Topic: Original Finish on '69 Taillight Housings?

[drummingrocks]

I'm getting ready to put the taillight housings back in my '69 Mach 1, but they're a bit rougher than I realized.  After getting the lenses off and looking inside, one housing has clearly held water and has some rust that needs to be taken care of.  I was wondering--what's the original finish on these, and what's the best way to replicate the OEM look, short of having these housings replated?  I don't want the housings to be an eyesore on an otherwise really nice trunk area.

Not sure if it matters or not, but this is a Metuchen-built '69, built on June 5th, 1969.

[J_Speegle]

Think the bodies were zinc plated. Only way to try and get the look of the finish without plating is going to be one of the rattle cans

Used example

[drummingrocks]

Jeff, thanks for the quick reply.  I noticed Eastwood sells a clear zinc aerosol spray paint--I wonder how that would look?  Also, I remember reading an how-to article about you restoring the finish on a '69 Shelby taillight housings--would the finish you duplicated there be anything like what I'm going for on my taillight housings?  I've searched, but I can't seem to find that article again.

[J_Speegle]

I guess your referring to how I finished the inside area near the bulb. There I used a galvanized spray bomb - with a perfect surface you almost get a chrome finish - likely too shinny for your part. If your doing rattle can I would try Eastwoods gas tank spray finish as I found their zinc has a slight blue and darker finish

As for the article you mentioned it can be found in the Library section of this site in the ConcoursMustang.com Offical Article List

[Anghelrestorations]

I have been getting them zinc plated and then tumble the entire housing....looks really good.  Not too shiny and not too dull.  Looks as close to orginal as possible that way.

[Bosskraft]

I've found quite a few also have what appears to be galvanized attaching brackets over the cad plated housing and they were spot welded on. Hard to reproduce, for the garage restorers and even some shops without the right gear.

[J_Speegle]

I've found quite a few also have what appears to be galvanized attaching brackets over the cad plated housing and they were spot welded on. Hard to reproduce, for the garage restorers and even some shops without the right gear.

Sean have you tested the finish to confirm what you've listed?   Was just looking at test kits and chemicals last night to do this

For the attached mounts - agree have seem some that appear to have a finish that may be galvanized. Hard to tell IMHO on such a small area, especially with mounting nut marks on the main surface. Since its the same product as zinc plating easy tests will not show a difference in thickness

Couple more close-ups. Looks like the faux galvanized trick would likely work for this purpose








For others reading this
As mentioned in other treads, in most areas of the developed world Cad can be impossible to get done in country (been outlawed for years) or its really expensive compared to zinc which can be almost identical depending on allot of conditions

[Bosskraft]

G'day Jeff, no, haven't done a chem test. It's purely observation based.

[Anghelrestorations]

I've seen the same thing here - the attaching brackets with a galvanized look to them.  Have several examples of this in the shop.