Greg

I never really paid attention to this detail before but I've noticed some early original tail lamp housings were painted white inside while others (later) were just the natural metal finish. Does anyone know when this change occurred?

AllC34Me

I don't Greg, but would like to hear the answer myself so I am "in".

David

oldgto

Not sure what year you`re discussing, but the buckets on my early 71 car were the plain metal finish.

Alan 71

Hi Greg,
As far as I know the original 68-72 tail-light housings all had a somewhat unusual white coating on their inner surfaces.
This 'paint' appears to be quite heavy bodied and had just a hint of iridescence to it.

There is some discussion as to whether the lens gasket was in place when the white coating was applied.

Another detail to be aware of is the fiber 'wick' that each housing had to help evaporate the moisture that might be trapped in the housing.
Regards,
Alan

The housings appear to have first had a galvanized coating on them.




The 'wicks' don't always seem to have been put in the 'right' place.

Easy Mike

They were white on my 68.

Greg

Thanks Alan, I hoped you'd chime in. Yes, the white paint is almost iridescent (when clean). The ones I've seen with the original coating appear to have been painted with the gasket installed, which does seem odd. You said 68-72, do you mean '73 was a stand alone then in the natural galvanized finish or did you just forget to include it? If you meant 68-72 then that answers my question. I see most of the reproduction housings are finished without the white paint.
Agree too, the wicks, while almost always missing, weren't always in the most efficient spot for function.
Thanks for the input.
Greg

Alan 71

Hi Greg,
I left 73 out because I'm not sure about those used during the 73 model year.
I'd THINK that those housings too would have the white coating in them.
Regards,
Alan

loup68

My original 68 housings were white, also. They also had longer threaded studs. Lou.

Alan 71

Hi Lou,
I think the studs were long because the some of the studs had 2 nuts on them.... the ones that also had a ground connection from the rear lighting harness.
Regards,
Alan