55.2-59 58-59 headlight bezels

[greystoke]

Gentlemen,

I thought I would order a set of chromed bezels for my 59 GMC from GMCPAULS, he only showed bezels for the 58-59 Chevy trucks which I thought there would not be a difference, they promptly emailed me to let me know that the Chevy truck bezels would not work for the GMC truck. I'm writing here to you guys who I consider much more knowledgeable than myself to verify this for me. Thank you!!

[_Ogre]

news to me. i thought the only difference was the core support and underpinnings. all sheet metal should be the same

[mr48chev]

Here is a GMC and a Chevy nose for comparison I'm like you and always figured that they should be the same.


The Filling station shows this one for Chevy https://store.fillingstation.com/det...IMSCHROME.html

LMC says they use the same fenders but Classic parts doesn't confirm that.

They are upside down on his page but Wes at Classic Heartbeat shows Chevy only https://www.classicheartbeat.com/pro...ght-bezel-set/

[paulspickupparts]

GMC and Chevy Headlight Bezels will interchange .

I see this so often in repo parts. Mis information is passed on to all the dealers and they all fall in line. I have found that many of the dealers have no idea what they are selling. Other than what the repo people tell them . Right or wrong .

So in 58 and 59 Chevy never used a chrome headlight bezel. They were painted white . That was true whether you had a standard cab or custom cab . Before repos came in chrome many truck owners would chrome their painted bezels for a little more bling on the front end. Not correct for a restoration but does add to the look and matches well with a chrome grille and bumper .

So in 58 and 59 GMC used a painted bezel on the standard cab trucks. On the custom cab trucks GMC (not Chevy ) used an aluminum bezel. They are super hard to find in any condition and even harder to find in good condition. They are fairly bright in appearance but not as bright as chrome. I believe they were anodized and not polished .

[greystoke]

Gentlemen I really appreciate the feedback. I'll try to educate the gal that told me they wouldn't interchange. This isn't a bad reflection on GMCPauls, I've never been disappointed with any of their products.

[mr48chev]

Thanks to Paul's pickup parts on our education for the day.

I wouldn't be too hard on the lady Greystoke. A lot of time they may not be working in the same building that the parts are in and sitting in a call center cubical somewhere. Some have little or no product knowledge. I called a somewhat local to me business on some off topic part a couple of years ago and as it was a 65 mile drive I asked if they could pull the part and have it on the counter when I got there and then found out that I was talking to someone in a national call center back east somewhere. They did give me a direct phone number to the parts counter I thought I was calling and I got confirmation that they had the part in their hand. I learned that from a Hay farmer who would call me from the middle of the hay field for parts for his bailer and I had to slap them on the counter so he could hear them hit the counter. That helped him know he could drive 20 miles to where I was working rather than 70 miles to the other dealer that had bailer parts.

[greystoke]

Appreciate the story Mr48Chevy!!

[mr48chev]

That hay farmer actually taught me a lot about being a good parts man without ever setting down and explaining anything.
He would call and say Get your Newholland _____ Bailer catalog out and go to page ____

I want numbers ----,----,--- and __. Go pull them and set them on the counter so you can make sure you have all of them. That taught me that when someone serious called I'd go pull the part then and there to make sure that I had it. When I went to work in a regular parts house that made points with some of the garage owners that did business with us.