The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Understanding Headlight Rubber Seal Pain Disease

So how many times have you heard the story about those troublesome reproduction
headlight bezel seals and poorly made spring clips?
Seems to me I’ve heard it from about everyone that’s replaced them. Well now its my
turn and I’m the one that‘s doing the “whining”, using a favorite term of some people,
which I assume means just suck it up and quit complaining about the garbage that the
vendors are selling us.
I was fortunate because my original spring clips were in great shape, basically just some
dirt and what not blown up behind, no problem with rust and no need to use the
reproduction spring clips which are usually a pain also.
But I sure was doing battle with the reproduction rubber, trying to talk it into staying in
place on the flange when I put the clips on, they kept pushing the rubber out over the
flange, and they still do. I’m thinking that there are only two ways to solve the problem,
one is to make new rubber seals myself that fit properly and the other is to make clips that
grab a larger diameter seal. I’m still debating which way I’m gonna go with this one.

The reason is once again, a miss made, miss formed rubber part. The original rubber is
much smaller and fit’s the center reinforcement wire almost like it’s formed around it.
The reproduction part has a large hole in the center probably so it was easier to thread the
wire into it. And the result is that it’s to large to fit behind the flange and wants to roll
over the edge when the spring clip pushes down on it.

Top clip not fitting oversized rubber seal:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/138419306
Bottom clip not fitting oversized rubber seal:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/138419307
Rubber seal improperly copied, round cross section to large to fit behind and into the
back of the bezel:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/138419308
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Someone please say amen...... AMEN
Denny, I understand perfectly well. Yep, I had/have the same problem myself. Surely someone can do better. The problem is PLAIN for anyone to see..... I'm stopping here. My blood pressure is already going up thinking about it.

Denny, I feel your pain, I'll be watching this thread with interest.
Don't get me started on the POS clips either!

I (stupidly) donated my original trim rings and clips to a friend a few years back as I'd always intended to replace the rings.
There were no dents but just had 60 years of patina.

Little did I know at the time that the trims were stainless and could easily be polished/restored to their former glory.

As they say,you live and learn........

I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t throw a little $^%& into the game now and then, would I?
Here is a picture of the original 1950 headlight bezels from my truck. During chrome
plating something like this has to be hung on a rack while it is suspended in the plating
tanks. The area around the hook often leaves a spot where the base does not get plated.
That’s what you are looking at here. It clearly show that the base is brass and you can
see the copper layer with the chrome over it. So, at least for this year, the bezels were
chrome plated brass, not Stainless.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/138430447/large
Because they are not attracted to a magnet I believe it is often mistaken for SS.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I stand corrected Denny,I suppose even the chrome was better quality back then,and at least they fitted properly!

The ones I had weren't too horrendous,even if they were chrome.
I would happily trade them for the ones I have now.

Don't throw in the towel quite yet John, they may still have been Stainless.
I don't have one of the reproduction moldings here but I do believe they may be SS since
it requires less operations.
I have an original '54 rim here that is magnetic but I don't believe they would have used
magnetic or martensitic stainless because it's quite hard and would not be the best choice
for forming a headlight molding.
This lead me to believe that the rim is steel and chrome plated. But I see no blush spots
where it was hung from a hook in the plating bath on this rim. Also I see no rust or pitting
anywhere either which seems odd for a 57 year old part that has sat out in the elements.
Also the color is different than the typical bluish tint that chrome typically has.
Sooooo, it is possible that it’s an annealed series 400 SS.
DG
Here is a compairison of the two moldings: http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/138446049