Taillight Restoration Questions

[Spitty1974]

So, I did look at several threads and also checked the Bentley, and I can't seem to find an answer to my questions. BTW, there is a ton of taillight threads!

Are the top and bottoms of the taillight housings to be bent as they are in the pictures below? Or, are they to be flat? I do not have the bus with me to check fit them at this moment.

Does anyone know if the Wolfsburgwest or any other taillight reproductions work well with original lens and trim rings? I have NOS lens and Rings I want to use, but my housings are pretty trashed.

Has anyone ever attempted to restore an original set of housings? I was thinking I could tape them off, sand blast the rusted out chrome area and repaint them with some chrome style paint, if reproductions won't work with my NOS lenses and rings.

Thank you for answering my questions.

[Lind]

[EverettB]

No, those are tweaked from being overtightened.
They should be perfectly flat.
I've never had good luck trying to flatten them back to perfect but they were fine flattened as best as I could since the seal sort of compensates for a minor curve.
I usually ended up on the hunt for nicer buckets instead.

I have painted other tail light buckets with chrome paint in the past and it was ok and they looked shiny.

I don't know if reproduction are interchangeable but that is a good question.
They should be but you never know.

NOS bucket I have for my Bus:

It's Bay Window with the ground connection but same idea - My original '63 bucket looks almost the same, with only a little curve from past owners
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[busdaddy]

I've gone a step further and lined the reflector with tin foil, or foil tape, "just like brand old".

You can likely press out most of the bend in a vise using wood blocks or a socket as a back up, but I'd be surprised if you ever got it completely flat again without removing the bucket from the housing first. How far do you feel like diving in?
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[BonTonRoulet]

The housing is the scourge of VW at the time: Pot metal! You can try and bend it back into position but more than likely it will split. At which point it's the JB Weld on the backside to the rescue. For the reflective portion of the housing I just used a wire brush to get the scaly stuff out and after taping off the pot metal housing applied some chrome paint, a couple coats. Worked just the same as my chrome painted front turn signal housings, made things much brighter than they had been in a long time!

The REAL fun begins with reinstalling the taillights with new rubber seals. Depending on if you are right or left handed I found the process of putting the rubber on the housing then into the bus to work on one side, and perhaps putting the rubber into the bus and then fitting the housing into the rubber on the other side equally satisfying or frustrating. But in the end it's not that big of a deal and very gratifying!

[Spitty1974]

Thanks guys for the help, I appreciate it! I was able to straighten the bends out of them and they are pretty flat. And, they didn't crack...I guess I got lucky, sounds like they usually crack.

Quick Question:
What was the finish on the pot-metal? Was it always just raw metal? It didn't appear to have any chroming on it at all. I hit it with some 0000 steelwool, but was wondering if it was shiny originally, or always dull raw pot-metal? I might put some clear over it to protect it.
The marked up area on the picture below is what I'm asking about in terms of the metal finish.

I taped the pot-metal section off and blasted them. Then I hit them with some Etch Primer. Next will be some regular primer, and then some chrome paint.

Any suggestions on a brand paint that makes a decent Chrome paint that is somewhat reflective?

Pretty straight compared to what they were.

Blasted the rusted out chrome sections.

With Etch Primer

[busdaddy]

Well done!, looks much better. I have no suggestions for paint, all the ones I've tried sucked.
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[BonTonRoulet]

Looks good. I used Duplicolor automotive metallic high gloss chrome in a rattle can, probably from O'Reilly's and was happy with how it turned out. Looks like you'll need to remove the paint from around the bulb holder socket area of your housing or you won't have a good ground connection to the bulb holder.

Good Luck!

[BonTonRoulet]

[EverettB]

[Spitty1974]

[BonTonRoulet]

Yep, that's the tab that leans against the bulb holder to complete the ground circuit. You might want to bend it towards the center just a fuzz and make sure you clean the spot on the bulb holder where that tab lands/leans against.

Looking good!

[shanks]

Looks good! I am doing the same thing with my OG housings. Mine too are dull grey outside of the chrome in the dished part of the housing. My question for the masses is on the bulb holders. Mine are broken and not reuseable. Anybody know of a source for the bulb holders?
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[ToolBox]

[Spitty1974]

Here is a follow-up. I ended up using the Krylon Premium Metallic Original Chrome Paint, and had good results with it.

I ended up painting the backs of them black to match other items in the motor area. I know they were probably raw metal, hence why mine were so rusty on the backside. I left the pot-metal natural. Eventually, I'm going to switch over to LED flat panels, or LED bulbs depending on how these reflect with a standard bulb. I shined a flashlight on the chrome I painted, and it was reflecting the light. I'll let you know how reflective they are once hooked up.

Below are a few pictures of the chrome paint and finished buckets.

A picture of the chrome paint on the inside of the holder.

A picture of the two backsides painted black along the pot-metal.

A picture of two of the taillights front and back.

[busdaddy]

Looks pretty slick!, nice work!
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