VolatileVFR

After doing my major mod list over the past week or two, my passenger headlight suffered a condensation failure. I pulled them apart, blacked out, installed clear diffuser, etc etc.. Resealed and put it all together. And then, the condensation hit..

I found multiple areas for this to have happened, and have solved those issues. But i did go ahead and pull that passenger side apart again because I knew I would never like any dried films of where the water had dried on the inside of the lens.

Mistake made: Upon cleaning the turn signal reflector, I used a degreaser and Boom! The chrome film or layer on the reflector comes off like butter...



Question: Well, simple and sweet.. Any ideas?

My thoughts: I would much rather just replace the reflector, but time is an issue. I would need one asap since I drive this car a decent amount to work. Yes, I guess I could use my truck or another vehicle, but I had planned to have this thing down and back up by Monday (goals of headlight redo and fog light install on my 2005 AM TL)-- if anyone has an extra one in great condition, please let me know asap. If I didnt replace it, I contemplated a coating that would work... since it is behind the clear diffuser, it is not directly seen nor would the current marks be an eye sore.. Chrome paint? maybe? I dont see that happening though. hmmmm

VolatileVFR

TEMPORARY update -- not installed yet, thus temporary barring any change of decision :

Dennis, I did buy some of that Duplicolor (I think it was) and trialed it on some plastic to see the difference and reflective properties. As you can see in the pic, it isnt that bad, but the reflective properties are horrible. It looks as if I just sprayed it with a flat silver and polished it out a bit. And, the major issue behind changing anything up on it too much, is the drivers side is done and installed and doing great. This passenger side was removed and redone due to condensation. So, changing up the interior of the headlight would mean I would have to pull the drivers side apart again and separate it too. I didnt want to mess with a successful drivers side (not that I am worried.. just being careful and doing it properly is pretty easy--the passenger side didnt have the gasket from the ballast to the headlight installed prior to removal, among other minor issues-- PLUS the major humidity we have here in Mobile, AL is insane)

On a side note... simple and sweet.. Aluminum tape. I had read on another forum of a guy using foiling tape and thin gauge al foil to repair reflective areas in his lens. Cool, good idea, but isnt that the same as aluminum adhesive tape? You can see how it turned out in the pics. It was to be a temporary step, but I like it and I think it will be a permanent fix to my reflector issue. Plus, it has much better reflective properties than the chrome 'light absorbing' paint

In the pics:
--noted the aluminum tape used for the temporary fix that proves to be good enough for a potential permanent fix
--noted the reflector with both the upper and lower pieces of aluminum tape in place
--noted the placement of the reflector behind the clear diffuser with no visual ability to see the aluminum tape placed.. plus the ability of the al tape to produce reflective qualities should provide for all needed answers
--noted the chrome sprayed on clear plastic vs the stock reflective material layer side by side

Opinions? Thoughts?