Carello headlight refurbishment

[Simon B]

Has anyone had any success separating Carello headlight glass from a rusty reflector and replacing the reflector with one from a readily available modern unit?  I thought it worth a try but the sealant/ adhesive around my Carello lights seems to be rock hard and not easy to shift compared to modern replacements which use silicone or similar.

[nistri]

Apparently it is necessary to submerge the glass fro several days in cellulose thinner.

[Simon B]

Thanks Nistri, I’ll give that a try and report back

[andyps]

I separated one of the light units for my Sport - gently heated it in the oven which I'd seen suggested as a way to soften the fixing. Can't remember what temperature I got it to, too hot to hold, but not massively high and then I managed to get it apart. Not an enjoyable task!!

[Simon B]

Thanks Andy and Nistri, the cellulose didn’t work, several days with the glass submerged and the seal remained unaffected, just wrinkling the lacquer on outside of the lamp bowl.

As I only want the glass from the old lamps, I took an angle grinder to the metal bowl on another lamp. I ground most of the way through the bowl and finished off with a small cutting disc in a dremel until just breaking through. Easy enough to peel the metal rim away and the glass and plastic like seal came away easily.

I can see that the oven technique working, although difficult to execute. I think I’ll stick to the brutal angle grinder technique on the others assuming I can find suitable modern lamp bowls to fit the old glass. The plan is to break the glass out of them.

[andyps]

Good to know you've been successful with it. For the Sport the metal backs are as rare as the glass so I didn't want to cause damage. I needed to refinish the inside due to rust and was surprisingly successful with a mirror like paint.