Anyone know if there's a way to polish the headlight reflector?
Headlight Reflector
I've read that it can be sanded and repainted using something like the Eastwood(sp?) reflective paint but that's for another day.
Believe me, I've tried everything you can think of to restore the buckets, and none of it works. Its best to just go ahead and buy new buckets. You can get them from
www.fordpartsonline.com for around $98 shipped.
I've tried paint, polished tin foil glued onto them, new bright bulbs, etc. NOTHING works compared to a simple new headlight bucket.
When i pulled my lights apart i ended up scratching the mirror paint so I repainted them. I used the chrome paint from autozoo, and it worked out pretty good. I actually noticed a very minimal gain when I bought new lights from the old ones. If they are in bad shape you can clean the outside up pretty well to make them look new which might be worth while instead of spending like 115 bucks to have new lights. fordpartsonline is a good source for new ones but you still have to pay for shippign and there shipping is expensive.
heck pull them apart and try isnt like your loosing anything. when you clean the chrome inside do not use anything abrasive. You will scratch the paint and will not be any good.i would use a very soft cloth and a light car polish nothing with grit. If they get scratched then paint them. But take the time to clean the outside you will notice a brighter difference from the yellowish tint.
Ran, looking at the Ford Parts on line and found the price at over $150, each. Were did you find them for under 100?
Martin
Martin, You may have got a prive on the lense/busckett AND aiming bracket and those are over $150 each.
Look for this PN; E7SZ-13007 A & B These are the lenses only.
Hey Martin. I checked at the local Ford dealer here in Chilliwack a few months back and they quoted me 150.00 for the set.
I ended up cleaning the lenses (didn't take the time to get all the pits out) inside and out with Mequiar's PlastX and it worked pretty well.
CLEAN LENSE
I've been reading about professional aquarium people that use a chrome mylar for light control.
I've also been reading about model airplane folks that use an adhesive 'chrome' that comes in sheets that can be attached to their planes. I'm guessing that it's lightweight and gives the polished look of the old planes.
The one item that I want to look into is an adhesive reflective material that film crews use for lighting control. I want to give this one a try on my other set of lights.
The way that the inside of the light bucket is set up is confusing. The metal reflective heat shield above the light only serves to bounce it's light back into the bulb, which then gets lost. The grey bottom of the bucket has no real reflective quality and just soaks up the wavelengths instead of reflecting them.
Out of a 360deg bulb, we're only getting about 130deg of real light.
Pete/Hwyman. Thanks for the clarification. Getting so dim its hard to see down the road at all at night. Given where I am currently working, its dark more than light, so lights are a nice thing to have!
On another note, downside, its a cool -12 C here right now, thats about 10F with a bit of a breeze so its nippy out, plus side, the Bird loves the cold!
Martin
After putting everything back together, I can really tell that both the left and right are better but....the right side is the one with the worn reflector.
Aligned headlights
(shameless thread hijack)
I looked up that part number, the description comes back with bulb assembly.... just to be perfectly clear (pun intented) was E7SZ-13007 the number just for the lenses ?
I had to drive home in the rain, on a very twisty road, mostly by using the force, as I couldnt really see much of the road. It convinced me that new lenses are a requirement.
thanks