The 'E' Type Forum

Would appreciate views on whether it is advisable to get rear lamps rechromed or to just buy new at approx £200.00 per side?

Had a recent experiment of rechroming parts for my FHC.

If your original chromed lamp casings are not in a terrible condition (only slight pitting that may be cured by sanding before plating) I would advise that you keep the original parts.

Preparation of the metal is however very important to ensure a correct plating that should be done professionnally, including the three layers of copper, nickel and chromium.

The base metal is ZAMAC (pot metal), and possibly an adequate chromium bath is required.

IMO it all comes down to fit.

If your current housings are a good fit to the bodywork profile I'd make an effort to have them rechromed, as new housings probably won't fit well.

Agreed, if the original are not too pitted rechrome.
But, pot metal is difficult to plate well. You must use someone experienced with plating potmetal or it will end up with dissatisfactory plating or it will look good and bubble in a short period of time.
If they are badly pitted I think you would be best advised to go new because they will not hold up well to what it will take to give a nice smooth plated surface.

No Plating business will guarantee re-chroming of Zinc Based Die Cast. In practically all cases the plating will fail with the same defect that you're wanting to have fixed by re-chroming, only it will fail in shorter time period than the original failure.

Out of the die, the part has a close grain surface finish that takes chrome plating well, but beneath that close grained surface lurks porosity in the substrate. The dense surface material is quite thin and during the initial polishing, pores can be exposed when the dense surface is broken through. Plating chemicals get trapped in these pores and inter-granular corrosion results over time.

Second time round, when the parts are being re-chromed due to the pimply finish, the chrome plating is removed and the parts polished exposing many pockets caused by the inter-granular corrosion and generally, the deeper you go with the polishing, the more porous the substrate becomes, trapping more chemicals than the first chrome plating exercise.

If the new units fit reasonably and there is no guarantee of that, I would go with new over re-plating the original units.

Regards.

Bill

Thank you all for your considered opinions.

The originals are not the best, and as the body shop are asking for the lamps they will have the opportunity to alter the body to suit the lamps for a good fit.

My feeling for the points made re the the pot metal is that on these components new will be the best option...

When mine was restored I fitted new ones and don't remember any issues fitting them. At the time of restoration (appox 3ys ago) I used Norman Motors (they were local to me and easier to by over the counter and see what you are getting) for all my replacement parts which seemed of good quality (time will tell).

Richard

If you want the best fitting and you are concerned about quality….although it may seem OTT I would buy a new set….test the fit…grind to what profile you need….and then re-chrome

There will be nothing more irritating than a poor fit…which will leak anyway…so spend the extra money and end with the best outcome

Then you can enjoy the abysmal fit of new gaskets…or make you’re own as I did…see my resto thread…

All the best
Jonathan

Jonathan Wrote:

If you want the best fitting and you are concerned about quality….although it may seem OTT I would buy a new set….test the fit…grind to what profile you need….and then re-chrome

Then you're nearly in the same boat as re-chroming the original units.

As work is being done on the body, the OP's current plan of having the body fitted to new Tail Light housings is without doubt the best.

Regards,

Bill

Hi Bill

Not really….

my point is that as the originals have dubious quality base metal which is indeed more tricky to re-chrome…as I know from personal experience…..and as was explained in the earlier messages…this way you start with better base material

Jonathan

Hello Jonathan,
The material used in Zinc based die cast of today, hasn't improved to any real extent over that of yesteryear. If any polishing takes place, as would normally be the case after stripping the existing electroplate, there is every likelihood that the dense outer skin of the casting is penetrated, exposing the porous substrate. Hence, you're in the similar boat to re-plating the original part.

As the OP is having body work done, hands down, the best way forward would be to match the shape of the body in that area, to the new Tail Light body. As well as being more practical, it would also be less expensive.

Regards,

Bill

Whatever Bill

Can be bothered arguing as I have my own experience to go by

Each to their own

Richard..hope you get what you want which is the most important thing..

Jonathan Wrote

Can be bothered arguing as I have my own experience to go by

This is far from my first rodeo.

Not so much an argument, but an effort to guide Richard away from heading down a rabbit hole that is the most expensive, with no guarantee the re-chromed, New Taillight, is going to be any better than the original part re-chromed.

If it were a case that the car was pristine with no body work and therefore, no paint work require, you may look at other alternatives. Because its the edge of the Taillight body that would have to be reshaped and because the edge of the Taillight body fits into a gasket, one alternative would be, by careful filing or grinding, match the Taillight body with the car body and forego re-chroming. The raw edge can be protected via paint, which is then concealed by the gasket. However, that's not Richard's case and reshaping the taillight area of the body to match the taillight body in his case is a no-brainer.

I will give it one more go as I don’t disagree with the idea of feeling the body..indeed I did exactly this both front and rear and also to a small extend to aid the fitting of the bumpers such that I do not need the rubber trim which is a much cleaner look

The point I was making was that if you are in a place where a small adjustment to a reproduction part could mean less body filler…then I would have no hesitation in not only using the filler but also shaping the housings

If this isn’t needed then fine….but …..if it helps then that’s my point

My own restoration has been an experience in the varying quality of reproduction parts so I also wondered about the quality of new chrome, probably not copper based on new parts, compared to the multi layer chroming I had done on all other parts

I actually sourced an original outer set in decent condition, (as mine were too pitted) and swopped over or re-used my original innards and reflectors to keep more parts original…and then once the body was complete and the shape of the housings settled I had them re-chromed

This actually cost me less than £200 per side …not that this was important..it’s the final result that is the most important

If Richard’s car is the one I have seen at Bisley I believe it is quite an original one and if it were me I would be wanting to save all the original parts possible..and use other original more period parts if at all possible

Jonathan

Jonathan Wrote:

I actually sourced an original outer set in decent condition, (as mine were too pitted) and swopped over or re-used my original innards and reflectors to keep more parts original…and then once the body was complete and the shape of the housings settled I had them re-chromed

So your experience was based on sourcing, fitting and re-choming original unit, despite your earlier comment of:
Jonathan Wrote:

my point is that as the originals have dubious quality base metal which is indeed more tricky to re-chrome…

and not the fitting and re-chroming of new, After Market parts, as was your recommendation to Richard in an even earlier Post, which would be the most expensive course by a long shot:
Jonathan Wrote:

If you want the best fitting and you are concerned about quality….although it may seem OTT I would buy a new set….test the fit…grind to what profile you need….and then re-chrome

My point, which I've made consistently and succinctly, re-chromimg Zinc Based Die cast subsequent to the first time out of the die, is hit and miss at best. You won't find a plating firm worth their salt that will guarantee re-chroming Zinc Based Die Cast. If there is an option available that avoids re-chroming Zinc Based Die Cast, that would be my recommendation every time. The chrome plating on new, After Market, Taillight units is reasonable and will have a profoundly better chance of longevity than having either original, or new units re-chromed.

Accordingly, my consistent recommendation to Richard, is to go with new taillight assemblies. With regards to getting an acceptable fit, he has two options, either reshape the body to fit the contour of the taillight, or carefully reshape the contour of the taillight to fit the body; both options can be achieved without re-chroming. Price wise,it would be line ball with having original units re-chromed.

I was lucky..I waited a long time and found a really decent set of originals..sure..if this hadn’t been available new would have been the only course of action
I was in no hurry as the restoration took years..Richard probably/maybe doesn’t have that luxury of time

So new if time is pressing..wait and se if you have time..no more complicated than that

Best
Jonathan

I am a licensed body man, I purchased new reproduction tail light assembly's from Welsh. no modifications to fitment at body was needed to housing or gasket. I was very happy with chrome and overall quality.