As you know, the Americans and the British have loads of different words for the same thing, like hood/bonnet etc.

What do you call the large plastic pieces that surround the front lamps on my 68 Cutlass that are prone to breaking?
It's hard for me to see if anyone has got any if I don't know what you call them.
Thanks

 

Headlight buckets. Fusick carries them for about $365 a pair. They call them headlight housings part # HH6810/1

 

I am not familiar with how these break, but I have had luck repairing many broken plastic items with hot staples and epoxy. You may want to try a body shop.

 

The cracks can be repaired with CPVC glue. Like PVC glue it becomes a "welded" connection and is very strong. The area can be smoothed out and feathered with JB Weld. I repaired mine 13 years ago and I've been driving the car 5 years and you'd never know the housings were a cracked & broken mess when I started. Krylon Dull Aluminum paint is a great match for the original color

 

GM actually refers to them as "HEADLAMP DOORS" in the parts manuals... Some people call them "HEAD LIGHT BEZELS" as well...

 

And the Assembly Manual refers to it as "Support- Fr. Lamp". "Doors" are actually the trim pieces that surround the headlight that attach to the buckets

 

I've had pretty good success with plastic welding, its basically a soldering iron with a flat tip.

 

Thanks guys,

A new pair of headlamp housings will be flying across the Atlantic shortly.

By the way. They are not repairable as a large piece on one side has snapped off and is missing.

 

Both mine were cracked and had pieces missing next to the bumper. Way back in 87 when these were not reproduced and every one in the bone yards was broke, I had no choice but to repair. I used fiber glass/resin patience and rattle can chrome and black. Came out beautiful. The paint has "weathered" to look factory. Thats 30 years ago and they still look new. Youd be hard pressed to see the repairs from the back sides. Zero evidence from the top. PITA to get the black paint in the right spot. Intricate masking.

 

From what I remember from ten years ago I made templates out of thin cardboard to cover the black, sprayed the black (templates not in place), inserted the cardboard template to cover the black, and then sprayed the gray. I still have the templates somewhere. I pretty much didn't have to mask anything and the templates didn't take long to make

 

Ya I made templates too. The center part went well. The bitch is the outsides where the 2 bolts are. Mine are still silver there supposed to be black as well...shhhh dont tell anyone.

 

Simple,

We call them "the large plastic pieces that surround the front lamps on your 68 Cutlass that are prone to breaking."