Hi Listers,
I recently noticed that one of my taillights is dimmer than the other one
(left one is dimmer). Only the rear park light and brake light are dimmer,
the rest of the lights are evenly bright. So I did the usual diagnostic
process, swap left and right bulbs, swap left and right bulb holders,
measure voltage, etc. No apparent faults, it's always the left light that's
dimmer, voltage is the same at each light.
Digging deeper, I eventually disassembled the light housings thinking
perhaps the left side lens was more dirty or full of dust. Well it turns out
that none of these are the problem. Rather, the left side reflector for the
park/brake light is missing its chrome paint.
For those who have had these assemblies apart, the reflector I'm referring
to is plastic with what looks like chrome colored paint. Its definitely not
metal. In fact the reflector is fixed to the main housing (which is metal)
with two plastic pins. I put up a picture of the assembly and the reflector
highlighted in yellow at <http://members.shaw.ca/plz/tail_light.jpg>. Of
course this part doesn't appear to be available separately, not even in the
TRF catalog.
So, has anyone ever tried to paint one of these plastic parts with chrome
paint? Any recommendations on paint? I assume the chrome will get hot due to
the light bulb temperatures so the paint has to be somewhat temp resistant.
Any paint techniques to get the best results for chrome paint on plastic in
a high heat area?
Ideally I'd like to find a spare reflector but I suspect the chances of that
are close to 0. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
Oh, and could someone who subscribes to the big triumphs list possibly post
this there in case someone from that list has crossed this path already.
Peter Zaborski -- CF58310 UO
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