Interior headlamp cleaning; results

["Dean W. Cains" <dwc@xxxxxx>]

Hi Group:

I took the plunge and attempted cleaning the inside of the Bosch and Hella 
H4 headlights on both of my Spiders.  The interiors of both were coated 
with a thin, white/gray film of mysterious origin.

For each lamp, the first thing I did was to warm a pint of distilled water, 
in the microwave, to about 120 degrees, after which I stirred in 3 drops of 
Palmolive liquid dishwashing detergent.  I poured about a cup of the soapy 
solution into a headlamp, and using a wadded up piece of plastic wrap to 
fill the bulb opening, I gently shook the lamp for a minute or so.  I then 
poured out the soapy water, and holding the lamp under the tap of my 
kitchen sink, rinsed the inside with warm water for a few minutes 
more.  Next, I flushed the lamp three times with distilled water, and then 
a final time with 91% isopropyl alcohol.  The last step was to shake out 
the excess alcohol and bake the lamp in a 140 degree electric oven for 
about 30 minutes to fully dry.

The results are absolutely pristine lamp interiors, although I should say 
that there wasn't any corrosion inside the lamps, just that weird 
film.  Corroded reflectors are another matter, and restoration requires 
polishing, brass plating, nickel plating, and then another polishing.  I'm 
about to have that procedure done to a set of Marchal Amplilux lamps I've 
had for 20+ years.

If anyone would like to see a before/after picture of the Bosch H4's, I'll 
be happy to email one, and it's only a 49kb file.  I don't see why the 
cleaning procedure I used wouldn't work on any similar lamps, including OEM 
types, but try it at your own risk.  I'd be extra careful with plastic 
lenses and reflectors, and might not attempt cleaning those at all.

Anyone know what the film might be?  I'm in S. Florida, but do you guys in 
dry climates get the film?  It seems to be similar to what's inside the 
lenses of all the gauges on my '74 Spider, too.  And no, I wasn't planning 
to wash the inside of my gauges with soapy water.

Regards,

Dean
Lutz, FL
'74 & '87 Spider Veloce's
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