Best way to polish original headlight reflectors?

[BoxCar Tom]

What is the best way to polish original 1932 Ford headlight reflectors? I have some that are just dull, others that are tarnished. What is the best way to bring them back to life without causing any damage? Thanks,

[cas3]

Use silver polish and follow their instructions. Keep in mind, the plating is very thin and easy to polish rite thru it. Perhaps do a test on an bad one first

[highbeams]

Originally Posted by cas3

Use silver polish and follow their instructions. Keep in mind, the plating is very thin and easy to polish rite thru it. Perhaps do a test on an bad one first

. . . being enclosed, I wouldn't consider it! Personal thought aloud. Thank You!

[GaryU.]

x2 on being gentle! Where I used to work we had a 30 gallon tank of tarnish remover for flutes and other either silver plated or sterling silver musical instruments. Dipped a pair of reflectors and the plating disappeared! Used Goddard's Silver Foam on some N.O.S. ones being very careful with great results. https://goddards.com/product/silver-polish-foam-6oz/
The size of this product is way too much but it works and I had easy access to it at the time.

[BoxCar Tom]

Thanks, I'll try some of that stuff. A few years ago I tried brass polish on a reflector, too coarse, silver disappeared, the brass looked great. That's why I asked for advice, thanks again.

[Ken/Alabama]

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I had these folks to recoat my reflectors for my 39 Zephyr. Turned out great and had bright white headlights on 6 volt. I did have them Nickel coated per their request before I sent them. Very durable coating at reasonable price.

[Kurt in NJ]

The old books say lamp black on a chamois

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Ken/Alabama

I had these folks to recoat my reflectors for my 39 Zephyr. Turned out great and had bright white headlights on 6 volt. I did have them Nickel coated per their request before I sent them. Very durable coating at reasonable price.

[Eagle43]

I've had success using Caswell's silver plating kit. https://caswellplating.com/plug-n-pl...ating-kit.html. I replated my 1926 Chev reflectors about 12 years ago and they're still good. The only failure I had was with one of the headlights on my 1929 Whippet. This reflector had evidently spent years buried under a pile of canola. I plan to bake it to burn the impregnated oil out and try again sometime.

[richard crow]

if you can find a place that resilvers mirrors bring it to them years ago there were plenty of stores that did it

[blucar]

The best solution to permanently fixing reflector headlamps is to have the reflector nickle plated then send them to UVIRA Corp in Oregon.. Ron Francis has 'Bright Bulbs' that will fit the original receptacles perfectly .

[38 coupe]

If you are trying to get brighter headlights for a 32 you might consider purchasing new reflectors. I got new reflectors for 37-38 several years ago and was impressed with the reflector quality and reflectivity. It looked to me like the reflector was new with the UVIRA process or equal already applied. I got mine from Gas Light Auto Parts, they have a listing for 32 but I don't know if any are in stock: https://gaslightauto.storesecured.co...8-a-detail.htm

[1952henry]

https://911bestinclass.com/products/...ating-services

I knew I guy in OR who had a business that re-silvered reflectors. It was quite a process, done in a vacuum chamber. He sold the business as he was retiring. May try these guys….