head light reflectors

[Guest leftwing302]

It was a good day for my 37 plymouth and me .After days of work cleaning all light connections and replacing the head light switch and some blown bulbs,it looked great after dark tonight with all its lights working.I do have one problem with a head light reflector.One is partially gold not all silver and a lot dimmer.Is there a way to return the reflectors to there original silver color.If not, maybe somebody has one for sale.Any help is appreciated.

Thanks Lew

[rlnash]

The reflectors can be refinished. Check Hemmings for several vendors.

[Guest leftwing302]

Thanks,I will contact Hemmings

[Guest Fr Mike]

You can have your headlights as bright as or brighter than sealed beam headlights without changing your car's original wiring. Have your reflectors nickel-plated and polished then send them to UVIRA (<william atwood="" [="">uvira@terragon.com>) for special plating, Use plug-in halogen bulbs (about 32/32 cp). For even brighter lights and to lengthen the life of your light switch, make sure your lights are well grounded and add headlight relays. The drain on the battery is about the same as the original bulbs and your original appearance and wiring are still intact.

I did this on my 1931 Buick and 1936 Plymouth. The cost is reasonable, and the fix is permanent.

An increasing number of people have found out about this process and love it!</william>

[Marty Roth]

We have done the same Uvira process over nickel on our 1934 Buick.

It seems to be a veryreasonable approach

[ply33]

You can have your headlights as bright as or brighter than sealed beam headlights without changing your car's original wiring. Have your reflectors nickel-plated and polished then send them to UVIRA (<william atwood="" [="">uvira@terragon.com>) for special plating, Use plug-in halogen bulbs (about 32/32 cp). For even brighter lights and to lengthen the life of your light switch, make sure your lights are well grounded and add headlight relays. The drain on the battery is about the same as the original bulbs and your original appearance and wiring are still intact.

I did this on my 1931 Buick and 1936 Plymouth. The cost is reasonable, and the fix is permanent.

An increasing number of people have found out about this process and love it!</william>

I'll second this opinion: How good can those antique car headlights be?

[Curti]

You can have your headlights as bright as or brighter than sealed beam headlights without changing your car's original wiring. Have your reflectors nickel-plated and polished then send them to UVIRA (<WILLIAM [="" atwood="">uvira@terragon.com>) for special plating, Use plug-in halogen bulbs (about 32/32 cp). For even brighter lights and to lengthen the life of your light switch, make sure your lights are well grounded and add headlight relays. The drain on the battery is about the same as the original bulbs and your original appearance and wiring are still intact.

I did this on my 1931 Buick and 1936 Plymouth. The cost is reasonable, and the fix is permanent.

An increasing number of people have found out about this process and love it!</WILLIAM>

This sounds like a really good idea. Uvira plates a coat of aluminum the same as telescope reflectors. I have used their service in the past ans have been very satisfied.

My question is: If halogen's are about the same drain (amps) why would relays be needed?

[ply33]

This sounds like a really good idea. Uvira plates a coat of aluminum the same as telescope reflectors. I have used their service in the past ans have been very satisfied.

My question is: If halogen's are about the same drain (amps) why would relays be needed?

If your halogen replacement draws the same current as the stock bulb and the switches, wires and connectors are in good shape a relay is not required. However you will get a bit higher voltage at the bulb (which should mean more light but shorter life) if you run oversized wires to the lights and have those switched by high current relays (one per lamp) than if you run all that current through the stock headlight switch and dimmer switch.

Personally I opted for getting quartz-halogen bulbs that draw the same power as a #1000 bulb and am not using a relay.

[Curti]

If your halogen replacement draws the same current as the stock bulb and the switches, wires and connectors are in good shape a relay is not required. However you will get a bit higher voltage at the bulb (which should mean more light but shorter life) if you run oversized wires to the lights and have those switched by high current relays (one per lamp) than if you run all that current through the stock headlight switch and dimmer switch.

Personally I opted for getting quartz-halogen bulbs that draw the same power as a #1000 bulb and am not using a relay.

I have a couple of questions.

Do the halogen bulbs have the same pin arangement as say the #1000 so they will install the same way or is there an adapter?

Is there a heat issue? Will the internal headlight wiring stand up to it?

Make the assumption new wiring harness have been installed.

[ply33]

I have a couple of questions.

Do the halogen bulbs have the same pin arrangement as say the #1000 so they will install the same way or is there an adapter?

Is there a heat issue? Will the internal headlight wiring stand up to it?

Make the assumption new wiring harness have been installed.

The quartz-halogen bulbs I am using are plug in replacements for the #1000 bulbs, no modifications required. Just plug them in.

There is enough volume inside the headlight and all that chrome plated brass bucket sits in the air stream as the car moves, so it should be cooled pretty well. Also, the lens is glass and located fairly far from the bulb. So there does not appear to be a problem with the heat. That said, the wiring inside of my headlight buckets was replaced with mil-spec stuff I got in the 1970s but I would think that standard wiring in good shape would be okay too.

I would think strongly about heat issues if considering using a quartz-halogen bulb in a tail lamp as there is much less volume and surface area to dissipate heat. And be especially careful if you have plastic lenses on your tail lamps.