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

talked with my plater this morning, and they have already stripped & polished my buckets !! actually surprised me, i expected them to be sitting right where I dropped them off on monday !! next will be a filler layer of copper to fill in the pits, polish and make it baby bottom smooth !! maybe a few layers of copper, then polish and then on to nickel and polish...

so looks like my 3 week wait may be a LOT less, and i will NOT complain on that.

I took apart several 32-33 headlamps and did not see any evidence of "pitting". Also not sure if multiple layers of copper are of any advantage. I would think one good layer of copper polished would be sufficient. Not meaning to sound negative but I do not understand the process they are using.

will let you know exactly what they did when i pick them up

maybe only 1 layer of copper, if that, since they are brass reflectors.

main goal is a nice smooth polished nickel surface to send out for aluminization :)

With a quality plating job multiple layers of copper are applied to parts that are pitted with polishing after each layer. This is done to built up the pits and/or imperfections until there is a smooth surface. Once the surface is smooth then the nickle plating is applied. The layers of copper plating are done much like Bondo is used to fill pitting and etc. on a car body.

I will be interested in BF315's reply after he gets them done. I am sure they are doing a first class job, just don't understand the "pitting" of a brass reflector.

Most likely they are imperfections of some type instead of pitting.

i remember one of the reflectors being corroded and a nice deep green in sections so possible pitting from the corrosion and oxidation ??

I was stuck on the pitting as in rust and had not considered the other types of metal corrosion. The "green" sure helps to define it.

funny when someone mention corrosion RUST is fist thing to pop in most peoples head
in my work corrosion can mean a million things !!! various materials, then processes, fluids, etc... like gambling on what you'll get

well got a letter in the mail today from Bill (Uvira)

he refunded my money, as well as cost to ship my reflectors out to him !!

he asked that i send him the set that was sent to me on accident. I am good with that, and hope they find their home

Have to say Bill has provided me TOP NOTCH customer service and i truly appreciate that !! something that you do NOT see or get much anymore anywhere.

now just have to wait for my reflectors to get done at the plater.... ZZZzzzzz

called and talked to the plater yesterday, he said the reflectors should be done in the next day or two. said they are looking really good.

they will be all polished nickel, ready for Bill @ Uvira !! hoping to get them out to him within a day or two of receiving them from plater.

Will post pictures when i pick them up !!

started working on my headlamp wiring 

installed the armor on the sire and ran it into the radiator shell, through grommet.

now i can solder on the connectors and get it complete .

got my brass washers in today, so was time to assemble and solder up the headlamp connections.

funny part is i ordered 10 #2S brass washers, went to pick them up and they gave me 100 washers. so i have som spares to test and play with as well as if anyone needs some let me know.

the washers were the perfect size for the connectors. installed the printed insulators on the wires, then slipped a washer over the tip of the exposed wire, then applied the heat to the wire, waited a few seconds then applied the solder to the washer and bam had a nice round ball. the solder sent right to the brass and made a near perfect mound.

washer placed over wire tip

beautiful round solder mounds for contact

another angle of solder before cleaning

pulled up the armor cable to the insulator

line up the notched and slide on socket cover

insulator fully installed and connector ready

test fit with mating headlamp socket

Good job!

Cheers, Dean

tested the dome light, knew it would work, Ted installed and configured it, so no issues there


Fun part was the Headlamps and Parking Lamps. since i have NOT rebuilt the headlamps yet, i rigged up a ground for each lamp socket and hooked up the pigtails directly to the new connector i did up. PO told me they were acting up or not wired correctly. when you turn them to park on the switch, the headlights come on ?!? then when you go to On the parking lights come on. i chased all the wires and made sure everything was correct, and under the dash the parking light and headlamp wires were revered. so swapped those around. now they work correctly with the dimmer switch on the floor as well. low beam is a single filament, high beam both filaments. 

while tinkering around realized that the dash light was NOT working. had a new bulb and everything. pulled out the socket and tested voltage had full 6.4 volts going in, but no light. i metered inside socket to chassis ground. realized that the housing was tarnished over and would not ground.

pulled out the socket, cleaned it up with the dremel and we have light !! reinstalled and away we go.

Got a call from the Plater !!

said they are nickel, polished, and ready for pick up !!

hope to get by there in the next day or two so that i can pack them up this weekend and get them out to Bill to get aluminized !! will post picture once i pick them up

well picked up the reflectors today from plater... nickel polished


they look really good and reflective

well well 

got up this morning and was going to wash and clean the reflectors and then pack them up to go to Uvira. washed them with a Microfiber towel and warm soapy water. then dried them with a microfiber towel. and all the towel did was snag. using a light you can see several high spots, sharp and pointy in several places on the inside of reflector. they are nice and shiny and reflect well, however you can really see the bad spots in the nickel. so Monday i will be making a return trip to them to talk with them.

NOT a happy camper now

on Monday went by platers, talked with them, got the reflectors taken care of.

Monday evening cleaned them up, packed them up and prepped for shipping.

Tuesday dropped them off with the local Postal Service to head to Oregon via 3-day Priority Mail.

Bill at Uvira contacted me on Friday to let me know that he had received my reflectors, and that they would be top priority on his list for Monday, as they are closed Friday. so I was very happy to hear that he went out to get my reflectors and validate them and get back to me on his day off. Bill said if all goes well they should be back on their way to me by Tuesday !!

Got an email Monday afternoon from Bill, reflectors were cleaned and plated, then coated all before lunch on Monday. they are packaged back up and waiting for FedEx to pick them up to return them to me.

Based on tracking, and he shipped the FedEx ground, will be 5-7 business days before they get here. West Coast to East Coast.

so looks like i should have them back mid next week. as soon as i get the box i will open, validate and test fit. want to make sure i get MINE back this time ASAP :)

well first things first...  i got a package in from FedEx today, and it was from Uvira. Opened it up to find MY 1929 Reflectors, well the set i just sent him last week. they look great !! i validated they are mine, and when i get time i will open them up and start my headlamp assembly.