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MG MGF Technical - Vacuum Metallising in Australia

Hi,
Just came back from a night drive and thought I may need my eyes tested due to lack of light and my mgf trying to take out a wombat - he survived!

I think my lights have gone "milky" over time and need vacuum metallising on the headlight reflectors. I found one place in Australia that does it called;

HYQUAL AUSTRALIA
31 Enterprise Street
Caloundra Queensland 4551
Phone: 07 5492-7122
Freecall: 1800 77 77 44 (within Australia only)
Freefax: 1800 07 77 66 (within Australia only)
enquiries@hyqual.com

Does anybody know any other places that do it in Australia.

Cheers Sue
Sue Wilson

FINISHED PRODUCTS
41 Heathcote Road
Moorebank New South Wales 2170
Phone: 02 9602 9833
Fax: 02 9734 9855
email: sales@finishedproducts.com.au

Decor Engineering (Aust) Pty Ltd
43 Keppler Circuit
Seaford
Victoria, 3198
Australia
Ph +61 3 9775 0433
Fax +61 3 9775 0401
Sue Wilson

Are you sure it is the reflectors? Did you consider some new bulbs? Greetings, Huib
Huib Bruijstens

Hi Huib,
I live out in the country area of Australia where there are no street lights. The first thing I did when I bought the car new in good 'ol 1999 was change the lightbulbs. So no its not the ligtbulbs. I also have hella driving lights that would light up an airfield for a stealth fighter to land and foglights. The car looks like a christmas tree lite up at night but when I have to dip my lights to low beam for on coming cars its like driving a VW beetle by candlelight. So I'm thinking the reflectors are on their way out. I havn't removed the lights yet and cleaned inside the plastic to see if it clears. I did notice though that the highbeam side of the lights are clear but the low beam light side is milky. Its not the whole light that is milky so it may just need cleaning. Fingers crossed and thanks for the tip!
Cheers Sue
Sue Wilson

Sue, it won't be improved by cleaning - quite the reverse - you will find the remaining silvering will rub off the dip beam reflector bowls as powder!
You are on the right track looking at resilvering, otherwise new units is the best answer.
I have heard of people trying 'chrome' mirror tape but thereafter there seems little positive feedback. I think the build up of heat which destroyed the part laquered original finish, also does for the tape. I use resilvered bowls in both my 1996 Fs; they seal the finish in, so it is better than the original quality.
On one of them I have upgraded to HID like all modern cars - if I were under 30 I would describe the effect as "awesome" - so good I seldom bother with full beam. But there are legality question marks over HID, although I passed my fourth MOT with them fitted yesterday, and I have never been stopped by the Police. HID will not help much unless you have good reflecting bowls - but it will make vastly more light and use less electrical power and generate much less trapped heat to degrade the new finish.
Good luck, Charles
Charless

Thanks Charles
thankyou but I was never ever going to attempt to clean the reflector bowls .
I am going disassemble the headlamps to clean the inside of the main beam glass to see if it becomes any clearer before deciding to re-do the reflectors. I think that is why the bowls have become are milky over time cause I use "kangaroo spotta" 100W bulbs.
Cannot be too careful with the curious fauna jumping out at you at night in the great southern land.
Don't seem to use alot of electrical power due to all the lights on board. I only replaced my original battery last year after 175 000 kms and the car was 11 years old so its done well.
You mentioned you used 'resilvered bowls' with sealed finished...is that another way of describing vacuum metallising?
Regards
Sue
Suz

Yes, you probably won't make a meaningful difference with cleaning the glass. That is creditable battery life too!
Charless

My reflectors have needed re silvering for many years but have not found any one willing to do it at an affordable price. I have a HID kit ready to fit for over five years but they would be a waste oftime fitting until the reflectors are done.
Andrew Regens

Suz... I've found here in Aus, the plastic lens's tend to discolour very quickly. Maybe a good polish with something like Renovo plastic polish could make a difference. However, I think that new reflectors may be the way to go....

I know someone that has 'broken' a few MG Fs and may have some..

Mark.
M T Boldry

Hi Mark,
I'm thinking at the moment even if I had the new reflectors (better secondhand headlamps) or had the reflectors re-done wouldn't they just go milky over time again with the 100W bulbs fitted? What do you rekon....
Also the plastic lens glassy bit hasn't discoloured at all so they are pretty good.
I'll keep you in mind about MGF bits - that's handy to know.

Arrrr, Queensland beautiful one day, perfect the next.
Sue Wilson

Sue,
How about posting a pic of your front end...Er...your car's front end that is.
I'd like to see how you have your auxiliary lights mounted.

Cheers,
Rich
Rich McKIe

Sue,
The OEM headlamp dip beam reflector bowls were, and still are, made down to a price, the refletive coating was never sealed after deposition, so it was never stable under heat. In this country they seal the reflective layer when vacuum metalising it, so the resilvered bowls should be much longer lasting than OEM stuff.
'Incandescent filament' bulbs produce a huge amount of heat compared to their light - especialy with 100W bulbs which the F was never designed to use. So yes, they will go milky again, but not half as fast as the OEM ones if it is done properly. Much better to resilver your old ones properly than to get secondhand OEM units.

Queensland sounds nice but what about the Cane Toads..?
Charless

Hi Rich,
The driving lights are in outer fixed casings which you cannot move to position. The bolts on the casings are bolted to a bracket which was fabricated then bolted into the black front bit of the car that can be seen when the front bumper is removed. The driving lights are positioned upside down when bolted to the bracket. The lights are not drilled or bolted to the bumper bar. The bumper bar has been fitted so it can be taken on/off without removing the driving lights and the mesh cut so as the lights fit in when bar on. It was a very timely procedure to fit them without placing holes in the bumper. Also the driving lights took many months to find to exactly fit into the bottom hole space of the bumper. They are oval lights not round so they fit perfectly in the space. Sorry do not have any pics without bumper on as I havn't got around to taking it off yet.

Hi Charless,
I'm thinking the same as you at the moment in regards to the lights - you really cannot win with what ever you do to the reflectors as they seem to have the boomarang effect. they'll evenually go milky again.

No problems about canetoads - just don't touch them but if you are so inclined open the MGF boot and make good use of your No: 1 wood driver.

Thankyou Sue
Sue Wilson

Queensland.... As Sue says.... a beautiful place! I've not seen many Cane Toads, most of them have been squished...! Considered virmin here, so the use of a No1 Wood (or any other suitable object) is reccommended...

Sue, are you Northern NSW..? We're on the Gold Coast...

Mark.
M T Boldry

Hi Mark,
I'm from country rural NSW but have relatives all over the Gold Coast. I actually have a cousin that works at Bruce Lynton at Southport for many years. That were I first saw a nightfire red MGF but bought mine from MG Garage Sydney instead so my cousin missed out on the $100 spotters fee - he wasn't happy! My aunt and uncle live in Biggera Waters just behind Harbourside so they are near you. Uncle Ken sold dodgey cars on Ferry Rd Southport for many years while constantly reading the form guide. Many a time I have passed your workshop over the last 20 odd years that I go up there. The gold coast just get bigger and bigger over time.
Cheers Sue
Sue Wilson

Just got my headlight reflectors back from

Metallising Australia Pty Ltd.
14 Healey Rd
Dandenong VIC 3175
Contact: Gary Scott
ph: 03 9706 5799
fax: 03 9794 9260
email: gary@metallising.com
www.metallising.com

(Found them after I started this thread)

Posted them down from NSW Friday afternoon, they got to VIC Monday, processed, posted Wednesday from VIC and picked up today (Friday) NSW. Too easy!

Each reflector costs me $25.00 to do after I sent Gary a photo of the reflectors for his viewing. I paid for registered post return.

My reflectors went from this:




Sue Wilson

to this:


Sue Wilson

Do you think I should replace the low/dip beam bulb shields before reassembling the headlamp as they are black inside.
Sue Wilson

Looking very nice and a great price compared to new units. Let's hope they are well sealed and heat proof - don't be tempted to subject them to 100W bulb heat!
I would definitely try cleaning the blackened bits on the shields but they are awkward to get at. I suppose the perfect solution would be chemical cleaning and re plating with a highly reflective finish, even if they are made of crappium. A cheaper solution might involve motocycle cylinder block/head paint in silver. The visible outer cap of the shields doesn't really matter, it is the insides that do the 'work'. Great results so far!
Charless

Thanks Charless.....
What the bulb shields look like after a little clean with bicarb soda and vinegar then washed off with cold water and a rub with cloth. A little bit better but not good enough yet.
Merry Christmas to all.
Stay tuned with the results still to come.



Sue Wilson

Sue,
They look a treat and at a great price. I will be taking mine to them after the holidays.
Andrew Regens

Hey Andrew It will soon be time to get the HID kit out ready to fit!
Woohoo, check out my re-metallised bulb shields!
oh sooooo shiney....
Happy New Year Everyone.....


Sue Wilson

Again wow! Is that the same outfit (and process) that did the reflector bowls? I am officially jealous and I definitely wouldn't be putting 100 Watt bulbs back in now. You should get a noticeably better depth of illumination with all the new reflection going on!
Charless

Yep, Same outfit and process that did the reflector bowls Charless. Only costs $5 each to do and quick turnaround time. I took your advice and have taken out the 100W bulbs as they were very hot when on high beam. I rekon I could have cooked fried eggs with the heat output they produced. Low beam did not even get hot so I'D better do the RIGHT thing and place 55W in the high beam as well. HoHum, I'm sure going to miss those 100 wattas ......
Sue Wilson

You can stick them in your full beams - where there is no glass 'seal' immediately in fromt of them preventing their heat from escaping. I am sure it is the 'lid on the saucepan' which makes the dip beam bowls go off - and obviously they are on more than the full beams. The reflective coating is the same for both, but only the dip beam bowls degenerate.
Charless

Maybe I should just wear night vision goggles?
Sue Wilson

Okay Houston, we have a a problem.....
Just tested the lights out and left them on low beam for about 4 minutes and they started to smoke up. Not electrical smoke but like hazy smoke and funny smell. Do you think the reflectors were curing or something. There was some sort of reaction with the lights on. The bulbs are is 55W low heat for polycarbonate headlights. I also have them in the high beam but did not seem to be affected. I pulled the backing off the headlamps to let the vapour escape and now the low beam glass is misty again. Do rekon it may be caused from metallising the bulb shield. I shined a torch into the low beam headlamp area and it seem the outside of the bulb shield has tiny bubbles on its outside. I'm going to have to take off the front bumper to check it out properly which is a pain in the A! Has anyone else had this happen when they re-metallised their reflectors?
Sue Wilson

Sorry to hear that, Sue. I suspect it will be the heat on the bulb shields. Hopefully the reflector bowls are that bit further away from the heat source and plastic is less conductive. If the vapour was plastic/metal particles you may need to burn it off some more before finally cleaning the lens and reassembling the headlamps. I would definitely talk to the company that did the work and see what they suggest - will the shields eventually burn to black as previously?
It would be interesting to get either a digital thermometer or an infra red one, to see what temperature the various bits are reaching. The metalising Co. would probably be very interested in this information too.
Charless

Already sent an email to Metallising Co. Charless. Should receive word back after they come back from the holiday period.
Keep posted.
Sue Wilson

Hey Andrew,
I've finally got round to taking off the reflectors etc. I'm waiting for word from Gary at Metallising Australia in regards to "what next".
Before you take your reflectors to Gary at Metallising Australia can you send me a email address I can contact you on and we'll have a chinwag in regards to this situation. Cheers Sue
Sue Wilson

This thread was discussed between 13/11/2010 and 17/01/2011

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