Although silver is a better reflective coating, aluminum is widely used for vac and sputter coatings for reflectors. We used silver for mirrors, but looked at other coatings also for reflective index as well as color temperature. Aluminum worked well for automotive light reflectors, especially tail-lamps.

The probem that I think you'll find in most restorations is damaged reflectors. A rusty surface, even slightly, will not be smooth enough to avoid scattering the light after the deposition of the reflective metal. Buffing the base metal to remove damaged/pitted material will also be a problem as it changes the optics of the reflector.

The appearance of a cleaned and re-plated reflector should be good, regardless of its optical qualities.

Best of luck with the undertaking, it sounds like a challenging project.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff