Today for my bday i got together all the supplies to re-mirror the inside of my headlamps.
will post pics of the process , heading out to do some now.
Happy birthday. :)
I take it your trip home was uneventful?
finally headed down the road about 11pm, didnt get ohio cop'ed this time LOL.
here you go guys,, have at it. you get the idea.
pick up some flexible mirror from auto hole or where ever then sticky back it in place after you trim.
i had to heat up a finishing nail with a torch to cut the big bulb circle out.
Did it make a big improvement at night? I am sure it couldn't hurt. LOL.
not sure yet, just finishing
here is one with the lense
well, this sucks really bad.
dont do what i did. Looks good , but light is not right.
I found the right stuff at lowes in the HVAC section where there is mirror finish 3m duct work tape.
You look into it and its like a mirror.
The reason i did not get it is because it said "3M" in red letters all over it.
I tried this flexible miorror stuff and it does not work, wrong geometry for the way the housing is shaped. lots of concave and curves going on to replicate with a flat mirror and shaped like i did. Miorror tape will be the only fix to the original chrome interior or ... get em re-chromed.
I will try to find some mirror finish metal tape instead.
Have you thought about a nice set of the Lincoln headlights that swap over to the Cougar? I see them quite often on Ebay.
Can you provide a link to the ones you are referring to? As far as I know, these aero headlamps are the same for Cougars, 'Birds and Lincoln LSCs. If there is a source for another lamp assembly, it might be well worth looking into, seeing as these are getting awfully difficult to locate.
the aero bird headlights are close but not a fit. the inner angles of them are a bit different /end hijack
yeah, pls share the Linc lamp info.
The Thunderbird has lights unique to themselves, as does the Mark VII. The Cougar actually shares it's lights with one model of Lincoln. As shown below......
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-PAIR-Lincoln-Continental-Mercury-Cougar-87-88-Headlight-Lens-OEM-89-94-/261097145780?fits=Model:Cougar&hash=item3cca9a45b4&item=261097145780&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr
Now, this is a bit of cash, but, it's an example. I se them cheaper, and at most yards I go to. For some reason, the Lincoln lights I see aren't yellowed as often as the Cougar's.
Another example....and remember, there are dozens of lights all over ebay for the Lincolns......
http://www.ebay.com/itm/89-90-91-92-93-94-LINCOLN-CONTINENTAL-RH-HEADLIGHT-HEADLAMP-NEW-OEM-Socal-Parts-/290770960403?fits=Year:1989|Make:Lincoln|Model:Continental&hash=item43b34cc013&item=290770960403&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr
I wish Thunderbird headlights were that easy to find.
I got a set a year ago off ebay.
I just need the outer marker lenses.
well, this is interesting and redundunt............
here is a tip on clearing the lenses.
I sand the lense with 3000grit foam pad they sell at auto parts places.
I then use a foam brush and paint on min wax polyurethane.
it looks good when brushed on but i learned something last night.
When the poly is almost dry, use a heat gun and get the whole lense really "warm" and watch the whole thing clear up even more.
back to the pics..... this is a lense from the 4eyed cars that fits right in the lense holder...interesting but im not going this route.
this is like a headlamp inside a headlamp
just tinkering around for now.
Lincoln Continental headlights (not sure what exact years though) are the same as '87-8 Cougars.
I think it's around 89 or 90 for the Linc Conti's...
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?33121-(New-Goodies)Need-Your-Opinion-on-Headlight-Color!(Lots-of-Pics)&highlight=
There you go, the ultimate final solution.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=237 Where to get them. You're savvy enough to build your own relay harness, and I would recommend to. Theirs is probably ok, but I suspect them as being the only non top shelf component in the kit. X3 made his own clear lenses, and I know yours are different, but you seem like the type of guy who is willing to put the labor in to grind down and polish out his existing lenses like I did.
thanks everyone,
if anyone tries the polyurethane method, make sure to heat them up after it dries, just watch the lense soak up the poly and clear things up.
gotta use that 3000 grit paper or 3000grit sponge under running water first though.
On this subject, what is the best way to get the glue out of the channel? Mine is so hard I couldn't dent it with a screwdriver.
I'm going to be doing this on my 93' Tempo headlights. I already have polished them once and installed those Sylvania Ultras (red package) but they started to haze back up again.
Heat it in the oven, it pulls off like a soft twizzler stick when it is warm.
I should further define "warm",,,what me and my son learned is that you hold the lense with a t-shirt or something and when you cant take the heat, lay it down.... thats how hot.
He put too much poloy on, i laid down a thin coat only.
Some of your last few passes with a heat gun should be approx 3'' off the face of the lense covering every inch like you are scanning the surface not missing an inch.
If you smell something that can only be described as "clear plastic" melting, and yet its not actually melting,,, then you hit that sweet spot of perfect heat. It will be like a chemical plastics smell. If you smell only Poly getting warm, your not close enough to the lense.
I think what i did was actually bond the poly into the grain of the lense somehow.
Litterally under water, it only takes a min or two of vigorous sanding to be done sanding.
Of course i chopped off those Ice Break sticky outty things , mason still has them.
buy a heat gun from lowes or somewhere.
Heat perimeter first then pick a stratigic area to start prying up with a flat head screwdriver.
too easy
dont forget to inspect for cracks on the rear of your housing as well as where the bulb inserts.
Found a couple on my pass side and that i siliconed up... was the culpert for water intrusion.
first add water to housing then blow real hard in the lamp opening and you will easily hear / see your lense leak.
Im done, fully satisfied and want to comment on what i did. I never in my life would have imagined these lights could glow so white and bright. I dont even have the relay mod done to my lights on the 20th either.
I deleted the mirrors i put in. I added metal tape (very shinney and almost like mirror) because it was what i bought myself.
you gotta look at the different ones, there is shinney then there is "more" mirror like. I added two 3'' long strips along the area where the bulb is and also to one side that was worn away.
I will be going back in them soon to re-do the tape because while up here in ohio, i found an HVAC shop that has actual "mirror" finish metal tape. This is a unique tape to HVAC guys when heat retention is critical on duct work.
Excluding the 30min or so time waiting for the poly to dry, breaking into and adding tape and re-assembly of each headlamp lense only took about an hour.
I spent more time doing the mirror tape then lamp resto. This has became so easy for me its like a walk in the park.
If anyone wants a set redone, then send em my way.
On the headlight subject, only the back of the housing, the side the bulb inserts, is mirrored correct? Not the floor or the top of the housing?
Also the metal insert at the top, should it be polished?
correct to part 1 above
not required to part2 above, its just a heat sync
this is the stuff you want for a replication of a mirror inside your headlamp lenses.
its a poly type metalized mirror tape.
The description is wrong, i talked to grainger about this product and the store i was in at youngstown did not even know they offered it.
Another application would be the 1/2'' roll which would nicely applie to the center chrome trim of the black molding. just stick it right on top of your old faded stuff.
here is the link, i got two rolls of 2'' wide.
will be removing the other metal tape i put in there and trade in this thin poly mirror stuff.
wont be able to till i get some more silicone though.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/search.shtml?searchQuery=15d441&op=search&Ntt=15d441&N=0&GlobalSearch=true&sst=subset#productReviewTabs
enjoy,, its like 8bucks a roll for 15' long x 2'' wide
I wonder how much it would cost to get the inside of the headlights re-vacuum chrome plated? Is it even possible to get some one to do that?
Many chrome shops offer Plastic Chrome Plating. It's def not cheap though, that's for sure.
I recently had the plastic front grille on my '93 Lightning done, at Chromemasters in Nashville, TN. Was definitely worth the money.
Did you get a chance to pull the lights back apart and try this tape? Curious if it was better or worse light output. I just got mine back together and left the mirroring alone for now.
Im doing it this coming weekend.
The lamp lenses themselves are clear as a bell after my work i described.
I purchased 4 reditions of metal tape and compared them all, one inparticular was more mirror than the other three.....
However, being a perfectionist, and always wanting the best, i finally found the Mirror poly tape.
I will watch a movie and fiddle with these in my lap chillin out by the fireplace with a cold beer.
I have not even done the headlamp relay mod yet to my car and I am BRIGHT WHITE light.
I did complement it with some new sylvanya bulbs that seemed to cost like 40bux for the pair.
will post pics when done
Cool, I followed your described method and posted a thread with pics just in case any one else was going this path.
since i am caught up on things in general, i started back on the mirror repairs on the interior of the headlamp.
the product linked on post 27 is working perfectly.
will post pics.
word of advise,,,,,,**DO NOT Seal the lense back on with slicone in a liberal manner***
i had a hell of a time getting the lense cover off.
I think i will only add just what is needed on the outter edge of the seal only when i seal up this time.
that clear silicone proved to be very challenging to say the least to let the cover go **EVEN using a heat gun**.
i have been through some pretty agressive car washes since the polyerethane add to the lenses and its flaking off in tiny areas,, this is apparently a trade off,,not sure just yet.
either way the lense covers still very crystal clear.
Pics of light pattern?
One picture of the poly tape that I got to Granger
It's hard to work with but I did my best see the picture of the card off to the side
Not that it's hard but it's just straight and the darn lense housing is curved
Here is the second headlamp with the finished mirrored interior using the new Polly tape I got from Granger
James, I am quite sceptical about this. Are you sure, that the reflective film will survive such heat that the bulb produces? The other thing is, that it's not very reflective. I'd rather take it to the company for proper chrome plating. Well, this is much cheaper, but the result is equal to price...
You're right about chroming.
It's very difficult to get a good photograph of them reflectivity of the film but it's rated for temperature I believe which is 140°
In person it looks really good and I tried to use a playing card to show the reflection
I'm very happy with the end results but yes chroming would be better.
See the below next set of lamps I'm doing. This is a before picture and I'll post an after
And here it is complete
I hope this one shows the reflection of the laminate tape that I have on a lot better
I did this a few years back, and polished it all up. It was better than not having any reflector material left (pearlescent white plastic was all that was left), but not that much of an improvement. New lights made the biggest difference.
It's too bad that this will be getting more difficult to do though. NOS parts are becoming hard to find.
word of advice,
put the lense cover back on the light housing then ~leaving a tiny gap~ add silicone ~then finish seating the lense on the housing.
if you goop up the cavity along the lense cover with silicone (especially clear), not even a heat gun will safe you.
i gooped up my lense covers so much that i spent an hour per main headlamp taking the lense off.
if you dont remember this, when you take off the covers again, you ***will *** risk cracking them.
with stock headlamps, a heat gun works perfectly to loosen them up.
word of advice,
put the lense cover back on the light housing then ~leaving a tiny gap~ add silicone ~then finish seating the lense on the housing.
if you goop up the cavity along the lense cover with silicone (especially clear), not even a heat gun will save you.
i gooped up my lense covers so much that i spent an hour per main headlamp taking the lense off.
if you dont remember this, when you take off the covers again, you ***will *** risk cracking them.
with stock headlamps, a heat gun works perfectly to loosen them up.
this is why i am just training myself to do it the hard way now, i figure lamps are not gonna be around in 5 more years tops.
lamp assemblies in any condition will be valuable.
Vacuum chroming will be the only real solution. I have a set of new lights that I used for about a year, tucked away in a box. The same for a pair I got out of a yard earlier this year - boxed up. I prefer to not modify or use stock parts in good condition, due to the coming rarity of them.
one last thing i am doing,,,,,,,,
gonna go back to auto zone an buy more of those plastic mirrors.
on all areas of the headlamps where there is a flat surface (typically on the sides), i am going to add mirror to that area.
granted my reflective polymer i am using now is great!, and my headlamps are showing me a nice bright WHITE light on the road, i am reaching for yet even more.
so this will also give me the opportunity to discover if my advice for sealing the covers is valid.
next up is to resurect the headlamp relay mod i did to masons's bird and add continue that thread with the 20th but....... to include a new isolated thread called "ignition switch relay mod".
I will only be able to do the ign sw mod thanks to the pieces parts Tom R shipped over, should be an interesting venture to cram 20lbs of in a 7'' area.
Pffff, relays are so 1980s. The new in-thing is MOSFETs. Build it right and there's virtually no heat or voltage issues :p
Pffff you don't even know what MOSFET stands for you Widget Wrangler
??????? you lost me for a nano second, fet's have been around well before the 80's matter of fact, i am pretty certain that there is an obvious reason why relays are used today...... fets do not offer true circuit isolation in a fault situation.
perhaps you fault your power poles transformer for being so 1920's, matter of fact they were and still are the only real way to electrically isolate one side of a conceptually engineered voltage from the other. maybe they need to get an apple on that pole instead,, maybe an IPhone will replace the tranformer for your house only,, you can have it.
how are they (Mosfets) NEW? certainly you will be licking your self induced wound correcting your technologically challged vocal chords with a creatively coreographed virtural reality rendition of what you actually meant to say,, thats ok though because fets are so 1960's and 70's.
perhaps you should get an app for that instead of the antiquated fet.
just playin.........
oh, one more thing,, and i may be crazy to even ask,,,
not sure why im asking but..........in light of my being open minded to new advents in technology since i work in that industry ,,,,
how are you going to do / defeat what no one else has been able to do thus far and that would be that you are saying you can defeat the production of heat and yet produce the same amount of watts?
if you say "heat sync" then your cheating. yes a common base/emitter/collector could continuity check to the cars chassis but that still cheating.
with no heat sync you actually can power headlamps and starters ect with no production of heat....>?
i think ET has gone home man,, he took his toys with him.
Here's a shot of an improvement with mirrors on the flat vertical sides on the interior of the headlamp lense
Well I think I'm all done with this now
I'll put them back in the car and call it good
See the next few completion photos
I did the same trick on that cornering lamp lenses as I did with the headlamps. I polyurethane and heat guned them
i hate my stupid iphone,, makes pics look all stretched out.... so much for technology.
Do you have any updates on these lights?
Does the polyeurathane hold up to day to day use on a DD, what about the mirrors and duct tape?
everything is perfect for the interior of the lights.
i am not satisfied with the polyerethane , so that is removed now.
i dont understand the reference to duct tape you mention
i have another product i am going to put on the outside of the lense but yes, this mod still has me running with very bright low and high beams.
just a thought, could the flexible mirror stuff be heated and shaped to the original housings?
Chrome body wrap vinyl. Awesome stuff. I got ome from Ebay for $12, and it's enough to a do every light you have. I used it on my tail light housings when I restored them. the rest is going to Jerry for his stuff.
Hah, I'm just seeing this response now.
All I meant is that everything has become computerized around us, and for good reason - why leave more mechanical than you have to. I've had enough relays fail that I don't see the reason to keep using them, if one has the means to use MOSFETs instead. They're cheap, can handle high currents, have very low on-resistance so they're easy to heatsink and don't drop too much voltage, they don't care about switching, can handle quite a large voltage spike, I find them easier to design around/tuck away, and generally can last forever. Relays are sensitive to moisture too, so I don't give them a positive note on that over MOSFETs - both take mounting considerations. I've had a few Bosch relays die from moisture, mounted in a poor location (near the radiator support). MOSFETs need to be sealed away, and I can mount them anywhere. I no longer need the space consuming passenger side mounted relay bank that I used forever. I've been using cheap $0.50 IRF3205 MOSFETs for any general car application with great success.
In on/off situations, the heat dissipation in any decent MOSFET is almost nothing. Running two headlights through it, let's say at a high 10A of current, we're looking at under 1W of heat dissipation for the IRF3205 and even less for MOSFETs closer to 1mohm of resistance. 1W would raise the IRF3205 62C over ambient without a heatsink. With a 175C max operating temperature, there is a ton of headroom. I'd of course have it mounted to a small metal plate/enclosure to tuck away, and it'd have the metal plate open to the atmosphere. Losing less than 1% of the power as heat is negligible. The big benefit is that I can have a ton of them in a compact space. A fuse and MOSFET power distribution bank is compact and works awesome. You should see how easily I over-engineered my car alarm system (redundant and capable of handling 100A of horns/sirens if the wiring to them was sufficient). In on/off situations, heat just doesn't exist. My load has also been further decreasing as my lighting has moved to LED.
what did you use for your bias voltage and did you find it nessesary to use current limiting resistors?
got a diagram of a single lamp with the fet ?
did you do common emitter designs or did you find common base to to be easier to manage?
i agree with everything you say,,
got a product link?
my headlamp interior looks great and the 3m paint defender is working perfect on the outside,,
asking because i may try something different like your idea
Here you go. Super cheap, too. I installed it on my light housings, then thought it didn;t look chrome enough.....realized that it had a protective clear outer layer tat also has to be peeled off....CHROME. I am going to do the inner and outer front lights as well.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-60-x12-Chrome-Mirror-Vinyl-Body-Accent-Wrap-Sheet-for-Volvo-Others-/310653538149?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item485464cf65&vxp=mtr
ok, thats siimilar to what i used except my rolls were 3'' wide.,,
I spent a lot of time laying down this stuff, takes a lot of time to work "flat" stuff into a concave shape.
I'd have to look back into what I last did - it has been a year since I touched the things. The MOSFETs support up to 20V gate-to-source so as long as voltage spikes are suppressed, the MOSFETs won't burn up at the gate.
If one wanted to be able to use a positive trigger from a switch and turn on a light with the + (bulb grounded to chassis like the factory does), it would require driving a p-channel MOSFET with a (small) n-channel MOSFET. I haven't used one, but I'd take a look at the cheap MOSFET with part number IPP80P03P4L-07 in order to do this. $0.50 retail MOSFET with a smaller n-channel MOSFET to drive it, which costs pennies. Of course, I use these package types since they are easy to diy in the garage - no custom PCB needed. Huge legs to solder to, and quick/simple to bolt to a heatsink. I may be switching everything over to custom PCB/surface mount though - I have everything I need to get going for that. Time is the issue - lately I've been spending a lot of it finding the best value CAD-CAM software for a hobbyist, playing with each one to find which I like using. I won't spend $10k on software for just a hobby.
Back on topic, the vinyl wrap should work fine in the headlight housing, since I assume it doesn't fail on a car left out in the summer sun. I tried repainting the reflector and polished aluminum tape (to a mirror-like finish, but with lines at the edges) - neither of which were the same as new headlights. We need more reproduction of factory parts. Sadly, I don't think repro tails will ever happen - I was closely buttstuffyzing the ones from the 87-8 tbirds and there was a LOT of work that went into those things. I couldn't figure out how to make replacement/custom outer lenses simply due to how much that part does. Vacuum forming isn't even close to enough.
I plan to put some 3" or so round lights and bend a sheet metal cover that bolts to a gutted tail light if I ever get around to it.
Also, try spraying some water or windex under the tape like they do with window tint. should make it much easier to get rid of the ceases.
no,, the tape Vinnie and I used which is what it is "tape" but vinyl,,, well, its 2 dimensional,,,, the interior of the lights is 3D.
the vinyl tape does not stretch so that's why you see rough places in my pics.
I used plastic flat mirror material from autozone to redo the interior "flat" sides coupled with sticky back tape.
Interestingly enough,,no one came back and said WTF when I discovered this............
if you take off the cover of the lense, a 4 eyed bulb fits up onside the housing~!!! food for thought
im gonna break out a couple power transistors and tinker a little. time I tried it anyway..... less load is good.
going LEDs lightens the load more and adds light!
Browse all the chrome options here. There's quite a few. Plus I'm sure plenty of other ideas will come to mind for other parts around the car for not just the chrome stuff but all the other things they offer. My mind goes nuts every time I visit this site.
http://alsacorp.com/index.htm
chrometech USA does chrome for plastic. I had them plate some model car parts in 1/12 scale. It costs a bit, but, really chrome plated. Can't beat that.
Any updates on the exterior polyurethane substitute J? What kind of a voltage drop are you getting to the headlights? I'm getting a 2 volt drop and can't see squat! I'm going to try your reflective improvements and see if I can get away without relays (read: cheap)
Wow, they have a ton of cool stuff!
I can measure tomorrow, the mods have been in for a long time with relays.
do my "jumper wire" mod in my diy link... it will run your HI/LO beams at the same time when you select high beam.
the exterior is best suited with "3M paint defender" sprays on,, peels off like ceran (sp?) wrap if you need to take it off.
How is that 3m paint defender working for you on the exterior?
I still have about 3/4 of a can
I used it on my window/seat control console since it was in such great shape, I wanted to protect it from wear and it's been holding up awesome.
it holds up very well except for those laser car washes,,,,
I learned that over time.
I've applied a new coat 2 times since the last final post. 3m paint defender has so many other applications.
That stuff looks awesome. Does it keep the lens from yellowing again? I didn't see anything on UV protection on their site. I'll probably cover the whole car in it anyways because my paint is hurting being out in the elements (no more car tent).
Thanks for the tip.
You really should relay. It should cost about $30 for a kit, or less buying the parts separately, and soldering yourself. 2V drop gives you almost half the light from the bulbs. You still need a decent reflector and clear lens.
Do note though that twice the output will not appear twice as bright. We perceive FOUR times the output as twice as bright. People who think they are gaining a ton by going from relayed 1500lumen halogen bulbs to 3000lumen hid projector setups are delusional. It is perceived 40% brighter at best (even less due to projectors having higher losses than larger reflector housings), and contrast plummets due to having a CRI around 70 instead of 95+ of a halogen bulb. You do get a more even beam, but also lose throw/distance over a properly-adjusted halogen housing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weber%E2%80%93Fechner_law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevens%27_power_law
actually, in the instructions,, that would take about 8 cans... and each can is about 40$ after tax
I am more confused now about restoring my lights than I was before reading this.
There has been so many home remedies for restoring plastic lenses I have forgot most of them, (old age) here are a couple that have short term effects all most humorous.
1) Spray lenses with bug cleaner (off)
and wipe them off.
2) Rubbing compound (1500 grit) and rub them
3) The orange bottle hand cleaner and a rag
I have to dig into the lenses on the Walking bird to get rid of the moisture inside I have access to chrome duct tape I will see what I can do.
This FORUM is AWESOME!!
Grainger sells "mirror" poly type stretchy tape.
"kinda" perfect for this application but vinnie's mirror product is likely a better solve.,,, then there is the ever illusive BMW headlamp mod **someone** wont tell us about!!!,, i think its user = cougars2go ,, his lamps look so different and great!
what i found very very intersting was how the 83-86 glass lamps physically drop into the 87-88 buckets ....
my wifes 70 Ghia with glass lamps blinds even those white lighters out there on the road and she's on low beam.
that little car acts like a light house at night!
as said,, the slave relay mod needs done if you have a 2v drop.
inside electrical tech or in my diy link or post thread and we can help you.