Tail Light Assemblies

[Tbird1044]

Well, after waiting patiently for 6 months, I finally picked up my tail light waffle plates and lens bezels. They look pretty nice. They should for the price.
I also bought the decal kit from Thunderbird Ranch to do all the little black squares. If it works well, I will take some pics of the finished product and post them.
Nyles

[YellowRose]

Tail Light Assemblies

Nyles, that looks to be a beautifully done chrome job on the tail light pieces.. Good luck with putting all those squares on! It has been done before and takes awhile to do it, but it should look great when you are done.

[partsetal]

Putting the squares in is not too bad. What is bad is cutting the squares and fitting them at the edges. I've got one started and am thinking masking and painting might be simpler.
Carl

[toddgilroy]

Nyles - Do you have any pictures of what they looked like before you had them rechromed? Were the assemblies pitted at all? Would be interested to see how they compared to the condition mine are in.

Thanks!

[jopizz]

I've had better luck painting it black and going over the raised part with lacquer thinner.

John

[yellow98cobra]

Using several different sizes of brushes I hand painted in the squares on mine. It looks ok. Like the rest of the car it looks nice at 20'

[fomoco59]

That re-chrome looks great !

Many years ago I bought a Blue '60 to flip and the tailight plates were in real bad shape. I powdercoated them. Car was a 20 footer and they came out ok. Some pics in this old thread.

http://squarebirds.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=5045

[Tbird1044]

Here are some pics of the assemblies prior to chrome. They were pretty pitted, but I have seen worse.
I also started putting the black decals in last night and am really happy with the results so far. I'll attach another pic when I have one complete. I did practice on a spare set prior to ordering the decals, and am really glad I ordered the decals now. I tried paint and also powder coat. Getting paint to stick to new chrome is a challenge. The powder coat sticks really well, but had trouble getting it smooth and also was reluctant to put my new chrome in a 400F oven. The plates are not totally smooth in the small squares and the decals really smooth out the surface. Time will tell how they hold up, but this car won't see much abuse.
Nyles

[Restifier52]

They look Mahvelous! I used a toothpick and a bottle of Testor's model paint for my black squares. I'm happy with the result. I was not trying to put paint on chrome however. I had my plates powdercoated and the paint has held on to that quite well.

[Dan Leavens]

Rick did you use a clear coat over the black squares to protect from the elements?

[Ford351c594]

you can also wipe the things down with a pre paint and cover the whole thing in Nyalic clear. protect the chrome as well.......
I use it on almost anything that is polished aluminum. No more polishing.

[Tbird1044]

Nyalic clear?? Never heard of it. Would love to see some info on the product. Spent a lot of time buffing aluminum and would love to preserve it.
Nyles

[Restifier52]

No Dan I did not. I just let a drop of paint fall from the toothpick onto the square and spread out. I may have used a couple drops per full square. I can't remember precisely. I don't really clean them. When I wash the car they just get a sponge off and a rinse.

[Ford351c594]

http://www.piehtoolco.com/contents/en-us/p11539_Nyalic_Clear_Protectant,_12_oz.html

this is where a buy it from. decent write up.


http://www.nyalic.com/ a bit more info as well.

[619Square]

Using several different sizes of brushes I hand painted in the squares on mine. It looks ok. Like the rest of the car it looks nice at 20'

lol... I can relate to that... except I am thinking 30' is the optimum viewing distance for mine!