[Harvey]

I was bringing everything in to the basement today that I want to polish and or clean over the winter. I took the tail light assemblies apart so i could polish the lenses. I noticed they are dated 67. This a 68 XR7 that was actually built 12-28-67. Will the 67 date be a problem at a show?

 

[1969XR7Vert]

No, they won't be a problem Harvey and they may very well be original to the car in spite of the date on the lenses.

 

[Harvey]

Cool, They are in realy good shape. I want to use plastic polish on them and am thinking about re-painting the black on the grills? It is a flat black but it is faded. If I do looks like a lot of work to tape off the chrome.

 

[1969XR7Vert]

SEM Trim Black for that Harvey, it is self-etching. What I like to do (there are many approaches) is to spray the whole thing and then very carefully wipe away where chrome should show with lacquer thinner on a rag immediately following spraying. Works for me and if you accidentally sipe too much away, you just spray on some more and repeat the process.

Regards,

Bob

 

[Harvey]

That sounds a lot easier than trying to tape everything and I wouldn't have tape lines! I will give it a try. Have to paint in the basement now. Don't want to take the chance of overspray getting or floating in the air near the car.

 

[Cougrrcj]

That 'DOT 67' date is when that taillight lens casting was approved by the US Dept of Transportation. Since they used the same taillights for both years, you're good to go.

 

[CougarCJ]

I had very good results using that process when I painted my 1969 grille.

To make it easier on myself, I used chrome polish on the raised area, and then I 'rewaxed' that chromed area and left the wax haze prior to painting. Wipe the paint before it 'skins' though.

 

[Mercury6768]

Another way to paint the tail lamp grilles is to paint the entire grille, then clean off the excess paint with OOOO steel wool. I've done this a number of times and it works great.

 

[Harvey]

Lots of ideas, All of them sound much better than my taping skills. I hadn't even thought of the front grills yet but I am going to give this a try on the rear ones first. They really aren't bad now but I think they can look better. I will take pictures when done and show yall how they turned out. Won't be right away though.