I'm working on restoring my '86 245, and with that comes cleaning up my headlights and taillights... so, first off, my 245's turn signal housings were chrome plated from the factory. after 17 years of bulb heat and whatnot, the chrome has kinda worn off the plastic, revelaing the black dull plastic, thus resulting in less reflection all around the bulb, and causing dimmer turn signals. I was wondering if there would be any problems if i were to paint the housings. The paint i have is an aerosol can of "Rust-Oleum" Chrome (#7718). It applies well to plastic, as i have used this product on other things in the past, but in the directions it states not to use the paint on surfaces that exceed 200 degrees. Do you reckon the bulbs put out that much heat during normal use?

My second question involves the yellowing effect of the plastic headlight and turnsignal lenses. What causes it? I purchased a brand new OEM set for my car last may, and they were a beautiful perfect clear color. Now, they are beginning to yellow and they just look awful! the same goes for my headlight lenses, but they are not as bad. I have seen in IPD's mailorder catalog a Meguiar's product that is supposed to remove plastic yellowing. Have any of you guys ever used it? If so, did it work well? Or, have any of you been succesful in brightening up the plastic with another product or technique?

Any and all help is grealy appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Andrew Gyger

thanks for the help you guys, i would have never suspected that the mag polish would work on plastic! Also, the vaccum-metallizing process sounds much better than my paint idea. I live in lebanon, Indiana, so I may have to run up to Indianapolis to get them done. And for 20 dollars, who can complain?!

thanks again
Andrew Gyger

Hey there, I used "Mother's" Aluminum & Mag polish for the yellowing of my 88/245 headlights and was really pleased with the results.

Re: Meguire's. I forgot to mention. I have used the Meguire's and I recommend it. You will not have factory-new results but you should see a visible improvement in clarity and a noticeable reduction in the yellow colouration.

Meguire's is a very trusted manufacturer for aircraft windows. Aircraft mechanics seem to be very pleased with the Meguire's line of products.

Hi Andrew, The painted "chrome" you propose to use on the reflective surfaces of your light fixtures may pass the heat test for your turn signals but I'm not so sure about running lamps. For headlights it's a definite no-no unles it's a very temporary fix. The paint will overheat, it doesn't have a long service life, it's impossible to clean if it gets pitted or dirty and its reflective qualities are very poor in comparison to the original, so safety is an issue.

Your original reflectors were most likely "chromed" using a process called vacuum-metallizing, which bonds the chrome film to the plastic. This manufacturing process, which superceded a process similar to metal electro-plating has apparently now been abandoned in favour of a newer method in most new vehicles - but I don't know why there has been a change or what the new process is.

If you live in a reasonably populated area, there should be a vacuum-metallizing shop in your yellow pages that is willing to re-do them for you, but the process may include "chroming" the outside of the housings as well as the insides, which has no effect on their performance or longevity. It just looks funny under the hood.

I had mine done recently for under USD$20.00 for the pair with quite good results.

If you do not live near a vacuum-metallizing shop, you may be able to get them done through a local car restoration or car repair shop, but expect to add some middle-man price mark-up and shipping costs to the process. Good luck!