RetroRanger

After seeing Tonys thread about his 442 grill resto I was inspired to give his technique a shot on the taillights on my 72. Link to tonys thread

I have 2 complete sets of taillights 8 parts total. Of those eight parts seven of them have a chunked out missing edge all in various locations around the lens. So Im confident others out there may have similar damage to their taillights. This technique may not be “good enough” for all cars but it certainly makes my taillights look much better between the edge of the lens repair and the repaint which restores the silver where red lens material is starting to show thru on the exposed surfaces. To paraphrase Tony “my car is not a show car, i'm trying my best to save my nickels and dimes to get it up to driver quality.”

The pics tell the story I used krylon dull aluminum paint (#1403) which is a very close match to the original color in both hue and sheen. (thanks to paratrooper (and others) for the paint type tip). I used bondo glass which just has some fiberglass like strands mixed in allegedly for more strength. I used the bondo glass because its what I had on hand. For the support when applying the bondo I used an OJ container as the bondo doesn’t stick to it and its rigid enough and flexible enough for what I want from it.

Overall Im happy w the end result, on set #2 I will take more time to smooth out the repaired area better (a dremel would have helped a lot here, I just sanded by hand and they came out decent)

LMK if anyone has any questions

Lady72nRob71

Very nice resto thread! I will need to practice on my old ones when the time comes...
Did you sand or scuff the surfaces that were painted?

sammy

Okay, now you guys have motivated me! Those tail lights came out well.
I am with you-not a show car and a budgat to adhere to
Have a 70 cutlass front grill that needs attention-will post pics.

Ted

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Wow, those taillights look AWESOME! Congrats on the refurbishing. I think we're starting a "save your parts" Movement on here

Thanks for the kind words, i do know there are alot of folks on here that could benefit from saving the couple breaths of life in their old parts.

And in all seriousness, If they've latsed 40 years already, who says they won't last 40 more!

Keep us up to date! You're making me feel lazy! I've gotta get workin' on my tail lights now

ROB, get me that MAW helmet!

Lady72nRob71

That is great, because we all know that most original parts look and fit better than repros. Also, keeping your originals keep less imported stuff off your car. Good originals are getting harder to find, too.
Bottom line is reuse is better than recycling!

Just shipped you some out to you. However, it might be too late for you know - I think you have already been whacked...

Tony72Cutlass'S'

I couldn't agree more! and when your original parts are rusted away (which is sometimes the case) i usually just contact the good people on this forum and they have something for me.

I actually just bought a pair of headlamp housings and stone shield from Scott. (mine are cracked and broken beyond repair. Stay tuned for tony's front-end-adventure!

I just went and looked at my taillight, now they're bothering me too....

So, on my spring to do list now..

1)clean up rear end under gas tank

2)install front suspension (im scared of this one)

3)install/paint new louvered hood that one of our fellow ottawa members offered to give me for free, it's great when people off this forum help eachother out!

4) Install front headlamp housings and bumper

5) wirebrush and paint the frame rails

Now where to start, and what MAW's am i going to get next

RetroRanger

thanks for the props guys

Rob , Tony Im just trying to keep up w you guys LOL

heres another thing I found out about my tails during this project

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/care-appearance/45788-two-tailight-styles-1972-a.html

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Two styles of OEM rear tail lights??

makes me wonder if anything is matching on my car...

So is the paint dry on your lenses yet? Are you going to post a before/after picture of what they look like on the car?

RetroRanger

paints dry tail lights are on the car (and lookin fine IMHO LOL)

If things go well we're gonna finally get some snow this winter over the next couple days so ill try to snap a pic this weekend and post it, ....as others have noted in the past part of the MAW syndrome is once you improve one item it makes other parts which were previously perfectly acceptable look kinda shabby ....in this case my bumper doesnt look so great compared to the tails (head slaps and groans)

Rob to answer your question I did not do any surface prep (other clean really well) to areas that I didnt repair

Lady72nRob71

Yes, let's see some pics! Snow pics, even!!
Sounds like you might just need that bumper rechromed. What could possibly be needed after that???

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Drop the tank, drop the tank........................

Olds_71_442

I did the exact same thing to my tail lights. I haven't painted them yet, but they are masked and ready for paint. I've been agonizing over whether I should buy new ones or not. Then again, mine are in better condition than the ones in the pics.

What about side markers? Has anyone found a cure for faded side markers?

RetroRanger

I had one side marker that was dim/off color from dirt and debris inside. Its impossible to get it really clean as an assembly.

I was able to seperate the lens from the housing and clean the inside of the lens and housing w soapy water and nylon brush. Mine just started coming apart easily but you may find that heat (carefully applied) helps it come apart.

Once clean I used black RTV to reassemble. It now looks great almost like an it has an LED twinkle to it its so clean.....course now the three other good looking ones went from looking fine to ya know they just arent as nice as the clean one is

as far as repop tailights......I think in most cases original GM beats repops (any part)...plus the extra 2 hundy goes a long way to fix / repair/ replace / upgrade something that really needs attention

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Couldn't have said it better myself

now where are the picture proof of these lenses!

dsolomon

I have done this on a couple sets of tail lights. If you pull them off the car, soak them in a bucket of liquid drain cleaner over night. This will remove all of the paint but will not harm the plastic.

This is also a great trick for putting a shine back on the clear lenses up front.

RetroRanger

here ya go tony, finally got it out of the garage and cruising around !!!

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Looks sharp!

What did you use to polish up your rear bumper??

Looks like you have dual exahust with turn downs, thats exactly what i want. Which kit do you have?

RetroRanger

IDK what the exhaust is ??? its 2.5" duals w downturns it fits perfect no rattles or knocks...it was on the car when I bought it last year, from the way its hung IDK if its a kit or a local shop did it

for the bumper I used sos pad / steel wool to clean it and remove surface rust then just car wax

thanks for your kind words

Tony72Cutlass'S'

No worries! Without the encouragement i get i dont think my project would have continued this far

Okay cool, reason is becuase i had a huge might as well....

Currently i have a leak from my oil pan (a couple drops a day) and i really want to regulate it properly. Which means i should drop my pan and replace the gasket. BUT, in order to drop the pan i need to remove the exhaust crossover... So... why not throw duals on my car...

Anyone know if dual exhaust is something doable on my own? Or should i just bring it somewhere..

Olds_71_442

I have a question. I didn't take out two of my tail lights because they are in very good shape and will only need a little paint.

I took the bottom passenger side tail light out today and noticed the lens in back is missing. I haven't checked the top passenger tail light, yet. But I was wondering if anyone had a spare backing lens for the bottom passenger side of a '71?

gearheads78

nice work...thanks for sharing

Olds_71_442

I took my side markers apart a few days ago and cleaned all the dirt out of them. They look so much nicer, but they still look slightly faded. I think the amber paint is wearing off inside the lens

But they still look a lot nicer than before.

Olds_71_442

Well........I've had two tail lights done for awhile and I was just finishing up my last two. One of the last two needed minor work, while the other didn't need any work at all. Just scuff and paint. While I was putting a thin coat of primer on the tail light that didn't need any work...........I dropped it on my cement floor! And I broke two pieces out of it!

I was so angry I was about to throw it, then some levelheadedness set in. I'm just waiting for the glue to dry right now and then I'll putty the groove that I made in the plastic to add a little strength.

Fakser

cool post it almost feels like the feel good movie of the summer