Topic: 68 SJ Deluxe Hood Turn Signals

[bullitt68]

I picked up a pair of original Deluxe hood turn signals to replace the ones that came on my car. The lenses on my car appear original (below) and were mounted on reproduction housings.





Unfortunately the ears on the set that were on my car snapped off. The lenses look original, however the housings appear to be reproduction They also appear to be zinc dichromate.





These are the ones I picked up, but not sure what the correct finish should be, but they were not zinc dichromate. Not even sure if they were plated. Notice different logos on the lens FoMoCo on the used set I found and the round Ford lolo on the one that were in my car on top of the aftermarkets housings





I thought that the housing might have been plated so I put them in the muriatic acid. However they were fizzing for so long I pulled them as I was afraid they were disintegrating. Unfortunately I am not sure if the muriatic acid caused the pitting or if they wee already pitted. If they are too pitted I will need to find another set to clean up. I also noticed that some housings have the tab/bracket to hold the bulb in place. Would all originals have used the bracket or just certain years? The reproductions on my car did not have the  brackets but there is a hole to accept the screw. I also saw a set without the holes for the brackets.





Also have seen different finishes on the insert studs and nuts. The reproductions are zinc, but I thought they should be zinc dichromate. Just double checking

[J_Speegle]

Yes muriatic acid on pot metal will not turn out well as it will dissolve all of the metal> Did the same decades ago when I tossed in a chrome plated emblem and when I fished it out only the chrome remain and nothing of the metal was left as the chrome crumbled from no support with the slightest (well maybe a little more than that) touch ans squeeze

Will look to see if I have any related picture as to the finish  plus we'll see what other 68 owners have observed

[bullitt68]

Yes muriatic acid on pot metal will not turn out well as it will dissolve all of the metal> Did the same decades ago when I tossed in a chrome plated emblem and when I fished it out only the chrome remain and nothing of the metal was left as the chrome crumbled from no support with the slightest (well maybe a little more than that) touch ans squeeze

Will look to see if I have any related picture as to the finish  plus we'll see what other 68 owners have observed

Great thanks Jeff. That is what I thought. Good thing I pulled them out. Note to self, don't put pot metal in muriatic acid. FYI I cleaned them up a bit, but I am going to look for another set of originals, hopefully a nice clean set. Also I saw some NOS ones for sale on eBay and looks like NOS were painted white. Notice the grey gasket on NOS & originals. Also not eon the NOS there is a part number on the right side that I have not seen on originals.






Here is an aftermarket with no stamp on the lens or the housing and the black gasket








On the left is the one on i dipped in muriatic acid and tried to save. I was able to clean them up a bit, but the pitting is still obvious, so they need to go. Reproduction on the right. However I have two version of the repops. One has a zinc dichromate finish and the other is just zinc.





Also I have observed 2 different logos on the lenses. One with the round Ford Logo on the NOS and the other the FoMoCo logo on the original. Not sure why the difference, but I have observed originals with the Ford logo as well.

[bullitt68]

Yes muriatic acid on pot metal will not turn out well as it will dissolve all of the metal> Did the same decades ago when I tossed in a chrome plated emblem and when I fished it out only the chrome remain and nothing of the metal was left as the chrome crumbled from no support with the slightest (well maybe a little more than that) touch ans squeeze

Will look to see if I have any related picture as to the finish  plus we'll see what other 68 owners have observed

Hi Jeff. So it turns out I was able to find another set of hood turn signal housings. These ones were in decent shape. I just gave them a light glass bead and they cleaned up pretty good. However what is interesting is that these originals definitely look like they were zinc plated and finished with dichromate. I did not know that you could zinc plate pot metal, but apparently you can. So I guess I will zinc plate them and then finish with dichromate. Then of course paint the inside white. Just wanted to confirm the finish before I plate them.

Thanks

[ruppstang]

 Yes, they were zinc dichromate plated. The plating is fragile and quickly disappears under the hood. Most times I only find it under the nuts.  Another difference in these is that some use a steel retainer to hold the bulb socket securely. Those that had retainers should show evidence of threads in the holes. Some do not even have a hole. The ones that did not use the metal retainer had a strip of gaffer's tape over the hole the bulb was pushed through like the taillight housing.

[bullitt68]

Yes, they were zinc dichromate plated. The plating is fragile and quickly disappears under the hood. Most times I only find it under the nuts.  Another difference in these is that some use a steel retainer to hold the bulb socket securely. Those that had retainers should show evidence of threads in the holes. Some do not even have a hole. The ones that did not use the metal retainer had a strip of gaffer's tape over the hole the bulb was pushed through like the taillight housing.

Thanks Marty, that is great reference photo. Are the nuts dichromate also dichromate? How about the studs, they look like they have green overspray on them, but were they also dichromate?

[ruppstang]

The nuts are cad or zinc. The studs were in the housing when it was painted so they were painted also. Typically, the lower outside nuts were painted as well. They were put on when painting the housing so it would not fall off the hook during painting, then they were used during assembly. Here is a picture of a 68 unrestored car that I judged in Tucson.

[bullitt68]

The nuts are cad or zinc. The studs were in the housing when it was painted so they were painted also. Typically, the lower outside nuts were painted as well. They were put on when painting the housing so it would not fall off the hook during painting, then they were used during assembly.

Thanks that is great info, so I take the studs were also cad or zinc? Hard to tell in the photo, but one stud looks dark under the paint like phosphate.

[ruppstang]

Studs are zinc.

[bullitt68]

Studs are zinc.

Thanks