Rear lamp reflector restoration

[jpyke]

When I stripped my rear lights recently I found that the reflector coatings had all but disappeared - particularly on the rear lights (indicators weren't so bad). Having researched various options and read of spraying with chrome spray, tin foil etc, it occurred to me that I might be able to make use of my bright nickel plating kit I've bought recently. A quick google search led me to buy 10ml of silver loaded conductive paint and this weekend I gave it a go!

Stripped reflectors ready for re-silvering:

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Sprayed with a few coats of silver loaded paint:

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This was a bit tricky as I was using a cheap eBay sourced airbrush and the paint sputtered onto the workpiece. Ideally it needed thinning but it wasn't until after the event that I discovered cellulose thinners was the best. (Everything else I tried brought the silver out of solution). The paint takes a long time to dry so today I started on the plating:

IMG_0974.jpg

This is the first coat of copper. Annoyingly my electrolyte has got polluted with something so I got a satin finish rather than the high shine I needed. I found that I needed to build up several coats of copper and give them a good going over with wet and dry between coats to get back to a really smooth surface having had the paint go on unevenly.

The finished result:

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The surface finish could be better but it seemed to be a diminishing returns thing and it will certainly be way better than it was. Time will tell as to how durable it is, but I have got a very thick coat on there so I'd be unhappy if it starts to flake off any time soon.

[tjk]

looks good

tim

[Stag therapy]

Mine were very flakey when I removed them.
Not having a nickel plating kit, the option I took was silver leaf and LED bulbs.

Barry

[jpyke]

Mine were very flakey when I removed them.
Not having a nickel plating kit, the option I took was silver leaf and LED bulbs.

Barry

I didn't think of silver leaf, but that's very fine and should go on well. Although on second thoughts silver tarnishes easily, so unless you lacquered it I imagine it would go dull over time?

Before I started I had idly thought that if it worked well I would be willing to do a few sets for fellow Stag owners but I think I'd have to figure out a more efficient process as it's a bit fiddly at the moment. Also want to know that they last well first.