HeadLamp Resilvering

[volkshome 0]

I am just thinking about having this done , has anyone else tried it? I have found a local company that will resilver both reflectors for @£70.

I think it will be cheaper than buying a couple of second hand units and they will be done better that the original equipment!

[davidwort 0]

Yandards found a place that does this, may be the same, apparently there's a demand for doing this on MGF lights.

IIRC it was about the price you say.

[volkshome 0]

sounds like the same place, its in birmingham and he does a lot and I mean a lot of mg headlamps and a few hella lamps as well as it seems to be a common failure.

I think for the cost of a new/second hand set its a better option as you got a 12 month guarrantee on the work

[Mik3y 0]

Whats the name of the company? my glass needs replacing too :(

[C488ADO 0]

yes name and number would be good...

[Yandards 0]

The guy I spoke to down Birmingham had a company called Dual Metalising, he was more than up for doing the reflectors, I have a spare one stripped and ready to go just not got around to it yet.

 

The original reflector material is a right state on some cars and it often means an MOT failure for beam pattern, as new headlight units for early cars are now obsolete and you can't get piece part spares either.

 

Link here

[KADVR6 0]

you can still get early/late headlight parts from ARZ tuning, but make sure your sitting down for when you see the prices :shock:

[Yandards 0]

you can still get early/late headlight parts from ARZ tuning, but make sure your sitting down for when you see the prices :shock:

 

Yes you can but the glass and reflectors are no good for an early RHD car, as they are the LHD variants.

[cormjah 0]

When did they become obsolete? I bought some for my valver a couple of years back. The silvering had been burned out due to some numpties loom. Cost me £140 EACH! And that was after begging the stealers to knock the VAT off.

[bristolbaron 10]

anyone wanna contact them about a group buy?

[volkshome 0]

he doesn't supply new ones, what he does is resilver your originals if they are in good condition, his main trade is mgf reflectors as they have the same problem.

[colinstubbs 0]

When did they become obsolete? I bought some for my valver a couple of years back. The silvering had been burned out due to some numpties loom. Cost me £140 EACH! And that was after begging the stealers to knock the VAT off.

 

That was a good price, 12 years ago they wanted £205 OS and £215 NS each! I got mine for around £115 ea from GPC IIRC

 

What is this chaps turn round time??

[bristolbaron 10]

he doesn't supply new ones, what he does is resilver your originals if they are in good condition, his main trade is mgf reflectors as they have the same problem.

 

i saw that, but maybe if we all sent them at the same time it works out easier and therefore cheaper to do?! :confused4:

[volkshome 0]

if we find out how many we want doing between us I am more than willing to pop down and chat to the guy as he doesn't work far from me. Idealy he needs them for about a week to make sure the process has worked properly and adhered well.

[spidee 10]

As it happens their is a company in kent that does reflector resilvering:

 

url: http://www.ashfordchroming.com/headlamp-reflector-re-silvering-restoration

 

here is some info pasted from their website:

 

We restore and resilver reflectors for metal based headlamp units of all types of classic, vintage, american and modern car or motorcycles.

 

Ashford Chroming offer a complete Headlamp reflector resilvering service.

Silver plating is the best way to refurbish headlight reflectors offering a superior finish to that of Chroming reflectors.

We can restore all types of steel headlamp and headlight units by resilvering the reflectors.

 

The process involves chemically stripping the existing metal/paint or finish from the headlamp reflectors, and then polishing before silver plating and a final polish. Steel reflectors are often rusty and sometimes require a gentle blast before re silvering. They cost more to re-silver because they are nickel plated before being silver plated. This allows the silver plating to adhere properly and creates a better overall shine to the reflector. Some light pitting can be silvered over, or polished out. But if the lights are heavily coroded, pits can still remain visible.

 

Reflectors that have dents, old gasket material and or heavy coatings will take extra time to prepare, and so it is advised that you send us a photograph for an estimate before commencing with work.

 

We can offer a complete headlamp, headlight disassembly and reassembly service as well as general repairs and lens cleaning, again at extra charge. So you can take your lights off the car, box them up and send them straight in to us. Our turn around is normally between 3-4 weeks but we offer a priority service for 7-10 days at a 15% surcharge.

 

They charge about £60-£70 to strip and re-silver, not all the pits can be removed but the end result makes them like a mirror again.

 

Spidee.