Pulled apart the rear taillights as they looked dim at night. Looked inside and the sockets and bulbs were full of grease and a real mess. Looking at the pics, can these be repaired?? What would I need to do??? Thanks!!
they can be rechromed but be prepared to pay out the :moonu: for that. check this out http://www.automedia.com/Taillight_Housing_Resto/res20030101tl/1 Eastwood sells paints or the reflectors.
I cleaned up mine & painted them with a chrome-like spray. Nice job for the money. The grease is probably from the di-electric compound at the base of the socket. Non-conducting grease that helps seal out moisture. Put some in when changing bulbs.
I found a great paint from Eastwood. Looks just like the original. These were not chromed like the dash bezel plastic. They were painted. The Eastwood stuff was called Chrome galvanizing paint. It was some weird brand but it looks great. Wiseco or something like that. I cleaned mine with rags and lacquer thinner. It took a while but I got all old stuff off before I painted. I will try and post pictures later of my detailed housings. I found an old can of soldering paste that looked just like the brown grease GM used so I used it in sockets. Ever notice the old sockets with lots of brown grease are never corroded inside?
They may not have corroded, but after 38 years the grease really breaks down and leaves a nice mess behind!! Everything is oily/greasy, even the gaskets! o No:
Best way to clean the...use Purple Power degreaser and a good brush...then rinse with hot water and let dry. I beadblast mine with low pressure and then paint. I use Bright Alum paint from HomeDepot and they come out great. You can dye the backside to complete them.
Here is my completed housing using the Chrome Galvanizing paint from Eastwood. They call it Almost Chrome. Next to an original housing I could not tell the difference except for the age.
Well I've learned one lesson regarding our forum, the 3 Day Rule! Post your question and wait 3 days for responses before you do anything!!! I wish I knew about the Easy-Off before I started sanding!! ou: Tail lights are done: Also took the bumper off, buffed it out and then aligned it better than it was! Sure looks funny with no bumper though!!
Jeff, they look nice. Now is perfect time to sand and paint the back part of the frame. It always gets crusty back there.
What, no Easy-Off!!! I thought that was good crust back there!! :laugh: Bumpers back on, I'll save that for the next time. Thanks for the heads up!
Sorry about the necro, but had to comment on this one from the archives: I would very highly recommend you remove that 'grease' sooner rather than later, assuming you applied some to your taillight housings. :Smarty: Solering paste has nothing in common with grease. It is a substance required for some types of soldering work, specifically large copper pipes used in plumbing. Its purpose is to protect the surfaces being soldered from oxidizing when heat is applied, and in order to be able to do that, it is intentionally made highly corrosive to metals. :eek2: Every instruction I've seen about this coarse soldering technique states you are to remove any remaining soldering paste aka. solder flux immediately after the work object has cooled. Failure to do so will result in the paste absorbing moisture from the air and turning into a very corrosive substance, which will etch most metals. It may be that you need to heat the paste to activate the etching, but I wouldn't bet your taillight housings, wiring and sheet metal on it.
Hi Jeff, Here's where I get them: See this post: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=165777 http://www.ledtronics.com/products/cat1.aspx?P=C0D6 for the rears... Jeff, You'll need some with one filament and some with dual filaments. I have them in mine....No regrets at all! See my post on hemmings about the advantages: http://www.hemmings.com/users/184896/story/522.html Thanks
Frank, Thanks for that info. I may try to put some of thet paste on some scrap wire and metal and leave it out in the rain and see what happens for Kicks.
when i refurbed my taillight assemblies, i cleaned them with prepsol, very lighthly watersanded and spray painted with what is called "chrome bumper" paint. the results were excellent.
