Painting black stripe on 68 barracuda Grill,taillights,marker lights and taillights.

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Super-Cuda

MOPAR .. Move Over, Plymouth Approaching Rapidly!
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Hey Guys,

After much taping ,sanding and spray painting and not getting the result I wanted, I discovered the most amazing and easy way of refinishing the black stripe that is painted on the various trim pieces of my 68 Barracuda. I used a semi-gloss black enamel paint and thinned it out a little. Then, I used a syringe from an inkjet refilling kit to apply the black stripe to the areas that needed refinishing. All you need do is make sure the part is relatively level then apply the paint by gently squeezing the syringe plunger as you move the length of the part you are refinishing. It will flow out very smoothly and will give a factory finish result. After hours of trying other methods, I tried this and it took all of 5 minutes to do my tail light lenses. Let dry for 24 hrs. before moving parts.
I thought I would share this as it will save an enormous amount of effort for anyone who has gone through this process.

Hope it helps somebody out...

Here's some pics of the results.

Finished Tail light Lenses
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Syringes available from Staples or Princess Auto in Canada

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Great tip !! The evolution of restoration is still evolving. Thank you for posting this.
 
WOW! Those are the nicest 68 tail lights Ive seen. So you "painted" the entire tail light all at once?
Thanks for sharing.
I redid 67's with black vinyl trim tape(im my resto thread) still pretty tedious and corners are a pain.
I got spare sets im gonna practice on.
So the paint was out of a can initially?
 
WOW! Those are the nicest 68 tail lights Ive seen. So you "painted" the entire tail light all at once?
Thanks for sharing.
I redid 67's with black vinyl trim tape(im my resto thread) still pretty tedious and corners are a pain.
I got spare sets im gonna practice on.
So the paint was out of a can initially?
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I did mine w/ a small paint brush, never thot of your method, looks great ! new lenses ? I`d really like some new lenses and door handles for mine. I even thot about glass beading the housings and painting them body color, but am afraid to, in case it wouldn`t look good, since they are almost "unobtanium" now.
 
Thanks for the comments guys and here is how I proceeded.
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I took the complete taillight assembly apart. Then I sanded the white backup lens with a fine foam sanding pad and then, sanded it again with an ultra fine pad. I then cleaned it with thinners (go lightly with this !!) and, then I polished it with a glazing compound.
With the complete lens apart I used rubbing compound followed by a polishing compound and finally, I waxed the red part of the lenses. I then reassembled using all new gaskets form Detroit Muscle Technologies. (Great people to deal with BTW.) I painted the inner bezel area with a bright silver paint and polished the outer housing with a regular compound , then a fine compound and then a finishing glaze and finished up by waxing the outer chrome.
I read on here about fixing the screw holes using JB weld so I did the same. Very important to wrap screws with white plumbers tape so the JB Weld doesn't stick to the screw threads!!
Also, if there is any browning of the plastic on the inside surfaces from screw rust or any other discoloration, address it while the lenses are apart as the brown color will show up on the exterior side when you reassemble the parts. ( Learned this by trial and error!!!)
I don't think they came out too bad for 50 year old parts!

Hope this helps!!
 
WOW! Those are the nicest 68 tail lights Ive seen. So you "painted" the entire tail light all at once?
Thanks for sharing.
I redid 67's with black vinyl trim tape(im my resto thread) still pretty tedious and corners are a pain.
I got spare sets im gonna practice on.
So the paint was out of a can initially?
Yes, but I used some reducer to thin it out a little , then I scuffed the surface with a red pad and then applied the paint. The trick is to make sure the part is level so all the paint dries at the same depth.
 
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I did mine w/ a small paint brush, never thot of your method, looks great ! new lenses ? I`d really like some new lenses and door handles for mine. I even thot about glass beading the housings and painting them body color, but am afraid to, in case it wouldn`t look good, since they are almost "unobtanium" now.
No, the lenses are the originals that came with the car.
 
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