I just got a set of euros from the don and one of the reflectors is rusty. i was wondering how or where to get them refinished.

thanks in advance.

*EDIT*

I have searched with no avail.

__________________
-Trevor

OBK #12
1980 300SD 333,XXX miles - Totaled
1986 Mazda RX-7 212,XXX miles - impounded and auctioned off
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited 33,000- SEGR, Provent, Fumoto

look for resilvering.

There's a member here who's supposed to get into the business of refinishing bad reflectors. I've forgotten his username though.

__________________
'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

There was two options, resilvering and another. I forget the seconday but it was cheaper than resilvering. Try using google site:mercerdesshop.com and see if you have more luck.

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Give this a try if you want to save money:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=99&itemType=PRODUCT

I have used this on my BMW....not quite like a mirror but much more reflective than silver paint. Good luck!

__________________
All the best,

J. P. Mose
1968 250SL
1970 280SE 3.5 Cabrio
1987 560SL
1990 560SEL

Back in the 70's we had a W115 with euro lights. One of the lenses broke and the reflector got damaged due to exposure to the elements for a prolonged time. I remember specifically personally bringing the reflector to a plating shop and having it replated without any difficulty or extraordinary expense.

At that time it was the only option as the euro headlights were not sold anywhere in the US and getting parts meant a trip to Montreal (which is where I procured the replacement lens, by the way). The reflector was not sold separately at that time so I elected to have the reflector re-plated rather than buy a whole new assembly.

So try a plating shop and see what they say...mine came out just like the original...a mirror-like finish.

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

We are the ones that will be reconditioning reflectors soon. The last 5-700 pound hi-tech power supply comes in by truck today. If it stops snowing that is as it never snowed basically at all this winter before the last week.
There is nothing wrong with the apearance of the older method chrome. The downside though is chromium only reflects about 56 percent of the light bulbs output. Silvering is about 90+ percent reflective in comparison.
Some fellows have used mirroring shops with good luck. I personally feel a person should want performance, appearance, and exceptional durabilty.
The system we will be using is called vacuum metalzing. A metal like bright aluminium is melted and vapouised in a high vacuum and deposits on the reflector surface. When this is done a very hard coat is applied over it to stop any oxidation of the aluminium and protect the surface as well. This is the same method as all new reflector manufactures have used for at least the last twenty years or more. Just look into one of your cars sealed beams to see the exact finish by our method.
The appearance looks like bright silver as well yet reflects even a small percentage more of the light than bright silver. It is very durable if done properly and does not tarnish over time. Most important to me is it has a pretty good color match to bright silver or the old chrome color before tri valient chrome use spread through the industry. That newer chrome plating has a somewhat darker appearing component in it. Or at least to my eyes.
Your reflector also has to be conditioned to 2000 grit paper to get a decent job. Rust pits and other surface problems are also far easier to deal with when using vacuum metalization. There is far more flexability to prepare the surface for application alone. This reduces preparation time . Hopefully this should equate to a better job at lesser cost for the user.
We really examined this area before deciding to plunge in. Our total equipment costs are much higher than other approaches yet I feel the end results justify it's application over any other methods. The additional savings by not having to spend endless money on enviroment issues alone was another major consideration..
Most important to us though is we want happy customers that have recieved value for their money spent.
Our warranty will also be comprehensive. A bad taste of paying for something and not getting it or paying to have it done over again have not been the enjoyable high points of my own life either.
We are seriously considering a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser as long as he owns his car. I may not be around but think the company will be strong enough to survive for the remainder of the present century. Really it is just good business.
We are really close to doing some trial work to make sure all systems are functioning with good quality control. Pricing has been one of the critical issues to determine. At present it is felt that we might be able to charge about half of what our only one serious competing company on the west coast charges. They have become somewhat complacent and are staying with the bright silver plated finish. They have also been the only specialized service existing to do used automobile reflectors to the best of our knowledge. So it looks like our charge will be 50.00 per reflector with a purchasers lifetime warranty and we are a very easy firm to deal with.
Our price includes all preparation, actual coating, sealing, and finish packaging plus a real warranty. The competitions current approach is 71.00 per 7 inch reflector plus 45.00 per hour for prep work. With no real warranty that I am aware of. Their bright silver plated finish has to start tarnishing with time. The bare silver does and will oxidize.
By mentioning as it was previously requested by a site member. Additional understandings of processes and results it is hoped an informed consumer can make better choices. The websight for what we visulise soon to be our only real competion is www.stevesautorestrations.com.Although reconditioning auto reflectors generally seem to be a lesser component of their operations than they once were. Hope the above is helpful in your quest.

I'm first in line!

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Silver is brighter than aluminum, and more durable, but much more expensive.
Most modern reflectors are vac-metalized or sputter-coated auminum. Chrome has the wrong color-temperature, and is much lower reflectivity.

The most important part to know is "garbage-in, garbage-out". The surface finish is so important that lighting manufacturers use vacuum in their plastic molds to create reflector-ready surfaces on automotive lights. The surface must be extremely smooth and follow the original shape.

Any imperfections will be amplified by the reflective coating. Even though many smaller imperfections won't be noticeable when looking at the assembled headlamp, the stray light from occlusions in the surface will cause significant glare. In other words, if the reflector is discolored, perfect candidate for re-plating. If it has significant rust, junk.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

One user posted here using aluminum tape over the bad spots of the reflector. He then proceeded to buff out the aluminum until shiney.

He could not tell the difference between the light from the headlight which had been professionally resilvered and the headlight which he put aluminum tape on.

I tried it just this past week with great results as well. I am very happy.

__________________
1985 300SD "Sady" 235k miles
Wont Start for Anything!

Sady, I had mentioned about this mylar tape approach in a previous post. There is a thread from a member about the tecnique of doing it awhile ago. He was quite happy with his ideal and results as well. I am glad you agree with him.
Mylar tape I believe is a bright aluminium deposited on the plastic materal with an adhesive overlay. I felt and still do that the safety aspect of good reflectors offsets any other consideration.
It's far too late after something is hit because of poor lighting. In fact to the casual observer the seams if visable at all might appear just part of the reflector design even if noticed.
As for the silver versus bright aluminium concern also expressed. I have just been quoting industry standards information. If someone really preffers the silver we have 99.9 percent pure silver on hand to vacuum metalise as well. Or we could also electroplate the silver as we have electrplating equipment..
As for the reflectivity of various metals. We did not aquire a reflectivity instrument as the cost was so great and felt it was overkill at this time. Yet we should be able to do a few reflectors by each method and measure the resaultant light output with a sensitive light meter under controlled conditions and post the results.
If the results were not consistant or not conclusive with our crude reading equipment. We will just send them out to an optical specialist repair shop for the tests.
Also we just aquired some adiitional equipment from an optical coating firm. I turned down their reflecting measuring device as it was just too expensive even used. Other required equipment just had a higher priority as well. Babymog also made an important point about rust pitted reflectors. You cannot do a decent job over irregular surfaces. We have developed an unusual method in house that might deal with them. Only time will tell if it is good enough. In research on this problem we have found no indication of anyone else that has even considered our approach to this problem or method to the best of my knowledge at this time. This in fact may be our first propietory item. Time as always will tell.