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Originally Posted by al76slc
Anyone have success removing the aluminum backs from the headlight lens doors on a 107, to clean the inside of the lenses? The aluminum backs are held on by flanges which appear to be the plastic from lenses which have been heated and bent over. On a spare headlight door, I cut off the flanges with a rotozip with a cutting wheel. Not perfect, and I had to chip off some excess material, which resulted in bigger pieces breaking off. I also tried a glass cutting diamond wheel, small woodworking chisel etc. with similar poor results.
After removing the aluminum backs, I'm thinking of re-attaching the backs the same way - bending the plastic over the back of the doors. I'm also thinking of sealing the backs closed with clear silicon caulk to avoid dirt getting inside. The disadvantage is that if I ever have to take them apart again, they will be equally hard to remove/replace.
Comments? Better solutions?
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I did this; the reflectors are heat-staked. First, obviously, clean them thoroughly, that dust really gets baked and caked inside, use a bristle brush. I removed the reflectors with a Dremel, and replaced them by remelting the plastic with a cheap soldering iron(I was extremely careful not to remove very much plastic at all). PLASTX works wonders on the front.
I think the reflectors are galvanized, not aluminum (?). I polished the reflectors and sold the set (bought new ones); if I were to do it again I'd resurface them with HVAC aluminum tape (harbor freight), then sand and polished the reflectors (carefully, I know they are thin/delicate) and then seal the backs closed with RTV. The tape actually works extremely well, expecially if it it is sanded with 400 grit, and then buffed with a finger, rubbing compound, and a fine polishing towel. I did this on reflector bowls for my spare set of Euro's with shockingly good results (see post). PM me, I bought more aluminum tape than I will use before I lose the rolls. OTOH, this might actually wind up being TOO reflective, in which case just leave the tape as-is with no sanding/polishing. You can't really see wrinkles through the front anyway.
People may wonder "why do this?". Well, it's somehow more satisfying to restore something to like new than it is to just buy parts; also, now I have more money to spend on things that I can't restore. It is, however, a time vs money equation.
Right now, I'm working on the body side moulding (I got a new set, but I couldn't bear to throw out the old ones). I have a technique that got the rubber to esentially new condition as compared to my new set.