I recently bought a replacement lens for one of the tail lights. It doesn't have the silver paint around the edges like the originals on my car. I didn't realize there were two different treatments! Should I strip the paint from the old one, or paint the edges of both silver to match? Is there a correctness that I should adhere to, or is either way OK? If so I may just strip the silver off the original one.
Argent silver is correct for the taillights if you are trying to retain a stock look. The silver wears off over the years due to fading, wear, etc. You can get the correct argent silver at Eastwood.com in a rattle can. Just look it under wheel paint. Essentially, the only one that can answer if you're going to be happy with the final look of the taillights is you. Personally I prefer the silver. Try installing the set without the silver and see which one you like. Could help you make up your mind. Hope this helps,
The color goes on tomorrow! I am so excited. Spoke with my grandmother last night and got her all excited for cruising back in Indiana once the rest of the work is done. She's 88 and still going strong. I'll be posting in the parts wanted section for various stuff I'd like to replace (steering wheel, door panels, wheel opening trim). This summer is going to be awesome. <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/148/411853982_4efa5c6c84.jpg?v=0"> <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/171/411854008_5914785a9c.jpg?v=0"> <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/411854022_badf062d07.jpg?v=0">
color and clear going on this morning! <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/412996428_3c20fd36a9.jpg?v=0"> <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/160/412996426_fcfb60f53b.jpg?v=0">
A few shots of the new paint after buffing. Sending the rear bumper to Tri City for repair this week. Anyone know of a reputable shop in New England who can fix the tweaked front bumper? It is slightly bent, but not horribly (see photos up top) and the chrome is great. <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/176/414931049_0005a3c263.jpg?v=0"> <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/174/414931048_9dc52ab025.jpg?v=0"> <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/176/414931041_2fe04547d1.jpg?v=0">
WOW :eek2: that looks sweet. I love that color! Why not send the front bumper to Tri-City? They will fix the tweak and they shouldn't charge you extra. Just a thought... then both bumpers will look the same in regards to workmanship. Keep the pix coming... and cross your fingers for an early Spring!
Thats cool story. Had the car allways been garaged ? I guess for the NE either way that kind of rust would be typical. DL
The car was garaged, BUT it was driven. It lived in Indiana until last October. There had been some cheap collision repair and a repaint done in the '90s, all body filler. I talked to Tri-City and they also recommended sending both bumpers (nice folks on the phone by the way). They don't think it's possible to straighten the front one without ruining the chrome. Damn! Oh well, I'm sending the rear out today and the front will have to go out later when I have the extra cash. Looks like 10 weeks turnaround too. I'm not going to sweat it though, we have at least 10 more weeks of cold weather and salty roads in Mass.
A few more photos of the car partially reassembled. Sean was able to tweak the bumper a bit so it doesn't look so sad. <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/174/430484637_0240caa26d.jpg"> <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/430484634_e8d27fcb9c.jpg"> No more ripples and scrapes on the sides and the moulding actually lays flat along the rocker edges. Nice little stripe details too. <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/156/430484632_31dff79fcf.jpg"> Front wheel opening mouldings are on the way. The new wheels are sitting in my living room waiting for tires (April!!). <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/430484631_ebc0cc9d91.jpg">
Nice work... the work around the quarter wells is exactly what my last post was about. only thing is you left the quarter panel extentions on while painting, or did you loosen them up for a gap? By the way i had a heck of a time getting the bumpers just right also.. bit of compromising involved
Looks good... I'm gettin freaked out over here, mines gonna be goin through the same thing in a couple weeks and I'm afraid of whats gonna be uncovered when the paint gets stripped off...there is already slight bubbling over the rear wheel wells, and for some mysterious reason the gap between the passenger side rocker panel and fender has been bondoed/welded/otherwise sealed up uzzled: uzzled: uzzled: uzzled:
Thanks, Paintworks did a great job! The area around the trunk and backsides of the quarter extensions was painted prior to the final overall paint application. Don't worry, there's paint all the way around! I'm sure the rear bumper will take some fussing with when I get it back. It was pretty banged up so I imagine the brackets are a little tweaked too. Crossing my fingers...
The car is coming back to my garage tomorrow! I've furiously been cleaning and painting the emblems and tail lenses. I felt like I was 10 years old again, working on model cars... I'll post some photos, I'm especially proud of the lenses. Thanks to advice from you all I think they've come out very nice, even better than the originals. Still looking for a good PS rear wheel opening moulding. The front pair I got from John will clean up nice.
No new photos to show yet. I've been collecting pieces for the car, still looking for the PS wheel opening molding. I grabbed a loaner bumper from Paintworks over the weekend so I can drive the car around and work on it. The surrounds for the tail lamps and front impact strip just came in. The transmission on my Explorer just went out ($2200!!!!) and I've got no money to fix it now... Long story short, I can't put any more money into the Buick until I get my daily driver fixed, which won't be for a month or so (I got killed with taxes this year too). The good thing is there's no limit to how much time I can work on the Buick, just money. I'll wrench and clean like crazy until I get the truck fixed. Then it'll be time to do the 4bbl carb and intake swap, replace the door panels and refinish the dash. I'm working serious overtime right now. I hope to rustle up enough cash to meet my goal of a July 8 car show this summer.
LOOKS GREAT....... EVEN BETTER IS THE FACT THAT GRAMMA'S GONNA CRUISE AGAIN LIKE IT WAS NEW AGAIN! EVERY TIME I WANTED TO GET PICS OF WHAT I WAS DOING I EITHER FORGOT THE CAMERA OR THE BATTERY WAS DEADou: HERE IT IS IN YELLOW PRIMER AT THE BODY SHOP DOWN THE STREET THAT OFFERED TO PUT THE BODY IN ARROW STRAIGHT SHAPE. THEY DID A PERFECT JOB... AND YES I SAID YELLOW PRIME!!! I WAS GOING TO TAKE IT BACK SPRAY IT IN BASE THEN DO THE FINAL BLOCKING AND RESPRAY THE COLOR AGAIN BUT THE SHOP SURPRISED ME AND IT WAS YELLOW WHEN I SHOWED UP( I WAS WORKING ON IT AT THE BODY SHOP TOO )..... I THOUGHT THEY PAINTED IT!!!!
Does anyone out there have a recommendation for replacing the black rubber-ish material that staples to the inner fenders (keeps out the road grime from the engine bay)?
