Chrome/Mirror Paint Recommendation

[Superman]

The reflector dishes on my Euro H4 set are crappy. It looks like they were not done right in the first place and perhaps there has been some wear and fading. I would like to recoat them, and I notice there is 'chrome' rattle-can spray paint. I am looking for recommendations and/or suggestions of other persons or sources of information about this kind of paint. I want to know what is the best paint, what is the application process, etc. Bear in mind, these reflectors get BLASTED by the brightest and hottest of high-UV halogen lights. They need to not crack, not fade and not burn. Where do I learn more?

Also, there is a tiny light bulb in the pics. What is this? How does it work? I see a ground terminal not doing anything, so I could give this little bulb a ground, but I do not see an unemployed power connector in the headlight bucket.

BTW, there is a pink reflection in one of the pics. That is not my whang.

[Brookieslayer]

The little bulb is the city light, it comes on with the park lamps. In the ROW cars it those are the city headlights. Dim the real headlights when you get into the city.

[Ralph3.]

You can get replacement reflectors, not cheep though.

https://www.**************/collections/lights-lens/products/da8g-s137-c-117243

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Ralph3.

You can get replacement reflectors, not cheep though.

https://www.**************/collections/lights-lens/products/da8g-s137-c-117243

Link no worky.

[pkabush]

Nice wang
Yep the little bulbs are city lights. You can try chrome paint from a rattle can but IMHO it’s a waste of time and effort. If you want to do it on the cheap, I’d use aluminum tape. It’s basically aluminum with adhesive on one side. Pretty good reflective qualities and it won’t melt or distort from heat. It’s used for residential and commercial duct work and can be found at Home Depot or any other similar box store. If you do go this route you should cut Vs in the tape to avoid wrinkles.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by pkabush

Nice wang

Thanks. The reflector is concave. Makes the whang appear bigger than it really is.

Yea, I've used that tape. Hoping for a better solution.

I have heard the reflectors can be polished. But...they were coated with something. This means they could be coated again. The reflectors are metal, and the backs of them are brown.

[Ralph3.]

Sorry about the link, our host didn’t like it. I tried polishing a junk reflector with out success, it’s an aluminum plate and is very thin. You might contact Mr Audette regarding restoration but I think you will find it pretty pricey compared to new reflectors.

[Superman]

Thank you Ralph. Your report caused me to go looking and yes, new reflectors are pricey generally. More on that in a moment. I appreciate your description of efforts to re-polish existing reflectors. I had that thought, but would not know how to do this. The polish medium would need to be very fine. And now, you say the coating is VERY thin, which makes the task very challenging and perhaps impossible. If polishing could largely restore them, then there would be evidence of that in my reading. There is no evidence of that.

Mr. Audette can refubish them, but it is a multi-step process ending in an aluminum coating. The original coating is silver. He recommends against chrome plating, noting that a chrome plating is not nearly as reflective as silver or aluminum. His refurbishing method costs around $200 per reflector.

I did find a potential source however. See the images I will post below. One, with a part number ending in 103, is a label on my reflectors. The other, with a part number ending in 928, is a reflector available from several vendors on a popular auction website. Those vendors are located in Germany. The best price I can find for a pair of these reflectors is about $150. Great price....if they are the correct part. Comparing the photos of those reflectors with mine, they appear to be identical in every detail except the coating on the back of the reflector. Theirs are silver, mine is brown. Otherwise, they appear to be identical. I am tempted.

BTW, VERY nice, faithful, quality H1 headlight reproductions are available now for $600 (per pair, I think). I do not know who sells them, but I have held them in my hands and they are quite impressive.

[Ralph3.]

For those H1 reproductions contact Eric Linden at Auto Foreign Services. I almost bought a pair before I redid my H4's with new reflectors. If you want a reflector to try to polish I would be happy to give you the junk one I was messing with.

[Ralph3.]

PS, Eric is local to us in Fremont in Seattle.

[Superman]

Oops. Forgot to post pics.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Ralph3.

PS, Eric is local to us in Fremont in Seattle.

Thanks, Ralph. Eric's product is a good deal. I will likely order the reflectors from Germany but if I needed whole new units, I would get them from Eric. I have heard it said that the Euro H4 units perform just as well as the H1s, but just don't have the same "bragging rights." Original H1s are made of Unobtanium.

And for those of you who have not used these kinds of headlights, they really do outperform the lights that came on our cars. By a WIDE MARGIN. Using 100W highs, night time becomes day. Seriously. Good visibility for a half mile.

[Ralph3.]

New reflectors

[Ralph3.]

Got these from from an outfit back east, AASE sales.

[Superman]

This is very helpful, Ralph. Those are new reflectors for your existing Euro H4s? And the 'business' part of the reflectors are nice and shiny? It looks like they fit. I think I just need to pull that trigger.

[Ralph3.]

Long story, I purchased an early set of H4's on eBay, cleaned them up and the old reflectors were pretty cloudy. Tried polishing a Bosch reflector, talked to Mr Audette about restoring reflectors etc. When I couldn't stomach that, I purchased 2 new AL reflectors and miscellaneous small parts and reassembled the H4's.

[Superman]

Yup. I think the AL reflectors are for me. One more question: I see a BOSCH lens. Mine do not say BOSCH. Can I assume the BOSCH lens will fit the AL assembly?

[john walker's workshop]

There's chrome powder paint, but the AASE ones are probably the way to go.

[Superman]

John, I am likely to order the "Automotive Lighting" reflectors, made in Czech-Republic, just like my existing Bosch ones. They look identical to the ones Ralph used successfully, and carry the same part number, so I think we've nailed function and fitment. The pair is $150.

[Ralph3.]

Bosch and AL are interchangeable, all the newer H4’s are AL. You can still get Bosch lenses though.