So I'm getting ready to refurbish a third R1a soon. Advice on the lowest cost approach to the Nickel plating would be welcome. The reflector seems to be a plated steel one. I spent $190 ish on my last reflector Fettle. Now Im retired that's bit of a stretch for me. a
Gentle polishing with Mothers Mag or Autosol, after cleaning with soap and water would be my advice. Cheers Tony
Gentle polishing with autosol is my preferred method, a thorough first going-over in overlapping circles about 3-4" diameter and then a general polish to finish it off. Makes a world of difference Alec.
Probably a thorough pre-clean with dishwash liquid and water, then drying. Further cleaning with mineral spirits or other solvents and a rag if necessary. Even cleaning alone would sometimes make a huge difference on the appearance. You might want to polish and further shine it up as suggested earlier. Won't cost much if you already have all the basic materials at hand. The most expensive would probably be elbow grease.
You can buy plating kits from car restoration supply companies. Probably more than you want to spend but you will have the kit to do other stuff going forward.
You can buy nickel plates and do it yourself. Coleman L327 - Fettle But, is the original plating nickel or Speculum on a Tilley?
Well I managed a modest result using autosol over the weekend. Turns out the nickel is pitted through to the copper on a lot of the lower half. Still looking pretty good though. If I fully restore and repaint the fount I will review the plating situation.
Looks like a winner in my book. Almost like a display piece, albeit maybe not flawless. The dents are actually much more noticeable than the pitting to my eyes.
