Since my 60 HT will be in the paint shop for a few months, I thought that this woud be a good time to refinish the tail light buckets and lights. I took photos of what I'm doing so far, and will post more photos as I go on.
In another post, we discussed the fact that painting the inside of the tail light cones would increase brightness. Part I will show if that is true or not.
The first step is to remove the back side of the trunk material to get acess to the tail light buckets. This is best done with the tool shown. It's made to remove door clips. It's also a good idea to use plastic bags with for parts.
The tail light bucket assemby comes out the back end by removing the 4 nuts on the studs shown by the red arrows. On the 60, it was easy to acess 3 of the nuts with a socket, and the last one with an open end wrench.
Removing the remaining nuts will free the tail light assembly from the "Waffle" (checkered) back plate.
Notice that the tail lights have a TOP (shown by the green arrow). Also notice that the chrome tail light bracket has bottom drain holes (shown by the red arrows). The drain holes need to be kept to the bottom.
The next step is to separate the plastic lenses from each tail light cone. I used a sharp Xacto knife. Go VERY slowly, and take your time -- especially around each hole in the lens where the screw goes through. It will take about 3 to 4 passes with the blade before the lens separates.
In the next step, I used 220 grit sandpaper to lightly sand the inside of the cones. Then wipe it with paint prep cleaner.
I didn't want to use masking tape on 6 tail light cones, so I came up with a way to do it very simply.
I used an old broken tail light lens (you can use a tin can that fits). A burned out light bulb, and a rubber grommet from a tie rod end (available at Auto Zone help section).
Here is what the set-up look like after spraying with one coat of engine grey primer, and two coats of engine white gloss. I used engine paint because I felt that it would stand the heat alot better than off the shelf paint.
Next, I used a small screw driver on the bulb contacts in the socket, and used a good amount of Bulb Grease on the bulb. I also used Long Life bulbs (from Auto Zone).
So, was it worth it?
The original tail light is on the left, and painted one is on the right. I think that it's easy to see the big improvement.
There is a new bulb in both tail lights.
This is a night shot of the same light.
I still have to do the chrome Waffle backing plates, and the chrome tail light brackets. Can't afford to rechrome them, so I'll have to do the best that I can for now --
Any advice on that would be appreciated.
In another post, we discussed the fact that painting the inside of the tail light cones would increase brightness. Part I will show if that is true or not.
The first step is to remove the back side of the trunk material to get acess to the tail light buckets. This is best done with the tool shown. It's made to remove door clips. It's also a good idea to use plastic bags with for parts.
The tail light bucket assemby comes out the back end by removing the 4 nuts on the studs shown by the red arrows. On the 60, it was easy to acess 3 of the nuts with a socket, and the last one with an open end wrench.
Removing the remaining nuts will free the tail light assembly from the "Waffle" (checkered) back plate.
Notice that the tail lights have a TOP (shown by the green arrow). Also notice that the chrome tail light bracket has bottom drain holes (shown by the red arrows). The drain holes need to be kept to the bottom.
The next step is to separate the plastic lenses from each tail light cone. I used a sharp Xacto knife. Go VERY slowly, and take your time -- especially around each hole in the lens where the screw goes through. It will take about 3 to 4 passes with the blade before the lens separates.
In the next step, I used 220 grit sandpaper to lightly sand the inside of the cones. Then wipe it with paint prep cleaner.
I didn't want to use masking tape on 6 tail light cones, so I came up with a way to do it very simply.
I used an old broken tail light lens (you can use a tin can that fits). A burned out light bulb, and a rubber grommet from a tie rod end (available at Auto Zone help section).
Here is what the set-up look like after spraying with one coat of engine grey primer, and two coats of engine white gloss. I used engine paint because I felt that it would stand the heat alot better than off the shelf paint.
Next, I used a small screw driver on the bulb contacts in the socket, and used a good amount of Bulb Grease on the bulb. I also used Long Life bulbs (from Auto Zone).
So, was it worth it?
The original tail light is on the left, and painted one is on the right. I think that it's easy to see the big improvement.
There is a new bulb in both tail lights.
This is a night shot of the same light.
I still have to do the chrome Waffle backing plates, and the chrome tail light brackets. Can't afford to rechrome them, so I'll have to do the best that I can for now --
Any advice on that would be appreciated.
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