Chroming tail lights

mr bump

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Has anyone attempted to re-chrome their tail light surrounds? Mine are pitted and quiet dull in places, is there a method of doing it without removing the plastic light sections?
 

adawil2002

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No. Plastic has to be removed. Easier to buy a used set in better shape on ebay or spring for a set of new ones.
 

jmackro

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No. Plastic has to be removed.

True - lenses won't survive a trip through the stripping/buffing/plating process.

Other threads have addressed removing the lenses from the metal frames and then re-installing after plating, though I must admit that I haven't tried this myself. adawill2002's suggestion to replace rather than repair is probably sound advice.
 
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Markos

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You can try using an oven to remove the lenses. I would totally give it a go, but I don’t have an oven to use. If anyone wants to experiment and report back, I can send my tails.
 

rsporsche

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i used a hot knife to remove the lenses. not the cheap harbor freight electric type but a butane hot knife. works better, hotter and lasts longer. it is possible to remove the lenses and reuse them if you are REALLY careful, but if they are badly cracked, who cares ... or just start with those and use that as practice. get the knife and plastic hot and push slowly on the inner lip / edge to cut it off. try to cut it off smoothly as a jagged cut will show when you reinstall.

i will caution you that its not easy to find replacement lenses since Stan's source has gone radio silent for the last couple of months.
 

Rek

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I am doing this at the moment. Just re-fitting the lenses yesterday. It was much easier than I thought.
I used a hot knife - which is a blade attachment to a gas soldering iron, but it was not going to work. A Dremel worked much better to grind down the bead along the side of the lenses.
This took about an hour. The lenses are tight and clip in.
Off to the chromers in Wembley who said they could have chromed them with the lenses in but it would have made it a lot harder.
After chroming, the metal build up is quite high as the pitted nature required quite a lot of metal buildup.
I needed to adjust/fettle the frames and the lenses but this was easy with the Dremel.

I am today going to use "Unibond Repair Power Epoxy Permanent Adhesive Glue 14ml Instant & Clear" to fix them back in as advised by @daddywad.

To me it was either wait for lenses from @Stans supplier who seems to be a bit slow, buy eyewateringly expensive rechromed ones or do it myself.

Just have a go. Its easier than you think and if you get stuck ask for advice here.
 

rsporsche

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so how visible is the grinding of the bead once the lenses are put back in? my experience was this was quite visible. i agree about most hot knives ... the portasol that i used was the highest watt unit i could find and once it was hot and got the plastic hot it cut right down to the metal and just removed the bead relatively quick.

did the chromer strip the old chrome off first? when mine were rechromed, there was no additional buildup because the old finish was stripped off.
 

mark99

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I think they always strip off the old chrome, they have to
If something is pitted, it is filled with copper which for decorative chrome plating is the filler
That is where the build up comes from
 

teahead

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Pitted chrome will take $$$ to fix. As aforementioned, it may be more cost effective to get non-pitted ones that needs re-chroming.
 

Rek

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It terms of cost I had the following pieces chromed.

Two rear lights-badly pitted
Metal section between rear lights
Two turn/indicator light bases-badly pitted
Four long metal caps for the bottom of the windows, external. Straight at the front and curved st the rear.

Cost £450 for excellent work which is about the price of one excellent rear light.

Here in the UK it’s a no brainer. Plating might be more expensive in other countries.
 

jmackro

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Cost £450 for excellent work which is about the price of one excellent rear light. Here in the UK it’s a no brainer. Plating might be more expensive in other countries.

You listed nine parts that you were able to plate for £450, which I think of as $576. That's an average of $64/part, which probably is lower than plating costs here in environmentally-conscious California. Obviously some parts cost more to plate than others, but I usually see an average cost of $75+ per part.

Still, I tend to prefer replating over replacing, due to:

- Often better to retain original equipment parts rather than using reproductions which may not be quite correct.

- Repro parts are often cheaply plated. A local, high-quality plater can produce better work.
 

Rek

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Started fitting the lenses back today. They are in and solid, plus waterproof, but they will need some work at a later time to polish the edges where the grinding took place. Its hardly noticeable but I see it and know about it so that's what matters.
 

mr bump

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Started fitting the lenses back today. They are in and solid, plus waterproof, but they will need some work at a later time to polish the edges where the grinding took place. Its hardly noticeable but I see it and know about it so that's what matters.
Hi rek, have you got any pictures and methods on removal of the light lenses?
 

Rek

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No pictures, but I used a Dremel to grind down the bead along the back of the lenses. They are not glued in but must have been heated along that bead to fold it over the metal keep them in place. Remove that bead and they fall out.
 

damienh

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I would love to get the details of the Wembley platers Rek if possible, for future reference.

Thanks,

Damien
 
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