Painting Headlamp Bezels

I know that the bezels are made of pot metal and then chrome plated, but how did G.M. make the paint stick. This will be the third time I've had to paint mine.I've tried everything to sanding them down to using wire brush bit and drill to scuff them up. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Alex-
I did this with my '70s bezels because they were so pitted. Hundreds of pits in each


I got a dremel moto tool and a very small burr, and cleaned out every pit

Then I used a two part epoxy as a filler, because although hard to sand, it wouldn't shrink very much

I worked the epoxy until all the pits were level and smooth to the touch. I used 220 grit paper, then 400 then 600 then 1500. I sanded everything wet

I cleaned with alcohol, dried, then primed with a primer than was compatible with the paint that would be sprayed at the pro painter's place. I wet sanded again, then primed with the same color as before, then I used a different color as a guide coat and sanded yet again

I found the high and low spots, filled them with a vinyl putty used for taking pinholes out of body plastic, sanded once again with 600, wet, and sent the bezels and car to be painted

I didn't do anything particularly special. This was at least 8 years ago when I had the color changed from red to blue on the car, and although the bezels are chipped from road debris, the paint on the bezels is adhering as well as paint on the body of the car. the car is a dily driver and sees weather from May/June to October

What's happeneing to your bezels? Do you have any photos you could post?

 

Hey Chris, thanks for responding so quickly. What's happening is the paint is not adhering, bubbling and peeling in some spots. Oddly enough the inner part, where the headlights are, is just fine. Although I am curious as how G.M. did it. What did they use?

 

Bubbling and peeling can be a sign that the new paint isn't liking the surface prep. Crazing over old paint is usually a sign that the two paints and/or the primer isn't compatible. Maybe you could try a different primer, but that's a situation where trial and error won't be a good deal of fun...I've recently been machining some tooling at work, and when I'm done I've had to soak the tooling in alcohol overnight to pull all the cutting/cooling oil out of the steel. Maybe a path to consider is going to overkill with your surface prep, to remove any oils or even antifreeze that has soaked in. Oils can soak into metals even if they aren't copper or traditionally thought of as porous, I'm discovering. Machining stuff is fun, but there is so much to learn ou:

 

I am considering sandblasting mine before painting, carefully masking off the chrome I want to keep with duct tape.

 

I really appreciate the responce here. I'll try blasting and then soaking in alchohol over night. I'll keep you posted :TU:

Thanks

 

I sandblasted a set in the past and the paint held up real well especially if you are going to paint them flat black. Just be careful not to use a real coarse grade sand and mask off areas you won't be painting.

Bill

 

i used chemicals (paint remover) to remove the paint off my bezels. i then used lacquer thinner & prepsol to clean the surface. i next used 200 & finally 400 grit wet sandpaper to lightly rough the chrome surface that was to be re-painted.
i recleaned the surface with prepsol just prior to painting. i primed & then painted using enamel paint (this was for the body paint colour - fire red- on the bezel face). the paint adheres very well.

 

All this is good info. I'll probably start on them this weekend. But I would still like to know how G.M. got the paint to stick over the chrome? Was it a secret o No: ?

 

I'm not so sure GM really had the recipe either. I know the black primer on the nos h/l bezels doesn't adhere that great.

 

i would guess that the bezels were painted by the 3rd party who supplied the bezels. someone who worked on the buick a-body line may know the answer to my response.
i do know that the original paint adhered very well, especially the dark argent around the headlights.

 

How about powder-coating??

I sure don't qualify as an expert, but wouldn't powder-coating be a good option for the bezels? It's really durable and "flows" to cover any minor imperfections.....

 

headlight bezels

i am getting ready to paint my 68 bezels. we will use a metal etch primer. we used it on my drag bike motor and worked very well. jerry :Smarty: