Having gone through the restoration of original driving lights for the M, I
can pass on some tips:
1. the lenses separate from the reflectors by boiling them in a double
boiler. on the first trial, some of the old 'dope' that seats the silvered
steel reflector in the glass spawls out from the head. use a scalpel type
exacto to clean the groove. Repeat. On the second or third attempt, the
reflector will come loose, but you have to apply force. the tip of the Exacto
is a good tool to use, because it will break before you overstress the glass.
2. after boiling, the front of the reflector turns the same golden color as
the back due to heat changes in the lacquer coating. Send the piece out for
silver plating, but do not have it buffed. when you get it back, hand polish
with silver polish. you can either recoat with lacquer or not, but if the
latter you will have to repolish the reflectors every few years. Laquering is
okay, but the conditions must behumidity free, preferably using an oven.
3. when replacing the reflectors, seal them with silicone. some will press
right into the M5 glass lens, others will not want to go in. If the reflector
will not go in. either way, bed the reflector with a thin bead of silicone
applied to the edge of the reflector, wiped with a finger before inserting.
let the silicone set, then run a thicker bead around the groove between the
reflector and the glass. when cured, cut out the silicone from the glass step
which fits to the chrome shell.
4. There are three kinds of bulbs currently available from Holden, but you
have to work around which type of bulb holder you have. If you want clear, you
have two options, a 48 watt single contact clear, which is the same wattage as
a headlight, but is at the wire's load limits. there is also a two-contact
bulb, high side 38W / low side 21W. The two-contact holders are not currently
available, so you have to have or deal with finding an original one. If you
decide to do this, you can either wire a two wire hot&ground into the 38Watt
side, or you can bring in three wires, but have to work out running the
driving lights from your headlight relay, and placing a single pole double
throw switch in between the relay and the lights to have the option of turning
them off while the headlights are on (this is the way driving lights on
Bentleys and certain other high end cars are handled). If you want yellow
lenses, you can only get the two-contact bulbs, you have the same constraints
with the bulbholders as above; holden is no longer supplying a single-contact
bulb.
5. I have a 1955 ad for Lucas flamethrowers and both the clear plain SLR and
the clear ribbed SFT options were offered. The ad does not mention an amber
lense similar to the later amber 'foreign glass' lenses. I believe, but am
only speculating, that the amber bulb was used with the clear ribbed lens.
Much of the above came from prior listers whose help is acknowledged, and from
a phone call to Holden. Corrections and additions may be in order.
Allen Miller
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