VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Headlight rebuild

Hello friends,
Last Friday, my "correct' hoses and clamps did not arrive so I spent the weekend on other tasks; specifically, rebuilding the headlights. One of my headlight bulbs was burned out so I opened the "pod' to replace the lamp. When I did so, the minor flexing of the wire from the pod's connector to the lamp socket, caused the insulation to fracture and fall away leaving bare wire. At that point I had either to leave the connectors in place and solder new wire to the old or replace the wires entirely. Closer examination revealed that the insulation down inside the sockets was damaged as well so replacement became the only viable option and both lights would have to be rebuilt.
The connectors in the sockets are simply round-headed carpet nails, soldered to the wires! I removed the old wire and the "tacks' and cleaned the later up on the wire wheel. From there, I used new, correct gage wire and soldered the old tacks into place. To add a little strength, missing from the original design, I added heat shrink tubing to the insulation of each wire from the contact to just outside of the connector. The phenolic insulator inside one of the headlight lamp sockets broke as the lamp was removed. I made a suitable replacement by cannibalizing two, new off-the-shelf lamp sockets. This completed the wiring restoration.
The headlight lenses and reflectors are original and are in great shape. Is there any kind of protection that I should use on the reflectors? Wax? Silver polish? Nothing? They are really in great condition and I would not want them to deteriorate because I neglected an important step in their care. Your advice and opinions are encouraged.

Best, rick, '30 AD Sedan

What is the proper GUAGE wire? thanks pAUl

I have used silver polish on my cars and it worked fine.Also be sure there is a good air tight seal between the lens and reflector.

Pauls asked about wire gauge: My measurements indicated that a 12-14 gauge stranded wire matched the stuff Chevy put in there. Problem is that wire that heavy usually is stiff, owing to the multiple strands being larger gauge as well -- especially when using the auto-parts-store caliber of ignition wire. In my odds-n-ends box I found some 14 gauge, black wire with fine individual strands and used that. No clue where it originally came from.

ChevGene commented that he has used silver polish on his reflectors but reminds one to make sure the seal is good between the reflector and lens. My cork gaskets are still good, and responsible for the excellent condition of the reflectors, but I may apply a very thin layer of flexible gasket sealant before reassembly. Vacuum grease is also good for revitalizing old cork gaskets. I may end up using that as it allows easier, if messier, disassembly.

Rick, I would go with at least 14 gauge on the headlight for the original bulbs and if it has been updated with seal beams use 14 gauge and it would be a good idea to stick a relay up near the cross bar headlight mount and just use the headlight switch current to operate the relay, the old switches may not handle the high current of the seal beam units and you may have a red low current output, plus burn out the switch..

Rather than use the carpet tacks, you should be able to find a brass "pigtail contact" from a place that does truck lighting. or a hollow brass rivet should be better than an iron tack.

In my humble opinion useing a silver polish on the thin silver plate may deteriorate the reflectors. and cause rapid tarnishment from any SO2 in the Tulsa atmosphere.

Some silver polish will leave a protective coating and some will not. If not a light coat of good quality car wax will help to keep the reflectors shiny.

Rick, I agree with CC on the polish, but what ever you do, don't use anything that has any abrasive in it. Most any single bulb stop light socket will provide you the needed parts for the rebuild of the light socket.

If it requires 14 guage for the headlights what gauge would you use for the tail/brake light?

I would try to match what is on the light fixtures, 14 or 16 gauge, I checked the wireing on my '28 and it appears to have been replaced with 16 gauge, the stop lamp is 6 candlepower and the tail lamp is 3 candlepower (center single fixture two bulb). I would use 16 gauge rather than 18 or 20 because it is more durable. Is the wire comeing out from under the car the armored variety?

I am considering re-wireing my car and useing one of the wireing harnesses because they do have the original armored wireing. My manual shows quite a bit of armor , headlights, tail light and from the frame over to the stoplamp light switch.and who knows what under the dash where mine looks like a rat's nest of red, white blue, and purple plastic insulated wire all 14 gauge.

As long as we are having a head light discussion this what I did thirty years ago when I restored my '34.I had the head light reflectors chrome plated rather than silver.Was told that they would not reflect as well as silver but have been satisfied with the results plus the never require polishing.I do have 32-32 candle power bulbs, the originals were only 21 C.P.on the low beams.Much of the light intensity is determined by having good wiring and good grounds.I see so many newer restored cars both 6 volt & 12 volt with dim yellow lights.The other solotion is adding a relay as per MrMacks earlier post but before doing that it is better to check and repair existing problems.As a test try running a jumper directly from the battery to one of the head light terminals and see how much improvement it makes while the lights are turned on.(the light should be brighter when jumped indicating a problem)providing the grounds are all good.

New sliver plating has a reflectivity of 95 % until it starts to tarnish. The reflectivity diminishes to about 50% eventually. Chrome plating only has 50% of the reflectivity of new silver plating. Vacuum sealed aluminum has a reflectivity of 92% and it maintains that reflectivity forever. And, with a 32/32 candle power bulb, vacuum sealed aluminum is as bright as sealed beams! Also, this space-age process is used on the various mirrors that are used on satellites and etc.

Gene and JYD, have either of you been able to evaluate the new Halogen bulb kits for the older Chevys?

Nope! I don't have a 350 V-8 in it! ha ha!

I saw a halogen installaton instruction sheet for installing the bulbs in the head lights of the older cars and it kind of scared me.I did order a pair of tail light bulbs and installed them in my '50 Chev. would say they are about 50% brighter.There is a warning about using them with plastic lenses due to heat so I removed the little clear lenses in the tail light body that illuminate the trunk to help cool.I do prefer the plastic(Lucite) lenses because they are brighter than glass.Chev. changed to plastic lenses in the middle of 1948 for that reason and used them ever since.There are replacment glass lenses made.The halogen draw more amps. which reqired a 20 amp. fuse but he directional flasher seems to flash at the proper rate .I did install halogen sealed beams in my '57 & Corvair and they give a nice white light.

The best way to add brightness without risking the added heat is to use the new LED-based lamps. They are available no with standard bulb bases. I doubt that they are available in 6 volt. Then again, a dropping resistor...

Rick
Just noticed the saying at the bottom of your posts "There has never been a war where God wasn't on BOTH sides." So true. My father-in-law - who has past away, fought in WW2 and also used to add "There were no atheists in the foxholes"
Just thought I'd share
Maurice

JYD, Maybe you could post the name/address of the company that re-silvers for people who need this service, and thanks again for that information. Gator

JYD, if you have it, would you also post the address of Uvira Laser Optics?

Reference: UVIRA Laser Optics

My '28 touring was received with paperwork that confirmed the above company had "resurfaced" the headlight reflectors in '95. The reflectors as of today are totally unacceptable and any attempt to improve them only results in additional damage. Paperwork also indicated many attempts to contact the subject company resulted in negative results.

Latest address I have for the company is: UVIRA Laser Optics, P O Box 610, 310 Plesant Valley Road, Merlin, OR 97532 Latest phone number is: (503) 474-5050.

Anxiously awaiting response from JYD as this is in his back yard.

Ray, I think UVIRA didn't call it "resurfaced" - they called it something else. They did it to the reflectors of my '31 sedan and they are as bright as sealed beams.

Hi d2d2,

Yep, you're right, they called it 'coating'. I was just tring to be kind to them. I have a set still on the shelf that they did for my 490. I'm afraid to go look at those. However, the reflectors in my '25 are still pefrect after 17 years, but they were SILVER plated and that is what will be done to any more reflectors that I need done.

Time for a commercial: Gary Wallace does them for $120.00 pr exchange.

Hey Raymondo! Yes, UVIRA is in my backyard and that is still their current address as far as I know. Their system is called "Vacuum Sealed Aluminum" and this is the same process that is used on space age equipment and so forth. This "Vaccum Sealed Aluminum" coating is far superior to the silver coating since it maintains about 92 per cent reflectivity forever (silver doesn't).....and also with this process, the old headlights are about a bright as sealed beams with a 32/32 candle power bulb! Now, for the down side. This process apparently went the same route as Kessler's did when Lawrence gave the business to his grandson. Since the owner of UVIRA was extremely busy using his product in the space industry, he turned over the reflector coating portion of the company to his son in the mid-1990's, and the quality and service decreased greatly from that point on. And, from what a lot of folks have been saying, this portion of the business has ended up like Kessler's....no where! I am not aware that this process is being offered for the old reflectors anymore....at least I haven't heard anymore about their reflector business in several years. :( :( :( :(

Ray, tell us more about Gary Wallace. :confused:

Why can't I find something when I'm in a hurry.

Okay, contact him direct at: chev4cyl@swbell.net

He also has a web site.

Gary Wallace's web site is at

www.cybersurfers.net/~herb/gary.htm