73 Dart Sport - What kind of gaskets go around the taillights?

[65s]

The taillights on my buds 73 were put in with caulking. What should be there?

There's the inner plastic housing, then the red lens, then the body of the car, then the chrome bezel. Is there foam between the plastic housing and the red lens? Or just foam between the lens and body of the car? Anything between the body of the car and the chrome bezel?

I found this photo on ebay which shows a large white gasket...is that right? Anything else under there?

 

[66dartgt]

The gaskets used on the tailights are foam, what type Im not sure, some sort of closed cell polyethlyene I think. They come attached to new lenses, which is what I used on mine. If you have none, use some type of foam, just as long as it is weatherable and closed cell, and moderate density. I put mine on with the correct foam gaskets and smeared some of that blue urethane greasy sealant on the face where it contacts the body from the inside. I cant remember the correct name of the sealant but its used for pipe flanges and its water and solvent resistant. It never hardens either, which is fine since it will be trapped in there any way. Hope this helps !

 

[65s]

yes, thanks.

Is there any kind of gasket between the chrome bezel and the body of the car?

 

['74 Sport]

When I took my '74 apart to strip the paint, there was nothing between the bezel and the body. Although, I did want to seal off the holes where the mounting studs penetrate the tail panel, so I used some of that putty rope like that used to seal camper shells on a pick-up bed. For the white foam gasket between the body and the lens, I picked up some similar stuff in the weatherstrip section at Wal-Mart.

Jerry

 

[66dartgt]

Regarding the bezel sealing, originally mopar used a white foam gasket that surrounded the bezel studs, about an inch or so in diameter. This is much like the stuff used on firewalls for the steering column and master cylinder, where they connect or protrude through the firewall. Hope this helps.

 

[65s]

What you're talking about sounds very much like the white foam around the studs on the rear tail panel piece of my '65 Barracuda. It was shot, so I replaced it with some other foam stuff that was sticky on one side. Thanks a lot for the help!

I'm helping my friend with his '73 Dart Sport (B5 Blue/B5 Blue) and the taillights are my responsibility to clean up and put back in.

 

[66dartgt]

Let me know if you have any more questions. I have a 73 340 dart sport B3 ext B5 gut, folding rear seat, 4spd that I completely restored. They are pretty simple cars like any of the A bodies. The only really odd thing about these cars and their duster counterparts are the tail light assemblies, mostly from the aspect of the way they mount to/thru the body.

:thumblef:

 

[65s]

Thanks a lot! It's my buddies first Mopar and although he has a computer he can't see type too well to read it, he's got screwy eyes (color blind...can only see black and white and shades) but man can he see paint on a car! He can tell you which way the guy was holding the sprayer when the paint went on. He can see paint thickness whereas we might just the bright color! It's really strange. So anyhow, I'm doing the footwork while he does the welding!