How should I refinish my '67 tail light housings? I'm going to use chrome paint on the inside but am trying to figure out what to do on the outside. They appear to have been yellow chromated originally.

Not sure Hammered, if you mean "inside" as in the reflector area OK, but my outside originally appeared a flat/med. silver type finish. That's how I finished mine.

Dave: Yes, I'm referring to the outside part that can be seen when the trunk is opened. Did you paint yours? If so, what with?

Do the sheetmetal chrome pieces on the outside come off easily? I need to replace one that's bent.

John, all the ones i have physically come across have been as Dave described, although i have seen some in online pics that appear to have the cadium coloured look as you describe.
Bob, i tried to remove one on a spare i have to see how easily they would come off so i could polish my the ones on my set and i ended up cracking the lense.I think they would/should come off, but risky.

David

hammered
i powder coated mine and look awsomethey have chrome and you can only do the inside i did the whole thing and it will last for a life time

David, I assume they're crimped on somehow? Just carefully pry off then pop another one in place? I've got some spare assemblies but I'd rather not mess with replacing the whole assembly. I had a hard time getting it back in after I got the the car painted.

Both of mine were the flat silver look that Dave described. Both of mine are factory GM. One original and one replaced when I got tapped in the rear about 1970. When I cleaned them up a year or so ago, I found that the "Freshsteel" paint was about as close as I could get. The exact look is difficult to duplicate with paint. Here is what mine look like now: http://www.geocities.com/jims68fb/Trunk.html

When I restored my 69 I just glass bead blasted them lightly.

I just used the aluminum paint I had on hand, and it came up with a very close colour and sheen.

tail lite

Mine definitely have a yellow cast to them just like a quadrajet carb would except much lighter. I'm taking some stuff to get plated and will ask the plater what he can do, but will probably paint like Jim or Dave if the cost is prohibitive. Plus, I like the look that Jim and Dave got. Because the housings are zinc diecast, I'm hoping the plater can just etch them and directly yellow chromate them which is a very simple process.

Bob: On the stainless trim that surrounds the tail light lens, I carefully pried mine off to polish the lenses and the stainless. The plastic has some barbs that catch the stainless and I very carefully worked my way around them with a screwdriver raising them up a little at a time. I definitely would not attempt to do this with the lenses on the car. I may have a spare stainless if you need it.

Jim: Chrome powder sounds interesting, but the powder people are too far a drive for me here.

Thanks all.

John

John, how did you polish the lenses? Mine aren't too bad but if it can be brought up a bit I may try.

Dave,

It's real easy and you can do miracles with plastic polishing. Mine looked like they had been steel wooled and now they look new. Try some automotive paint polish on a terry cloth rag and then finish up with McGuire's plastic polish on a separate rag. If that's not sufficient, start with a automotive paint buffing compound and if that's not enough, start with 2000 or 2500 grit wet paper. Try to work in different directions. If that's not enough you should buy new lenses Do it all by hand (actually by finger). The hard felt bobs on a dremel tool will not work and could melt the plastic.

I had to start with buffing compound on mine and then went back and got a few scratches out with wet paper.

"Do it all by hand (actually by finger). The hard felt bobs on a dremel tool will not work and could melt the plastic."

Take that advise to heart. I wish I'd known that a few weeks ago.

Yeah those dremels spin fast and friction is an amazing thing (sometimes). I'll try it, I even seem to rem I have some of that McQuires stuff stashed away...

Just wanted to update everyone. I stripped the paint off the insides of my housings and took a picture:

You can clearly see that they are gold in color. My plater said that the finish is Alodine which is a product I actually have some knowledge of. It's a hexavalent chrome (the chemical that the movie Erin Brokavich was about) based corrosion inhibitor commonly used in the aircraft industry to protect aluminum and that has been banned in Europe. Anyway, I don't feel like taking the effort to find someone locally to do it so I'm going to paint them. Because everyone is used to seeing a grey cast finish, I'm going to go with a similar color.