VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Rebuilding Headlamp Assembly on 1929

The picture is of the headlamp door (plated outer trim ring). The lens goes into the rim first followed by the gasket and then the retaining ring. This assembly then goes on the bucket and the retaining rim attaching bolt tightened.

ok, as i originally thought thanks guys

when i get working on them this weekend i will take and post pictures.

If you are using replacement chrome rings they may not fit as good as original. It took a lot of pushing to get one on and one had to be returned because it was one eighth inch to small.

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You can use your best judgement and apply the type of finish on the clamp rings that you prefer. The clamp rings were originally bare metal.



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I would have expected they would have been zinc coated to prevent early rusting?

I am going to go through my stash of headlights soon and if I have extra rings and retainers would you be interested?

Thanks, they are together and working.

ok think i have everything in order, thanks for helping with the gasket and lens orientation.

i hope to be able to get out there and start assembling the headlamps this weekend, once the yard work is complete.

once i assemble them i will take some pictures and let everyone know the easiest way i found to assemble them

here is a rough sketch of how i am going to assemble based on info:

broke out my NOS lens and cleaned them up to get ready to assemble the headlamps

got most of my parts sorted on the bench for assembly

What are the small parts in the bag next to the screws? I don't remember those when I assembled my lights.

those are wire insulators i picked up from TFS, not sure if i need them but got them when i bought the rest of the parts.

1 hole for parking lamp, 2 hole for headlamp, 3 hole for headlamp wires

Ok, thanks, I sent my plugs to TFS for rebuilding.

i have bought a set of reflectors from fellow Member Chip, he packed and shipped them to me, I now have to take them over to the plater to get quotes on copper and nickel plate / polish. as well as the time frame to do so.

i did a test fit and went over them twice to ensure form fit function. bucket fitment, socket fitment, etc... 

inside of the reflectors

backside of the reflectors

bucket fitment

socket fitment

They should be silvered. They were never nickel plated. Alternative is vacuum sealed aluminum which gives almost the same reflectivity as silver.

i believe that BF315 will have them Al vacuum sealed but the procedure requires them to first be nickle plated and polished. Then they can be sent to be Al vacuum sealed.

Interesting! Is this more economical then having the reflectors re-silvered? Just asking as I was not aware that such prep was required for the AL vacuum sealed finish.

The reflectors have to be nickel plated and polished prior to the vacuum sealed aluminum process being applied. Once done, the vacuum sealed aluminum process is far superior to silver plating because the vacuum sealed aluminum has 90% reflectivity forever and does not ever tarnish like the silver plating.

I believe that the vacuum sealed aluminum process costs around $75 for the pair of reflectors.

Where are you guys getting the nickel plating done? and at approximately what cost?

Interesting, now if the original silver finish is good enough to polish up can they be AL vacuum sealed without having to nickel plate? Just asking for interest sake.

From my understanding the answer is no.

Like other plating items the cost vary widely depending on the shop. One plating shop that I have used for chrome plating quoted me $160.00 for nickle plating two reflectors. I found a shop that did both for $50.00. The shop was being run by a semi-retired man who was doing small projects to keep busy as his wife had a couple years to go before she could retire.

to answer some question and verify above answers...

They have to be nickel coated and polished up. the process Bill uses out at Uvira is proven that the aluminum adheres best to the nickel. he has been doing this since 1972 and ask anyone on here or AACA that has had a set done, they are still like day one UNLESS you scratch or do something to them. the ultimate NO NO is getting them around Silicone !! direct contact or vapors in high concentration. this removes the protective coating and such. oh yeah their is a coating that goes over the aluminum to protect and seal them per say. then you can clean them with warm soapy water and a SOFT cloth. This is the same process that is used to do microscope and telescope lens and reflectors, minus the protective coating.

NO you can not do aluminum over the silver, they have to be stripped and then nickel coated. usually do copper a few layers and get the surface perfect ( including fill ins, build ups, etc). then a few layers of nickel and polished to a shine.

base on the reading and understanding, granted my the numbers may be skewed....
granted you can see a reflection in these, reflectivity is based on the ability to reflect light bands of various wavelength vs absorbing them.
Gold: 98-99.5%
Silver:92-96%
Aluminum:90-94%
Chrome: 40-60%

the cost is still $75 per set and that includes the return shipping, you have to pay to get them there as well.

turn around it approx 2-3 days and Bill works/answers the phone ONLY Mon - Thurs 9-1 Oregon Time :)
he does do email, and is BEST for communications, he had a stroke few years back so talking is hard for him !! Yes he is an OLD MAN< and will gladly tell you that :) but he LOVES vehicles, he asks most people sending in reflectors to include pictures of their car for his wall, he post pictures of the cars on his wall to display.

I will let you know the cost of getting them copper & nickel plated once i get a quote. this is round two... and hopefully the last round.

ok the plater wants $175 each to strip, clean up, copper, nickel, silver, polish.... about 3 weeks

so $350 for finished complete Silvered Reflectors or Nickel Plated

i asked about only doing up to nickel, he said, same price either way ?!? silver must be cheap or they are overcharging up front ?!?

figuring all the work is in prep as it always is. stripping and filling in puts and doing copper coats.that is where it all is. I am ok since it will result in a superior finished product.

i got him down to $300 out the door...

think i am going to stop at the polished nickel so that i can get Bill to aluminize them, seems to be a superior quality and longer lasting product and no tarnish/polishing required :)