Faded Green Bow Light

[Faithryder]

I bought this Lone Star recently and have removed the boat from trailer to get started on the restoration. I was removing the peripherals and just now noticed the red plastic cover is completely white with age. What would be the best way to return this back to a red light? I was thinking maybe put some red film inside the fixture to have it show red, that way I wouldn't mess up the original..any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Fisherball]

Re: Faded Green Bow Light

Sounds like it would work. Certainly cheaper than finding one on an old boat to match the era of yours. New ones are not expensive here on iboats.

 

[Shife]

Re: Faded Green Bow Light

If you want to keep the original fixture, seek out a plastics shop in your area. Glass shops are often able to help too. They should be able to duplicate the curvature of the original lens out of new red and green acrylic.

Whatever you do make sure the lights look correct in color and intensity at night. Improper lighting is a favorite ticket for marine law enforcement to give out.

 

[Faithryder]

Re: Faded Green Bow Light

The curvature isn't the issue, it is the horizontal and vertical profile of the lens, I know, I know hard to see in the pics I should have gotten a close up after I had it off. It is very profiled on the outside of the lens. I thought maybe there was a spray that I am not aware of to coat the lens. I don't want to replace it with an oddball or pay for an original that is still red, if I could ever find one, just want to make it look correct.

 

[Shife]

Re: Faded Green Bow Light

The only way I can see a plastics shop not being able to duplicate the lens is if it is a Fresnel lens. Without a more detailed pic it is hard to see what you are talking about. That lens is currently screaming "Come and write me a ticket."

 

[Triton II]

Re: Faded Green Bow Light

I used to have an old Datsun 200SX (stop laughing!) with faded stop/tail light lenses. I found an translucent red paint at an auto shop. I just painted the insides of each plastic lens and the car passed its annual rego inspection. Can't remember what it was called, but it may be worth having a hunt around for it.

TII

 

[andgott]

Re: Faded Green Bow Light

I've been lucky enough to find modern lenses that fit into the vintage lights, with some persuasion. There are translucent paints out there that work, too...

If nothing else works, and it's a real vintage piece that HAS to be saved, you can make a mold from the old one and cast a replacement, though it's time consuming and costly...

 

[iqxoqlms]

Re: Faded Green Bow Light

I had someone suggest to me once to paint the lens with colored nail polish. I found a replacement lens - so didn't have to try it. Just another option for you...

 

[Faithryder]

Re: Faded Green Bow Light

Hey all thanks for the responses, as far as a plastics shop goes I don't have alot of nearby options...edit make than none in western Kansas done edit.... or really want to spend that much on a perfect restoration (the middle seat has already been removed, quite poorly I might add, half of the bow portion got beaten over with a hammer and loose plywood laid over the top to keep from tripping, cutting, embarrassing the previous owner(s)). That being said I also don't want to ruin the original (read.... alter beyond restoration) cover. I still have alot of work to do and this will be one of the last finishing touches, I just wanted to grab a few ideas to mull over before I have to make a final decision, once again thanks for taking YOUR time to give me ideas on this, it is greatly appreciated. Hopefully next spring I will have pics to show you how well it turned out (I just had a new son, so this is my project to keep me close to the house and enjoying a boat (if i go through the trouble of pulling a boat to the lake, I plan it from Friday afternoon to at least Sunday evening) without p/o the wife