Service Offered: H1 Restoration

[skinnerd]

John did a great job on my H1's. The end result was beyond spectacular. His work is highly recommended. 5 Stars!

[jaudette3]

As I mentioned I seem to be settling into a cycle of doing H1 restorations in batches, 2-3 a year. It seems to be the most efficient way to work with a process that involves two different platers. In any event, I'm preparing a batch to go out in the next week or two so the timing is good if you have a set you would like restored. I'm confident they will be complete in plenty of time for next years driving season.

Thanks,
John

[jaudette3]

I'm sometimes asked why I go to all the trouble to have the reflectors restored with vapor deposited aluminum as opposed to simply chroming them. Chroming is a lot simpler as the process can be done a single plater as opposed to aluminum which requires having the reflectors prepared by one plater - copper -> nickel -> polishing - then sent to a second plater for the vapor deposited aluminum process. Also, it's much cheaper to just chrome plate them and admittedly the aluminum process is expensive.

The reason? Chrome just doesn't work very well. Using silver as the standard for reflectivity, vapor deposited aluminum is 95.6% as reflective as silver, while chrome is 63.5% as reflective as silver. You lose almost 1/3 of the light with chrome as opposed to aluminum. Here are the numbers:

chart2.jpg

Reflectance Comparison
Silver: .95512 = 100%
Aluminum: .91320 = 95.6%
Chrome: .60604 = 63.5%

Source:
Refractive Index
http://refractiveindex.info/?shelf=m...=Cr&page=Rakic

The central point of H1's is their shear brilliance. When done right they are flame throwers. It kind of defeats the purpose to decrease the light by a third with chrome plating. My goal is to restore H1's to as high a level as possible and vapor deposited aluminum, the process used by all modern automotive manufacturers, is the best way to go at this time.

Cheers,
John

[72targa]

^^^^^^^^^^ awesome technical info!...

[70SATMan]

Spot on John. The original reflectors were not chromed and it would be a shame to decrease the productivity of the lights by taking a short cut in their restoration. I've used the same alum process when refurbing accessory light reflectors and when the alum is applied correctly, the outcome is stunning. I have had to send one pair of reflectors back because the alum started flaking off but, they stood by their process and replated them for me for free.

Silvering, while originally used by light manufacturers WAY back in the day tarnishes over time and has to be maintained and when no longer able to be polished back out has to be replated anyway.

[Hangman]

John just returned two sets to me and let me say they are fabulous - incredible work.

[DavidRees]

Hi John, these look like mine!

Prost...David

[jaudette3]

Kevin: Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you're pleased with them

David: Good eye - those are your lights. They're at Freddie's by now.

Cheers,
John

[DavidRees]

John: Awesome & thank you again for "Brilliant" work!

Prost...David

[jaudette3]

There are a lot of folks here with freshening and restorations underway over the winter. Just letting you know that I have two sets of H1's in the early stages of restoration in case the timing syncs up with your project. I estimate they will be ready for delivery around March 1. The restorations are being done to my usual specs - Listed Here.

The price is $1,600 (plus shipping) a set. PM for details if you're interested.

Thanks,
John