I know the white headlite surrounds aren’t everyone’s cup of tea & the body shop guys
probably know this already....
I was cleaning up a set i purchased here in the classifieds,
someone did a decent job of putting “appliance” white paint on them to get rid of the
yellowing tobacco stained look. I was going to paint them again. So I grabbed my
orbital palm sander with 220 grit and began scuffing the paint. Well some just flaked off easily. I turned up the speed and applied a bit more pressure and was able to remove all
the paint. I noticed some areas went back to their original “plastic” white.
So with a bit more pressure I was able to erase all the yellowing. Returning them back
to original white. I thought it was cool.
I think I’ll clear coat them just to avoid any bug juice from bonding to the raw plastic.
Just thought I’d share.

Love the white.

Dion...that came out really good....yeah that blue 914-6 GT is just fantastic

They turned out good. Now finish the rest of the car!

I would have to agree with the white camp!

Nice tech tip as well!

MB

Looking good.

A couple on deck. Natural and painted.

I purchased my first 914 new in 73. The surrounds were not bright white, but an off white.

The middle pair and the ones on my car are painted, The other two pairs are natural.

I think I painted my white ones black in 1974..
Cut the snowplow rear valance short around
the same time...

I tried a white set on my black car, and didn't care for the look.

I wish I hadn't have sold them now.

I like the white too at least on some cars/colors - Mine I'm pretty certain 'were' white, now painted black. May try to restore them back to original someday...

I have an March 1974 with black surrounds. They are original white, but painted black.
Is it right for 1974.

I believe from the Porsche books I have read, the change over to black was in 1974.

From Dr. B. Johnson book:

From an 2006/7 thread: "Light Mechanisms, A little tinkering today..." started by Eric at PMB, some discussion of paint brands and colors for the white headlight surrounds: "Valspar 55409 "Vanilla". Special plastic enamel. Color is an exact match. I spent hours trying to clean them up with everything in the book. I took the worst set I had and tried this stuff (I have a couple more sets). The result is what you see."

Unfortunately, it looks like the Valspar is NLA. A later post in that thread mentions Krylon Fusion "Satin Dover White." I think that's what I finally used on my car:

Click to view attachment

I may still have the spray can on the shelf....

Is it right that the white surrounds just were painted black.
Mine is white but painted black

Sorry for my English :-)

Actually we have made and will be having a GB on these shortly.

We discovered that the original color is a white. The plastic actually yellowed over time. They are also textured just like the black. That is how you can tell if they have been repainted. I suspect that the factory went to black as they were starting to notice signs of yellowing.

No. Black ones are black all the way through. White ones were often painted black by the owners.

Thanks Dion....its kind of like a RED Head, takes a little work to see if shes a natural

I was my own DAPO and painted my white
ones black around 1974...
I bought a new set from 914 Rubber in the original
Group Buy and they look great...

Aftermarket exhaust, steering wheels, rear valence, side mirrors, wood dash, cattle prodder bumper guards, hood emblem, etc. The list goes on and on.

Mine had an aftermarket muffler on it when I bought it.
It also had the Wood Dash and the Amco Bumper Guards
but they were dealer installed options at Delivery.
I cut the rear Valance...... (DAPO) again
And I had the hood badge removed when the car was repainted.
Still have the original steering wheel and mirrors on it though...

Hey, at least you didn’t Chalon a six. It’s been done.

So the conclusion is that mine March 1974 has had whites surrounds from new

I'm pretty sure they were black from '73 on.

This is the right one from my 1974.

Tonny due what is aesthetically pleasing to your eye.
If you are building a concours car or just want it correct for your year
they “should” be black. There are always anomalies as the factory used up
parts at hand.
Cheers