Peter,
I have done exactly what you ask, which is to paint the reflector with
chrome paint. It seems to have worked well, though I havent taken it
apart to see how it is holding up. The tail lights appear to be of the
same strength on my car, though once again, I havent checked recently
and it is hard to check by yourself for the obvious reason that you
cant see the back of the car while stepping on the brakes. Though I
havent tried it you might be able to glue in some type of reflective
material like aluminum foil or something similar. I agree with what
others have said, I dont believe that heat will be an issue with the
paint, so long as the bulb is centered in the opening.
My two cents worth.
Cheers,
Aaron
Aaron Cropley
71 TR6 (Throttle Body Injection!)
http://www.triumphowners.com/108
Topsham, Maine
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Zaborski <plz@shaw.ca>
To: 6 Pack (E-mail) <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Mon, 01 Aug 2005 22:37:46 -0600
Subject: rear light housings / chrome paint
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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