Headlight Resilvering - Who does it?

[Bloo]

I need to get this done for my 1936 Pontiac. Aftermarket reflectors are not really an option for me because the originals are contoured.

 

From all the old threads I could find, here and in other forums, it seems to be a debate between resilvering and Uvira's Aluminum-Pyrex process. There are a lot of dead links to potential resilvering companies.

 

Who still resilvers reflectors in 2017? Have you had it done lately, and were you happy with the results?

What about Uvira? Has anyone had that done recently? How did it go?

 

For those of you who have your cars judged, Are Uvira reflectors the same color to the eye as silver ones? Can the judges tell the difference and do they care?

 

For those of you who drive your cars a lot, how do Uvira reflectors hold up out in the world? What happens when they get wet?

 

What about silver? Do you have to clean it up much? Has it worn through?

 

Thank you for any advice.

[C Carl]

Silvering for automotive headlights is an electro plating process. Uvira produces a thin layer of evaporated aluminum , deposited in a slightly high vacuum (around 10 to the -4). It must be done on electro plated nickel. An extremely thin film of glass is then evaporated over the delicate aluminum for it's protection. This makes a very permanent reflective surface if you clean it EXTREMELY gently if cleaning is needed at all. Very dilute dish detergent and a bit of alcohol in the water. Soft cotton gently dragged across the surface in a strait line. Uvira certainly must be explicit about cleaning procedures. It will not tarnish or pinhole. Over time , usually many years depending on environment and conditions , silver will tarnish. Cleaning must be done carefully , using very light pressure radially with kerosene or turpentine and lampblack on old cotton cloth. I don't think a rare wetting would do noticeable damage. If done properly each process should produce equal illumination to the human eye initially. No judge in the world could figure out what coating you have. The decision is , whether the plater is your first , or last stop. Your dime , your time. I hope to get together with you soon !   - Carl

[ply33]

I had Uvira do my reflectors something like 30 years ago. Still in perfect condition. I don't drive my car in the rain much, but with the gaskets around the lenses there shouldn't be too much moisture getting to the reflectors. I've noticed no issues. Judges can't tell the difference: Through the head light lens it just looks like a good condition silvered reflector.

[Jon37]

I had my headlights resilvered a few years ago for a very reasonable price, by Craig Riker of Toledo, Ohio. I don't know if he's still doing this.  My latest contact information shows and e-mail address of XXXcarsruleme@yahoo.com [delete the XXX before sending]  and a phone number of 419-290-4442

 

Of course, this is traditional silverplating and although it will initially be more reflective of light than the aluminum plating of Uvira, it will degrade over the years and will be less refective than Uvira's plating (which is sealed under a clear coating).  However, it will be significantly less costly.

[pont35cpe]

8 hours ago, Bloo said:

I need to get this done for my 1936 Pontiac. Aftermarket reflectors are not really an option for me because the originals are contoured.

 

From all the old threads I could find, here and in other forums, it seems to be a debate between resilvering and Uvira's Aluminum-Pyrex process. There are a lot of dead links to potential resilvering companies.

 

Who still resilvers reflectors in 2017? Have you had it done lately, and were you happy with the results?

What about Uvira? Has anyone had that done recently? How did it go?

 

For those of you who have your cars judged, Are Uvira reflectors the same color to the eye as silver ones? Can the judges tell the difference and do they care?

 

For those of you who drive your cars a lot, how do Uvira reflectors hold up out in the world? What happens when they get wet?

 

What about silver? Do you have to clean it up much? Has it worn through?

 

Thank you for any advice.

Check out Gary W`s "37 Buick mod 48 restoration" in pre-war. Page 25 Posts 625-628  and Las Vegas Daves post on Uvira.

[Buffalowed Bill]

I second Ply33's positive results from Uvira. Process been around for a long time. I guess you might say,  longevity is it's best advertisement. 

[Gary_Ash]

Evaporated aluminum coatings do NOT need to be deposited on top of electroplated nickel if the coating is deposited on glass.  If the reflector is made from metal (steel, brass, aluminum), it's usually a good idea to put aluminum down over a thin nickel layer, but it can be electroless nickel (Kanigen) that will plate into holes and around corners.  Metal and glass reflectors need to be perfectly polished before nickel plating and vacuum coating. 

 

Here's a 14 ft diameter mirror at the Discovery Channel Telescope in Happy Jack, AZ that has been vacuum coated with aluminum as it emerges from the vacuum chamber.  I had a role in the design, fabrication, and testing of this vacuum chamber and coating process.  Big telescope mirrors don't usually get the silicon dioxide overcoat layer, so they have to be stripped and recoated every few years.  A few telescopes get coated with multi-layer coatings using Nichrome, silver, silicon dioxide, titanium oxide, and other materials - they will go many years between recoating.

[60FlatTop]

1 hour ago, Gary_Ash said:

Here's a 14 ft diameter mirror at the Discovery Channel Telescope in Happy Jack, AZ

 

Discovery Channel, I'd love to see a reality show about that project. I could outline the script.

 

Makes me smile when I think about what "breaking news" would be to an astronomer. "Just in, supernova at 10 million light years. Details and 11."

Bernie

[95Cardinal]

I recently had my die-cast tail light reflectors coated by Vacuum Ornametal in Romulus, Michigan.

11380 Harrison
Romulus, MI 48174
Tel: 1-800-827-6762

http://www.vacuumorna-metal.com/content/restoration

 

They have done several projects for me over the years and I have been very happy with their work.

Talk to Frank Chester.

[Gary_Ash]

For 60FlatTop, here are a couple of YouTube videos about putting aluminum on the Discovery Channel telescope.  It's basically the same process for doing old headlight reflectors, but vintage headlight reflectors are done in much smaller machines with lower-tech equipment.

 

 

[60FlatTop]

What , no last minute deadline, no know-it-all boss, no stupid helper to abuse, no dramatic background music or 20 year old hard rock with flashing video? That's disconcerting, do the automotive shows they produce reflect their opinion of the audience?

 

Shouldn't the guy hooking up the vacuum pump have stood back with his arms crossed and feet apart? Maybe a sign "Attach vacume here" Not even a piercing, a tattoo, or a Ninja warrior pony tail.

 

Chameleons.

Bernie

[stakeside]

Curious if any one has use the vinyl wrap Crome or Nickel materials for reflectors? Concave surface would be diffecult, but maybe a vacuum could be used.

[PFitz]

1 hour ago, stakeside said:

Curious if any one has use the vinyl wrap Crome or Nickel materials for reflectors? Concave surface would be diffecult, but maybe a vacuum could be used.

 

Had a customer's car that a previous owner had mistakenly had the headlight reflectors chrome plated.  At night it looked like they were working on an almost dead battery. On high beam they could barely light up 100 feet ahead of the car.

 

Chrome and nickel look like they'd be good, but they are much lower on the reflective scale than silver and aluminum. Not sure about nickel, but chrome is only listed in the mid 80's %. Whereas silver is said to be 96 % reflective. 

 

I sent out the reflectors to have them re-silver plated and the difference was amazing.

 

Paul