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Mon Mar 24, 2003 7:58 am

I am restoring my headlight buckets and want to repaint them. Does anyone know what color they are? A color code? These look sort of greyish... Not sure if that is the original color or just an OLD color?
Thanks.
Rich

Mon Mar 24, 2003 9:33 am

Rust-Oleum gloss light gray. At Home Depot. Really.

Mon Mar 24, 2003 3:03 pm

Would it make a difference to use a bright white to improve visiblity, 6Volt system?

Mon Mar 24, 2003 9:08 pm

I don't think the white will help much, the headlight lenses are responsible for directing the beam.

Mon Mar 24, 2003 9:37 pm

i did mine in crome powder coat i think thay look great

Tue Mar 25, 2003 6:27 am

Krylon Stone grey (Satin finish) because rust o leum sucks. I think the semi gloss finish looks most factory.

Tue Mar 25, 2003 11:38 pm

Tremclad Aluminum

Sun Mar 30, 2003 3:42 pm

Check the Wolfsburg West website for paint codes for your year. It has everything from the black colour of brake pedals etc. to the body colour. It should have the headlight bucket grey. Justin in Victoria.

Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:00 pm

Bringing it back for a variation on the question. My buckets appear different colors inside the lense area and on the back side where they look like the beige/grey. Before I get the paint matched tomorrow I just want to clarify it should be the beige/grey color all over. I am assuming the inside looking almost white is due to sun bleaching of the paint. Can anyone confirm. Thanks.

Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:21 pm

Rally wheel silver on the inside.

The outside of the buckets are different colors depending on the year (the left bucket from my 58 is pictured)

Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:29 pm

Thanks for the clarification Neil. I was obviously referring to my late model buckets :roll: ....Sheesh you early split guys. :wink: :D

Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:14 am

1 - Reference the outside of the bucket. I have a couple pairs I wanted to get color matched. The later push terminal set I have are a darker different grey/beige than the earlier screw terminal set. Has anyone had either of these color matched to provide a code. My local Sherwinn Williams on carries a metal enamel in gloss or satin and doesn't have the satin in stock (I really need a flat), and my local auto paint store (Finish Master) can't color match because the bucket isn't flat enough for their camera, and I don't have a spare to hack up and press flat for the process. Any help would be appreciated.

2 - In regards to the blue paint/ink stamp that references the part number,etc. of the outside of the bucket. Has anyone reproduced these, and if not can someone with the knowledge/resources assist with some information on how it should be done. I noticed this also varies from early to late. Thanks again.

Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:39 am

Major Woody wrote:
Rust-Oleum gloss light gray. At Home Depot. Really.

bmx2c4me wrote: Krylon Stone grey (Satin finish) because rust o leum sucks. I think the semi gloss finish looks most factory.

Of course my local Home Depot does not carry either of these. I know this is an old thread, but wanted to know if anyone had a (current) source for either of these paints?

Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:23 pm

Snoop Bob wrote: 2 - In regards to the blue paint/ink stamp that references the part number,etc. of the outside of the bucket. Has anyone reproduced these, and if not can someone with the knowledge/resources assist with some information on how it should be done. I noticed this also varies from early to late. Thanks again.

If you can get a rubbing from it on tracing paper it would be possible to darken the printed area by hand and have a rubber stamp made. I did this for a stamp to reproduce the SIGLA mark on glass. It worked OK. If you blow it up, do the filling in and then reduce it back down it looks better than doing all the work at the original size. Good Luck and let us see what you come up with!

Sat Jan 05, 2013 5:45 pm

On my '59, the passenger side was original and near perfect, so I left it alone. I used Wolfsburg West "Chrome" L-91 on the driver's side, which had leaked and rusted a little. Side-by-side, the WW "Chrome" was 99% identical to the original passenger side. Installed, they looked exactly alike.

Of course, if you are painting both, you can be a little more varied in the "exactness," relative to original.

Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:27 am

Stone Geay in satin is not even remotely close:

Wed Dec 06, 2023 12:43 pm

I found the Krylon Smoke Gloss Grey to be a decent match to original primer. It's a bit glossy, but the color is close.

It could probably be baked at 300' for an hour to reduce the gloss, but I never bothered.

Wed Dec 06, 2023 2:10 pm

Stocknazi wrote: I found the Krylon Smoke Gloss Grey to be a decent match to original primer. It's a bit glossy, but the color is close.

That’s WAAAAY better. 8)

Thu Dec 07, 2023 9:53 am

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=119187

-before going too nuts reinventing a subject...

PS- the discussion here is about headlight assemblies. Your headlight bucket is always lower body color.

Mon Apr 15, 2024 5:44 pm

localboy wrote: Stone Geay in satin is not even remotely close:

looks like its different paint