LP Carrier Headlight Lenses

[The Bedford Boys]

My latest little project is reviving the headlights for my carrier. I had been thinking about using blue perspex, or blue tinted glass for the lenses. I wanted to retain the original "Melite Safety" Logo on the lenses, so if I made totally new ones, this would've meant laser etching the logo on, and I didn't really want to invest all that much money for such a small nod towards looking original.

So, I had a quick look on TradeMe (kiwi version of evilbay), and came across some blue window tint for the princely sum of $9.00.

I had some original glass lenses, that had the typical delamination issue of the original blue film. I split the lenses apart carefully and cleaned them thoroughly. The original blue film smells disgusting, the sort of smell that climbs up your nose and punches you in the brain. So no doubt it's something fairly nasty... Anyway, once the lenses were clean, it was a simple case of applying the new tinted film.

I have seen a number of lenses, and they range from dark purple, to light blue, to clear. My new film is a little lighter than I'd hoped for, but at the end of the day, it's blue, and that will do!

[Lynn Eades]

Well done Alex! good effort! You've probably given a few others some inspiration.

[Paul Dutton]

Nice result.
If you want darker, can't you 're apply another coat of tint?

[The Bedford Boys]

I did some experimenting with multiple layers shortly after posting my initial attempt. Three layers of tint film seems to give the darkness I was after. I got a few bubbles in the tint though, so will have to have another go tomorrow!