Cleaning h4 Headlights Options

[7TPorsh]

i bought a pair of H4 Headlights, the ones with a flat front and the bulbs plug in and out.
They are new but must not have been stored and sealed well. They seem to have a haze or sticky dust insid them on the reflector and on the inside of the glass.

The opening is a little small to get my hand in there to clean.

Can I put these in the dishwasher, opening side down and wash? use heat dry?

[anderssj]

Ok, here's another detailed approach from the ALFA forum--please note, I can't verify this one way or the other, so it's kind of "try it at your own risk". . . . .

HTH,

Steve A-

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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.

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,

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