Purple head light lens

["T" inDixie]

I have light purple headlight lenses on my '24 T...would they be original ford parts? Also there are the initials L.E.S. 23 at the bottom, what would that indicate? Thanks for your help,

Bob

[Rusty_OToole]

Have heard that glass turns purple due to exposure to light over the years. Old bottles found in the desert exhibit this discoloring. So maybe your headlites were clear back in 1924.

[FomocoService]

Rusty,

Wasn't the purple coming from the Mercury that was used in the glass?

At least that's what I heard.

The glass did start out clear however!

I have a couple of very early Model A headlight lenses that have the purplish tint to them as well.

[Guest c.johnson]

I've heard that the sun light causes a chemical reaction due to the mercury being used in the manufacturing process.

Makes sense to me, I've seen lenses that did not get much sun that don't have much purple shade to them.

cj

[Layden B]

The active element involved is manganese, only some lenses have it and thus not all will turn color. The reaction is indeed caused by the ultrviolet light component of sunlight, evidenced by many lenses having a clear section of glass around the edge where the glass was shielded from the sun by the mounting rim. More sun darker color and yes you can speed up the process and get a really dark color by leaving them under a germicidal lamp.