headlight restoration

[Pinder]

Ive managed to restore one of the headlights. the chrome on the reflectors was corroded and mostly rust. Using chrome wrap that is used for cars worked really well to replicate the chrome reflectors.

[Pinder]

Here is the finished product. Vivid chrome wrap on inside reflectors. Wet sand 2000 grit for plastic the. Polish with miguires 105

[kampala]

looks very nice. 

You were brave to go at it with 2000 grit. 

Can the chrome "wrap" handle the bulb heat?
Do you need to apply a clear finish after polishing with the compound?

best

[Pinder]

will find out if the bulb heat will affect the chrome wrap. Its for wrapping cars and can be applied with a heat gun and should hold out. Its almost like a mirror finish.

2000 grit is very fine and 105 polishes it very easily with a wool pad using an air polisher. I tried the lens restorer but those didnt work well. No need to apply anything else afterwards but car wax maybe?

[114015]

Ah..., the AJ. 

Very nice. 

On my non-US head light units I had to have all the reflectors redone.
This was performed by a professional replating/re-silvering service.
Not cheap but well worth the effort.

Achim

[Pinder]

yes I think chrome wrap on that style of lamp would not be a good idea due to heat from the halogen bulb.

[Pinder]

For my second headlight the top portion of the plastic was missing. I tried to find a replacement that was reasonably priced but didnt find anything so I managed to make a copy of the top plastic ring using Crystal clear casting resin. I used silicone rubber to make the mold from the one good headlamp.  Here is a picture of the new section of the plastic ring. I have not tried this before and I think it has come out very well. I have yet to trim it and bond it to the headlight but I am pretty hopeful that it will look very close to original. the clarity of the clear plastic is really good.

The headlamp is yet to be polished.

[kampala]

That looks pretty nice.   Let us know how it fits up.   The detail looks good. 

 Now that you have the mold, you might be getting requests for parts!

[Pinder]

Yes i will keep the mold for future use. See attached pics. I used a glue gun to install the too section. Its a pretty good fit. Some sanding to make it fit and trimmed ends. I slso polished the plastic. I think considering it was completly missing it looks a lot better now.

[Pinder]

if you look at the picture of headlight on the left you can see the join on either side but it is not that noticeable on the car.  I should have waited longer before handling the new peice. It was still a bit soft and my handling made it a bit foggy. I think a better quality resin and longer cure time would have been better but I'm overall pleased with the results.   (sorry the picture are upside down).