The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Restoring Faded Reflectors

I am reconditioning a vintage Detroit Products 123 signal arm. A fellow 'Bolter from Oregon made it available to me. I have all of the original parts. However, the 8 amber/yellow Stimsonite #15 reflectors are sun-bleached. The lenses are sealed to a housing on the backside; they do not appear to be able to be separated. Does anyone have any experience in restoring color to reflectors like this? I have wondered if the lenses can be dyed. I could resort to applying reflective tape over the lenses to mimic the original look. Sourcing a replacement set of these reflectors may prove to be a tall task. Any advice on moving forward is appreciated. Thank you.

We restored a 1909 International High Boy that had sun faded tail light lens we named "Unicorns". Some serious cleaning and sanding with 2000 grit was followed by spraying with Vinyl dye which is more translucent than paint and looks correct. Don't know if this helps but I would try it on a small area first. You can also make a lost wax mold and cast new ones with clear resin tinted to the right color.

Hmmm Evan. That sounds like a new tech tip to me! I’d love to see this done.

Maybe there are some modern lenses that will fit??? Those look like trailer marker lights.

Fox,
I have never found out how to do videos but if you do a "lost wax casting" search it has MUCH better instructions and videos than I'm capable of. My main effort has been towards duplicating trashed out dash knobs and other plastic dash parts. I've done pretty good on getting the Ivory look when that is called for.

The amber lens looks like it was originally RED to me...have to tested spray painting the inside of the lens with a thin coat of paint?

Mike B

Not that far back in time but the old Mopars had amber at the front and red to mark the rear of the car in the case of side markers. I don't know if that was a saftey regulation or not.

What would one use for tint?

How about these on e bay

Nice catch. I did see those on eBay a few days ago...they are RED. I am looking for amber/yellow. I did contact the seller, and he did not have any amber/yellow at this time.

How about inquiring about if a 3D printer can turn out a few at a reasonable cost .

For paint, google Translucent Paint, like these https://www.amazon.com/Krylon-K09035000-Stained-Aerosol-Canary/dp/B01HP2HXAK

I think Mike is right. Those look like they were originally red. Not amber when you look at the extreme outside rim.

I am going to have to come up with a project I can try the Krylon stained glass paint on.

If they are glass go to maybe a Automotive Glass Installers Shop or even a Auto Body Shop, I know at least a Body Shop can polish windshields. Glass side markers can be clear coated. If they are plastic sand them with 800, 1,000,1.500, and 2,000 grit wet N dry sandpaper then polish them just like you would do with Car Headlights and clean them real good then Clear Coat them. The dye trick might also work then Clear Coat them.

There are some good ideas coming through--thanks.

If painting the plastic lens is involved and the backside of it has to be painted, I can not separate the front of the reflector from the red housing on the backside. Can the front of the reflector be painted and NOT distort the reflective qualities?

All of the vintage Detroit Products 123 Signal Arms that I have seen pictures of have yellow reflectors. Pictured is the 1 of 8 original reflectors with the best amber/yellow color. If it originally was red, then it has faded to amber/yellow. I do not really know. I just want to get this right and use the correct color reflector.

Something else to chew on. I think a reflector has certain characteristics in how its made ( transparent tinted plastic) and with the "Egg Crate" shape look it has and of course it also being lighted. If using paint to bring back the original color I think a "Transparent paint" would be better than a solid color. Remember solid is just that "solid" and a transparent color is just that "Transparent". As with the red'esh looking reflector said above (I also see red'esh) you could go to the Highway Patrol Office of your State and ask them for help on what color reflectors were used for the year of your Truck and where that color was used front or back. Remember Highway Patrol or the Highway Safety Dept makes the rules we have for operating vehicles on our roads.

Our school bus fleet I work on has about 30 lens per bus, times 170 buses, so a lot of plastic lens! When they fade, the color goes away and no amount of polishing will help. You can make them shinny, but the color will not come back. We install new, but I would bet, the translucent paint on the inside would make a pretty good improvement. Painting the outside would likely work also, just won't be as robust.

Post a couple of pictures of the back side of the sealed reflectors.

Mission accomplished! I am pleased with the results. After careful prep, many light coats of this paint was applied. It has brought the life back to these faded reflectors. Thank you to all that participated in this post.

Nice Job!!

Thanks for getting back to us with your solution. So many guys ask a question then never let us know what the answer was!

Now that I do a search for the Stained Glass paint, this appears to be the hot ticket for re-coloring plastic lenses!

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Now all's left is too test them at night for any reflection capability.

If you were going to make your own.........

You would use a silicon mould and plastic resin dyed to the desired color.


https://www.alumilite.com/

I have working amber reflectors! Tomorrow is shaping up to be rivet day.

Great job.

Good call Joe H.

Mission accomplished! This morning the local airport aviation mechanic used solid head aluminum alloy rivets on the arm. The name badge is fastened with aluminum binding posts. The entire assembly is all there, either original or new/improved. I will install this coming April/May and provide an update at that time. Thank you to all who provided guidance on this project--it is greatly appreciated!

Nice job. I wasn't sure if the stained glass paint would work and keep the reflectivity but it seems to work great. It was a learning experience for all of us.

WOW they look like some i had, but sent them to a good ol boy that needed them more then i did. lol

It makes me happy that it went to a good home and was brought back to life rather then in a box in pieces

This signal arm restoration project is now complete. It originally was used on a 1948 GMC one-ton flatbed before a fellow 'Bolter made it available to me. It is time to get my old buddy back on the road to enjoy the pleasures of driving this time machine. Enjoy the new driving season everyone!

Nicely done! Great work!

makes me happy to see it come to life again. sitting in a box with no truck to go on just wasnt right. love the looks. great job.

Thanks to all to have contributed to this project and/or followed its progress. A big shout out to Kevin in Oregon for making it all happen!