You may be able to use a silver plate even though that is not
original. There is a way to do the prep work, then drop the
reflectors in a bath of electrolyte, Pinch and old quarter or two in
a jumper cable dangled in the electrolyte, hook the cathode and anode
cables to some number of old car batteries and do it yourself. The
tricks are getting the prep right, getting the right electrolyte,
getting the right voltage, using the right alloy of silver and
getting the right length of time.
I am sure there are people in mexico and other countries that do that
pretty low tech. I see signs nailed to poles for re-plating
headlights in big cities. I don't think those guys are high tech.
When I was in Uganda, one of the guys I met made mirrors in his spare
time. Just give him some glass, and some silver, and he would make
you a mirror. He had no sophisticated tools. I suspect most of his
tools and consumables came out of a junkyard.
There were prior threads about plating kits, for the faint of heart.
I have a lot of interest in this thread as I have a pair of W114/W115 euro's
that have corroded main and fog reflectors. Silver plating was only done on
old school headlights to my knowledge. I think from the 60's on, most
headlight reflectors were coated by using ion vapor deposited aluminum.
I've already talked to my guy at Sherwin Williams Automotive Finishes here
in Charlotte (a fellow Mercedes enthusiast) and he doesn't recommend
painting them with a "chrome" paint like DupliColor, etc. Sherwin Williams
doesn't even have a paint that is suitable for this application.
I then talked to my powder coating guy at Prince Wheel Services in Monroe,
and he says that although there are some reflective finishes available in
powder coat, that too will not stand up to the heat.
Needless to say, I need to find a place, preferably in NC that can do ion
vapor deposited aluminum. Anyone have a source?
Regards,
TE
-----Original Message-----
From: mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com]
On Behalf Of Jim Cathey
Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 5:17 PM
To: Mercedes Discussion List
Subject: Re: [MBZ] Lights - Asian or otherwise
I saw an article somewhere about "refurbishing" the reflectors with
metalized ducting tape. Given the cost of resilvering, I may look
into doing that for Gump. Rust is not yet an issue
Once mine get bad enough I'm thinking of trying spray 77 glue
and aluminum foil. This _is_ the Frankenheap, after all.
-- Jim
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To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
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