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70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? #382417 07/21/09 08:02 PM 07/21/09 08:02 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 28,596 Shopping @ HoBo Fright 340SIX OP Doc Flappergas's Evil Twin
340SIX OP Doc Flappergas's Evil Twin Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 28,596 Shopping @ HoBo Fright	It looks to be some type of natural finish but does not look good when old. Whats the best way to get them looking new again? Is there some way to get them looking as new? On the chrome bezal I lost/missplaced all the studs that were in them so now need new ones. Is there a source for them or is it just make your own from threaded rods? What Nuts are the right ones to hold them on? I did find the good used lens I have had for ever in a box wraped in news paper and guess what...Ford Escorts are on sale at the local dealer ship Maybe I have been working on the car to long Last edited by 340SIX; 07/23/09 05:08 PM.

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: 340SIX] #382418 07/23/09 05:08 PM 07/23/09 05:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 28,596 Shopping @ HoBo Fright 340SIX OP Doc Flappergas's Evil Twin
340SIX OP Doc Flappergas's Evil Twin Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 28,596 Shopping @ HoBo Fright	No one knows how to get them looking new again? Or what nuts go on them?

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: 340SIX] #382419 07/23/09 09:53 PM 07/23/09 09:53 PM
Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows? 1_WILD_RT Management Trainee
1_WILD_RT Management Trainee Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows?	The housing is Zinc Dichromate like a Holley Carb, Scott Harms Smith offers it.... The studs are clear zinc I'd need to go look through my junk to find a sample so I could give an acurate lenght...Tom probably has them... The nuts are Phosphate 10-24 thread 3/8 hex small captive washer again call Tom..

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: 1_WILD_RT] #382420 07/23/09 10:01 PM 07/23/09 10:01 PM
Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 7,367 Iowa burdar Owen's Dad
burdar Owen's Dad Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 7,367 Iowa	The Zinc Dichromate dulls over time and turns a gray color correct?

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: burdar] #382421 07/24/09 09:02 AM 07/24/09 09:02 AM
Joined: Aug 2004 Posts: 8,526 Tenn. jrwoodjoe master
jrwoodjoe master Joined: Aug 2004 Posts: 8,526 Tenn.	I had a thread about this a while back. The suggestion was to lightly bead blast the housings to renew the look. I have not done that so I can't comment on the outcome but maybe someone who did it can. Joe 65 Barracuda 70 Challenger

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: burdar] #382422 07/28/09 06:15 PM 07/28/09 06:15 PM
Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 4,165 Florida C cataclysm80 master
cataclysm80 master C Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 4,165 Florida	Quote: The Zinc Dichromate dulls over time and turns a gray color correct? Dulls or wears off, I'm not sure which. Tav

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: jrwoodjoe] #382423 07/28/09 06:18 PM 07/28/09 06:18 PM
Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 4,165 Florida C cataclysm80 master
cataclysm80 master C Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 4,165 Florida	Quote: I had a thread about this a while back. The suggestion was to lightly bead blast the housings to renew the look. I have not done that so I can't comment on the outcome but maybe someone who did it can. Joe I haven't tried that either. I think the bead blasting would do a pretty good job at cleaning them up, but seriously doubt it would restore the original plated finish. I'm not sure how it would turn out, but I think eastwood sells a carburetor paint. I'm thinking Challenger front turn signals should use the same coating. Not sure about the marker light backing plates. If you're WAY into details, many original housings have black overspray in spots from when they were mounted to a fixture and painted . Tav

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: cataclysm80] #382424 07/29/09 02:20 AM 07/29/09 02:20 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,679 Maple Ridge, BC, Canada B Barnabas_Kriss master
Barnabas_Kriss master B Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,679 Maple Ridge, BC, Canada	I have NEVER seen zinc dichromate on 70 challenger tail light housings. (On a 70 cuda, yes) They were just as cast pot metal. I have a complete NOS set of tail light assemblies, as well as plenty of clean used ones, NONE of them are zinc dichromate.

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: Barnabas_Kriss] #382425 07/29/09 02:28 AM 07/29/09 02:28 AM
Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows? 1_WILD_RT Management Trainee
1_WILD_RT Management Trainee Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows?	Post pictures & tell us what you think they are... I've seem the yellow color in protected areas on quite a few.. But I've also seen plenty that just look gray... I've also seen plenty of 40 year old Holley carbs that just look gray...

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: Barnabas_Kriss] #382426 07/29/09 04:39 AM 07/29/09 04:39 AM
Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 4,165 Florida C cataclysm80 master
cataclysm80 master C Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 4,165 Florida	I've seen that NOS Challenger front turn signal housings were either plated or not, while factory installed units seem to all have been plated, but sometimes it's very hard to tell. It's possible that some NOS taillight housing didn't get the plating. I think a good way to check, used or NOS, would be paint stripper and a plastic bristle brush to remove the black overspray if present, or remove the reflective silver inside around where the bulb goes. Any plating will have been applied before paint, and that silver paint protects it pretty well. My low odor aircraft remover did not harm the plating on my front turn signals, though the plating was only visible under the reflective silver and under some VERY old road tar. Sometimes if the plating is faint it can be difficult to photo. Tav

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: cataclysm80] #382427 07/29/09 06:02 AM 07/29/09 06:02 AM
Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 322 MERRILLVILLE, INDIANA S sunroof446 enthusiast
sunroof446 enthusiast S Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 322 MERRILLVILLE, INDIANA	The sidemarker backings are electro-galvanized. The backs are silver the fronts are gold/yellow. They can not be re galvanized once they have been die stamped. The only thing you can do is find a nice used set or nos. I just went thru this problem with my 70 charger. The tail light nuts on the challenger are yellow zinc.

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: sunroof446] #382428 07/29/09 06:36 AM 07/29/09 06:36 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,984 Montreal,Quebec,Canada J JulesdaWiperman super gas
JulesdaWiperman super gas J Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,984 Montreal,Quebec,Canada	To date I have never seen one 70-71 challenger tail light housing with zinc dichromate on them and I have seen loads of them. Very lightly bead blast them with fine grade bead. They will come out like new. If you go gently enough you will be able to keep the wave patterns in the metal when they were cast. The inside coves are painted silver and not very bright at that. Jules

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: JulesdaWiperman] #382429 07/29/09 02:19 PM 07/29/09 02:19 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 28,596 Shopping @ HoBo Fright 340SIX OP Doc Flappergas's Evil Twin
340SIX OP Doc Flappergas's Evil Twin Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 28,596 Shopping @ HoBo Fright	Quote: To date I have never seen one 70-71 challenger tail light housing with zinc dichromate on them and I have seen loads of them. Very lightly bead blast them with fine grade bead. They will come out like new. If you go gently enough you will be able to keep the wave patterns in the metal when they were cast. The inside coves are painted silver and not very bright at that. Jules Thanks the Wave Pattern is what makes me think it was some type of plating. I had tried on one spot on one part to buff it with gray emery years ago on one and it looked to take the wave look away Kinda like Galvanised pattern would look but goldish in color. I am now going threw parts that I never finished and finding things I skiped since I could not do them right.

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: 340SIX] #382430 07/29/09 06:08 PM 07/29/09 06:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows? 1_WILD_RT Management Trainee
1_WILD_RT Management Trainee Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows?	Quote: Quote: To date I have never seen one 70-71 challenger tail light housing with zinc dichromate on them and I have seen loads of them. Very lightly bead blast them with fine grade bead. They will come out like new. If you go gently enough you will be able to keep the wave patterns in the metal when they were cast. The inside coves are painted silver and not very bright at that. Jules Thanks the Wave Pattern is what makes me think it was some type of plating. I had tried on one smaller parts to buff it with gray emery years ago on one and it looked to take the wave look away Kinda like Galvanised pattern would loo but goldish in color. I am now going threw parts that I never finished and finding things I skiped since I could not do them right. Sounds like someone just described zinc dichromate....

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: 340SIX] #382431 07/29/09 06:23 PM 07/29/09 06:23 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard
ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington	I can recolor tail lamp housings correctly if anyone here needs the service, PM me for pricing. As Jules and others noted, some model cars were never coated or plated, they were "As Cast". Here is a set I just did for a 71 Cuda 5384231-71CudaTailLampHousingsRestoredA.jpg (135 downloads)

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: ScottSmith_Harms] #382432 07/30/09 06:24 PM 07/30/09 06:24 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard
ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington	Same set, different angle 5386628-71CudaTailLapsRestoredB.jpg (121 downloads)

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: ScottSmith_Harms] #382433 07/30/09 06:25 PM 07/30/09 06:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard
ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington	Close up of one. All of these were taken in natural ambient shaded sunlight, no flash. 5386630-71CudaTailLampHousingRestoredC.jpg (122 downloads)

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: ScottSmith_Harms] #382434 07/31/09 08:25 PM 07/31/09 08:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,369 Ohio 3404 pro stock
3404 pro stock Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,369 Ohio	The housings were ran through a chromic acid which gave them the yellow/brownish color. Most of them won't take a new yellow very well after all these years and may require a flash zinc plating to give the the chromate something to bite into. When the zinc diecast housing were fresh they did the chromate dip to keep the casting from corroding. Also the chromate over a "new" casting gave the leaf or wave pattern. Once you blast the housing you get more of a smooth look.

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: 3404] #382435 07/31/09 08:32 PM 07/31/09 08:32 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard
ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington	I agree 3404, and that's why I don't reccomend blasting them with anything that will change the surface texture before refinishing them.

Re: 70 Challenger Tail Lamp house finish? Studs? Nuts? [Re: 3404] #382436 07/31/09 08:33 PM 07/31/09 08:33 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 29,652 Hamtramck, PA A Alaskan_TA Fluffy Balladeer
Alaskan_TA Fluffy Balladeer A Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 29,652 Hamtramck, PA	From the low mile T/A; 5389250-Trunk3.JPG (133 downloads)

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