How did that get in there?

[tforturton]

Okay, if anyone is interested in how this is turning out, here's what's happening so far. I had an offer of a cracked RHD unit - with my good glass but poor bowl, I could split them both and make up one good light. Sadly, the 'new' bowl turned out to be losing it's silver as well. Shame really, as I had managed to split my light unit quite easily. It went in the oven on 125c for ten minutes, and after a bit of wiggling and scraping, it came apart. So now I have a good glass, but no bowl.
So unless someone has a good RHD bowl i could use, it looks like the current one will have to go off to be re-silvered. Mind you, I've read elsewhere that re-silvering isn't always a long term solution.
Another thought was to use a LHD bowl and put the RHD glass on that. Easier to find - but would it work? Think the sidelight would be on the wrong side, but that's no big deal.
Other than that, I'm left with fitting one of Jed's South African twin round grills, and going over to 7in rounds. Better long term solution, perhaps... Anyone got any thoughts on this whole thing?

[lodgey62]

Keep your square units, I remember years ago changing the body panel on a Mk1 Escort to fit the more common round lights,should have sourced and paid for the square ones

[Plasticman]

personally std single rounds with nice spots, or std squares dependent on the style of your van . some look better round ,others square,
not seen Jeds SA, but the ones with the differing size lamps look a bit naff and unstyled imho
mm

[tforturton]

Anyone know whether or not I could use the reflector from a LHD light? I can't think of any reason why not - except for the sidelight bulb placement, and that shouldn't make a lot of difference...

[Emma&Al]

This is happened to mine too - not water, but the bottom has turned an orange colour (rust?) - would this fail the MOT? It looks noticeably different from the passenger side one. So the alternatives are Halfords spray or getting a whole new fitting?

[silverbullet]

Being as the silvering (and subsequent rust) are on the outside of the reflector glass not the inside, why not set about it with a scotchbrite pad or better still a stainless steel scourer (non-scratching, I cleaned our filthy used Aga enamel with one)
Then spray with chrome paint and overcoat with red lead and a sealing coat of laquer.

[tforturton]

Going back to the beginning, Silverbullet mentioned using a hi-temp polyurethane sealant. Can anyone give me some more info on this stuff, like a name or something? I can find high- temp silicon sealant, or ordinary polyurethane sealant, but not high-temp polyurethane. Dows this matter? Is hi-temp silicon okay for this job?

[tforturton]

Being as the silvering (and subsequent rust) are on the outside of the reflector glass not the inside, why not set about it with a scotchbrite pad or better still a stainless steel scourer (non-scratching, I cleaned our filthy used Aga enamel with one)
Then spray with chrome paint and overcoat with red lead and a sealing coat of laquer.

Don't understand this post- the reflector is inside, not outside. You can't get at it without taking the thing apart (except through the bulb hole, maybe).

[silverbullet]

Use some grey gasket silicone. Its good for 250*C and non-acid cure.
There may be water inside the lamp but this is due to the lens/reflector seal failing.
But the browning of the reflector is due to moisture finding its way through age-related cracks in the sealing laquer on the outside of the reflector.
Take a look at an old round lamp, they all get rusty worm-tracks under the paint on the outside sooner or later.
Its basically a mirror. Whete is the reflective surface? On the back of the glass, under protective paint.

[marlinowner]

Well, I just took a rusty (round) headlight apart. The "glue" had failed and the rust and silvering was on the inside of the reflector, which is metal. Warming it all in the oven (bottom of Aga baking oven) meant all the old glue/sealant came off reasonably easily.
And now I have a spare lens in case of breakage.

[silverbullet]

Thats odd. I have some that definitely have rusty tracks on the outside.
Hang on...I am confusing them with old sealed-beam reflectors
Sorry about that. Ignore all previous comments!

[tforturton]

The LHD unit has arrived, and on inspection, the reflector bowl appears to be exactly the same as the one on my RHD unit - even the sidelight hole is in the same place. So once I get this one in the oven, seperated, and cleaned up, it should be a straight swap. Fingers crossed.
In case anyone is interested, I did contact Ashford Chroming about re-silvering the original bowl. They came back to me with a quote of £120 plus VAT. Delivery time is 4-5 weeks, though you can pay an extra £30 for express service, if you wish.

[Emma&Al]

Thats good to know - I hope the swap works out well

[tforturton]

Okay, I've put the two bits together (will post up a step-by-step later, if anyone wants to see), but I seem to be missing a part. Should there be a rubber seal around sidelight? Surely it doesn't just fit into the hole? And if it does, there are gaps left at the sides. Should there be a seal, or rubber cover, for the sidelight mount?

[silverbullet]

Sidelight has a flat rubber washer iirc