on Pauls advice Im goign to try soaking in thinners to separate the glass. Just need to find a suitable box that the thinners wont melt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 (edited) Can I recommend a deep baking tray ?....you might want to clear it with the wife but that's what I used. When the lens is in the tray you can put thinners in the lens to work both sides of the glue at once. The matt silver on the metal surround can be sorted out with a can of "5 wheel silver" from a spray can. Its what I used on mine. When you put it all back together you need to get some clear or white adhesive, not silicone sealer. 3M do a single pack tube of sealer/bond and its great, ask at a boat yard or commercial bodyshop, they use a lot of it for bonding big box van panels together. The seal/glue must be white or clear or you will see it. Edited April 9, 2014 by paulmanta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Hi Paul, yes I had thought about something like that but was worried about the thinners evaporating?: How long is sufficient would you say? Overnight? Because I've got free access to plating at the moment I was thinking a nickel plate on the inside the of the headlight body to make it brighter than new! I'll keep an eye out for the 3m sealer Paul but does it have a particular name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Cover the whole lot with a damp cloth, like a tent over the tray with thinners and lamp assembly, the thinners will work in less than an hour, it goes all stringy and you can pull the glass off with little effort. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Power Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 We had to get a set of headlamps for. Droopsnoot Firenza resilvered, they are rare as rocking horse poo and go for £500 a set even in wrecked condition. The only answer that will last is to actually get them resilvered rather than anything else, chrome is nowhere near as reflective. We had them done at genius of the lamp in Birmingham but it was £100 per lamp due the the amount of copper plate layers and polishing to get the required shiny surface to deposit the silver onto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 Currently they are well through the process but the chap doing them for me is off on hols for a week. I'll see what they look like once I get them back but I have nothing to lose as its free and they were rubbish to start with! I've seperated the glass now as well and put that through the dishwasher. I'll give those a good polish and Im going to pass the metal bodies to the same chap to plate a bright finish inside. Fingers crossed they will look great when they all go back together ! On a different note, for the CIH, does anyone have the number of degrees the Kent OP234 cam needs to be set at on an adjustable vernier (when no1 inlet is TDC)? Is no1 inlet the very first rocker at the front of the engine? (I cant remember its been a few years since I set it up). I want to re check the timing for the 2.4. thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 Well the latest is the reflectors have come back but unsilvered. The cancave shape proved too much and they couldnt get the chrome to spread fully to the centre. I have seen chrome powdercoat. I wonder if this might be an option for the reflectors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 I've been to a local powdercoaters and the chrome powdercoat is not suitable. Its more reflective than the silver paint but is actually darker grey to look at. So its either £100 a side as per Retropowers recommendation above or replacement reflectors. I've been promised a good pair of later headlights by a friend of mine and Im hoping the reflectors will just swap over. As you were gentlemen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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