MTFCA Forum

Hello,
I am looking for a really good set of gas headlight mirrors for my 1914 Model T. I have a set of the nickel plated brass reflectors and halogen bulbs they sell at Snyders and Langs, but I would like something brighter if possible. I think I could get a little better headlight performance from a set of original gas headlight mirrors. Does anyone have a nice set they are willing to sell?
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Thank you...

I beleive Restoration Supply has replacement mirrors. I am looking for a set myself but am not ready to buy yet. Lets us know how they work out if you do decide to purchase them

Be aware that mirrors vary in size and shape depending on the brand of headlight. E and J mirrors are quite different from brown,corcoran and victor mirrors.

Tim....I checked the Restoration Supply website and they sell the same Nickel plated Brass reflectors as Snyder's and Lang's sell. I have a set of them and they work OK, but they are not the same as the factory mirror that came with the car.
Mark...you are correct, there were different lights used on the 1914 T. I will check the brand and measure the diameter of the current mirror.
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If I can not find a set of mirrors I am thinking about taking my polishing wheel to the nickel plated ones I have to make them as shiny as a real mirror. It looks like the nickel plating is thick enough to clean it up without going through to the brass.

Tim Hansen wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:22 pm

I beleive Restoration Supply has replacement mirrors . . .

A quick look at their 2020 catalog shows they offer replacement nickel plated brass reflectors 5-1/2” dia.,
No glass.

I have not seen any glass reflectors offered in parts for sale for many years. I bought a pair long time ago, of course they were the wrong size for my Jno. Brown lamps.

I was able to get a pair for my 14. Both of the originals were broken beyond repair. Fair warning, it is expensive and took some time. First, I had to find out exactly which ones fit my style. I learned they don't all fit the hard way. Then I searched and watched for them on ebay. They pop up every so often, for $100 to $150 each. Probably over priced but where else are you gonna find them. I also looked for beat up old headlights with reflectors still in them... Once you aquire a pair of the original reflectors with good glass you will almost always have to resilver them. Not many people do that anymore. I found a place in Minnesota that does it. They came out beautiful and they are original, but it cost me $300 to $400 total for the reflectors, the resilvering and the shipping, so not economical. But it can be done.
Scott

What brand of light do you have. I have a few mreflectors.

Philip O. I have Corcoran headlights from a 1914 T. I would be interested in purchasing your mirror reflectors.

Philip O, PM sent

Many of the original lamps used a Mangin mirror where the glass is a meniscus lens plus a mirror. They are very specific to the lamp re: diameter and distance to flame. I don’t think anyone makes them currently. I used the Snyders reflector in my ‘15 speedster and it performs sufficiently in that lamp

When I started this thread I did not realize how different the headlights could be. So, to be specific, I am looking for a good set of 5 1/2" mirrors for my 'Ford Victor Lamp Model 2' headlights. If I can not find any I have an old set that need to be re-silvered, but I don't know if anyone does that anymore.

Yes, Alchemy Mirror resilvering does do headlight reflectors. He is a very nice guy out of Minnesota. He just did some for me the end of last year and they came out great. Alchemymirrorresilvering.com

Hope that helps.

Scott

Thanks for the advice.

I have also had Alchemymirrorresilvering.com resilver some mirrors for my 1912 head lamps. Be sure the front surface is in decent condition. He resilvers on the back of the glass, so whatever scratches, spots, or corrosion you have on the front surface of the mirror will still be there. Mine were in pretty good condition, luckily. I think glass can be polished such that you can get rid of these imperfections but I have never done it. Address such imperfections before sending for resilvering.

Not sure if the brass reflectors are nickel plated. I have not looked at listing, but most states had a requirement that headlight reflectors had to be silver plated. Don’t think anyone would make something that was not in regulation, but maybe they did. Anyway the plating is very thin. Don’t buff the things, get something called Wright’s Silver Polish. Walmart usually has it. It made for silver plated items. I used it when I was silver plating Headlight reflectors. It will not take off a lot at all time.
Good luck Dan

I have two original reflectors in my 1912 van. They are the same diameter, but different curvature. To focus them requires that one is further to the front than the other. No big deal. It does look a little off in day light if you look at the lights front on. One reflector surface appears larger than the other.

Allan from down under.

I contacted Alchemy Mirror resilvering and I am thinking about having the resilver my current mirrors.

You are a tease Bryan. Re-silvering you originals is the way to go. You are lucky to have them intact.

Allan from down under.

Allan....I pulled them out years ago and put them away...They may not be as intact as I remember. I will know after I dig them out of storage. I may need to buy a set and have them re-silvered.

Here’s something interesting I ran across. It’s from Flivver Fanciers, November 1959 HCCA Omaha club newsletter.

I believe that all Model T gas lamps used 6" reflectors, just different focal length ( different glass curvature).
There are 5 1/2" reflectors but they did not come on Ts.

reopening this thread.....
looked up Alchemy Mirror and saw they are indefinitely suspended on this service due to Tom passing away last Oct (RIP).

so I'm in the same boat, I have a 1911 Model-T with Model 66 brass gas lamps.
Would like to convert to led with refectors.

Anyone using the nickel plated reflectors with leds?

Ben, LED bulbs do not work with reflectors. Their light is directional. To reflect their output from a gas light reflector would require the bulb to be oriented so the output was to the rear. A better option in gas lights would be quartz halogen bulbs but these require more power.
There are multiple configurations of LED bulbs marketed for T electric headlights. multiple different arrays of individual LED's throw light in all directions onto the reflector, and all you get is a very ill directed blob of white light, good for driving behind, but dreadful for approaching cars. Using these bulbs behind a fluted H lens makes them worse. Low beam usually means driving the LED's at lower power, not as a lowered beam.
Now there is finally a bulb with its own built in reflector so the beam can be focused. However, even that is compromised if fitted behind a fluted headlight lens.
Nickel is not anywhere near as good a reflective surface as silver, no matter how well it is polished. There is a newer process for metal reflectors which is almost the same as silver in reflectivity. It is a vacuum formed aluminium plating process which does not tarnish. I have two reflectors from Lucas Fog Ranger driving lights out for this treatment at present, at less then 1/3 the cost of new lens/reflector units.

Allan from down under.

this good info... thanks Allan,

my original thoughts on using reflectors was to not blind oncoming traffic with an led projecting at them.... was hoping a reflector might help break this up some.

Ultimately, I just want something that can be retro-fitted to the E&J Model 66 lamps to allow me to drive home when dusk comes too soon. Hoping I never need to drive at dark. I'll poke around the forum some more for threads related to that topic. Very much appreciate your inputs on this, got my wheel spinning in my head now.

For occasional use, I would go with the quartz bulbs. They will give you some control on how the light is projected, without looking completely out of place behind a plain lens like an LED does.
Original glass reflectors have different radii on the front and back surfaces. Light from any source hitting the glass reflector is refracted/bent before it passes to the reflective silver coating. That reflected light is again refracted when it leaves the lens and shines down the road. The light is focused by moving the burner fore or aft. Don't ask me how they determined just how to shape those old time reflectors. The two reflectors in my 1912 van lights have different curvatures. I had to adjust one burner further forward than the other to project the light down the road.
The fellow who used to do the most magical brass light restorations for us and others around the world, had glass reflectors slubbed from plate glass and then silvered. They looked like the real thing, but did not quite work in the same way. Unfortunately, he passed away unexpectedly a couple of years ago, a great loss to the old car movement.

Allan from down under.

My LED kits do work with the reflectors for the brass head lights . snyders and langs carry them. They do sell a bulb now that works for the electric headlights it does not need the reflectors . they are about $40 a bulb they work great.

Quartz bulbs can draw up to 5 amps at 40 watts each bulb depending on the brightness of the light. The led bulbs only draw 1 amp each at 40 watts. food for thought.

Looking into logolites.
Next will be something for the side lamps (markers). A flickering flame-like bulb would be interesting

He is a picture these are the protypes. The bulbs unplug if they burn out.

I was just looking at those at langs site
how do they work for you?

REF: https://www.modeltford.com/item/BL-LED.aspx

When I first started with these there was only 2w led bulbs available. now there are 5 w bulbs . close to the quartz 50 watt.