Vintage Headlamp Restoration International
Electroplating
VHR operates a modern electroplating workshop to provide an in-house plating service to maintain
the quality of the restoration and replication processes . The facility contains
copper, nickel and chromium tanks and demonstrates VHR's continued commitment
to absolute quality.
We also provide a silver plating service for reflectors etc.
All lamps are restored and polished as described in the restoration
section. Then the lamps are placed briefly in an acid dip followed
by a wash in water. The lamp is then transferred to a copper electroplating
tank. Each lamp is then plated with copper. This process can take
from 20 minutes to several hours.
This process is particularly useful for building up very thin lamps
giving a good deposit of metal and also provides a leveling effect.
If necessary a very thin lamp can go through successive rounds of
plating with intermittent polishing.
After copper plating the lamps are transferred to a nickel tank and each lamp is plated for approximately 20 minutes.
The final stage is to chrome plate the lamp. It surprises most people to learn that this process is the shortest step and typically takes 3-5 minutes to plate. But, as ever, preparation is the key. The earlier stages must be performed diligently to ensure a concours finish.