Restore my headlight bezels

[jlmerie]

I have a really nice pair of headlight bezels for the squarebody trucks from 1973-1978. I want to detail them some for my 1978 GMC. I know the center of some of these was painted black, but these never were. I want to keep the clean look of these but I need to do something with painted centers. Does anyone know what I can use to repaint these to keep the factory silver look?

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Tape it off and duplicolor argent silver i believe
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[xrcr]

I'm doing the same thing. I've got 1 finished and it looks good just don't know about the durability. I bought summit argent silver. It's too freaking hot to do the other one right now

[jlmerie]

When I looked at the Summit Argent silver they say it is a gloss finish. Is that the correct finish? That does not seem right to me.

[truckfan]

i am holding an original brochure for 1977. depending on the picture, some look silver and some look black. mine on my truck appear to be a faded black. any experts?

[1774btcrew]

My 1977 was all original and had argent. The problem with just spraying them is that the paint doesn't hold like the originals and flakes off. I am a body man by trade so I properly prepped them. The area to be painted was sanded, masked and then cleaned with wax and grease remover. They didn't last 2 months before the paint started flaking. My next option is to mask and bead blast the area to get some adhesion. I hope someone has found something easier that works!

[xrcr]

I would say the Summit goes on as a semi gloss it's not real shiny. I'm also questioning how long they will hold up

[crewcabsquared]

Use an etching primer over the scuffed/wax&grease removed bare metal. Then come back with your argent silver. The etching primer I use (ppg or Crest) will even stick and last over chrome.

[1774btcrew]

Originally Posted by crewcabsquared

Use an etching primer over the scuffed/wax&grease removed bare metal. Then come back with your argent silver. The etching primer I use (ppg or Crest) will even stick and last over chrome.

I had considered etching primer but at the time only had the baby puke green and just knew how bad it would look if it chipped off.

[WarBeard]

73-74 were black the rest were silver.

[Junqueboi]

Originally Posted by motomech

73-74 were black the rest were silver.

I'm not so sure of that. My original '78 GMC Sierra Classic has black painted bezels and I'm the second owner.

[WarBeard]

73-74 = Black
75-76 = Argent silver
77-78 = Dark gray Metallic.

[truckfan]

so, i have the hard copy of this 1977 Chvy trucks brochure in my hand and the crew cab looks silver and the Blazer and the 1/2 ton with wagons (very cool BTW) looks black. optical illusion?

[jlmerie]

So I took the advice and ordered a spray can of Argent Silver. It arrived and I tried it out on an old headlight bezel I have. When I compare the new argent silver paint to the old original painted bezels I have, the argent silver looks much more gray than silver. Comparing the two side by side it is very obvious. I feel sure the original bezels had not been repainted since original. Anybody else tried this?

[Junqueboi]

Originally Posted by motomech

73-74 = Black
75-76 = Argent silver
77-78 = Dark gray Metallic.

Maybe I just need to have my eyes checked, LOL. I thought they were black with some fading but evidently I was wrong. What's your source of info (if you don't mind me asking)?

I tried to attach two pics of two of my trucks: the silver/maroon one is my '78 while the silver/gray one is my '79. Notice how black the bezel inserts appear to be.

[WarBeard]

I have been searching Says "New front end appearance"

[WarBeard]

I think the "Dark grey metallic" often gets mistaken as Faded black.

Also guys! I am not 100% positive on this so don't be getting all mad at me.

[motornut]

my 78
Dark grey metallic ....yup could be

[DirtyLarry]

A couple years ago when I had my truck apart for a NV4500 and hydroboost brake swap I had the grill out while plumbing a p/s cooler. I figured it would be a good time to get rid of the totally awesome 80’s tube grill and go back to a stock grill since everything was off anyway. I went through the same issue trying to figure out what color to paint the grill and bezels. In my case I first painted the grill and bezels with Summit Racing Argent wheel paint but everything looked too bland and dull so I repainted everything with satin black which I think looked a lot more appealing. It may not be the OEM appearance for this exact truck but it looks cool and comes very close to matching the appearance of the “Sport” model trucks of this year.

Sorry for the poor pictures but the truck was still in surgery at this time.

[WarBeard]

The Black does look a lot better to me. I also like how you painted the grille.

[R&K's71]

Very clean looking DirtyLarry what paint did you use for the head lighr bezels

[THE "10" SILVERADO]

I don't know if it's just luck or not but I used regular krylon satin black on mine about 5 months ago and I still don't have any problems with paint flaking. I just cleaned and scuffed them before painting, I didn't use any de-greaser or primer.

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by R&K's71

Very clean looking DirtyLarry what paint did you use for the head lighr bezels

You know, my buddy and I ran across this really awesome implement oil-based paint a few years ago at our local farm store called Van Sickle. This stuff is the bomb! Cheap too! I've been a huge fan of it since the first can. I swear you can paint over a greasy ball bearing right out of a rattle can and it won’t fisheye or anything. It is darn near as good as powder coating. It sticks great and never peels. I use their satin black paint on everything. Frames, axles, bumpers, and even grills and bezels

[R&K's71]

looking to paint mine black as well i ll gets pics up as soon as i get them done