I am in the process of refurbishing my headlights and I have two questions.

1. Are there early and late headlight buckets? I've got two different kinds. Which is which?Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

2. Should I have these pieces powder coated? I cleaned off all of the rust and now is the time to either primer and paint or find a powder coater.Click to view attachment

Thanks.

George

I think the first bucket is an early version.

Maybe powder coat.

[quote name='partwerks' date='Oct 15 2021, 05:26 PM' post='2952815']
I think the first bucket is an early version.

Maybe powder coat.
[/qu]ote

Given the exposure these get to the elements I would go powder coat. Just make sure your powder coater knows to plug the pivot points or you'll spend hours cleaning those out to fit the bushings.

Thank you everybody.

Powder coating it is!!

Early vs late

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...mp;hl=Headlight

Thank you for pointing me to this earlier thread. It was very informative.

George

Here’s a video on installing them which may come in handy…

https://youtu.be/lx5tKgLG-_k

Thank you. I will definitely refer back to this when the time comes.

George

I got a quote from a local shop.

$350 to powder coat the headlight buckets (4 pieces) and the pedal cluster parts.

$75 to zinc plate and yellow chromate the pedal cluster springs and the gas pedal lever thingy.

$120 to chrome plate my two fog light reflectors.

Does that seem high? They also have a 2-3 week turn around time so they must be busy.

Thanks.

George

Crazy high for the powder coat. I imagine they are just sending to a powder coat company and charging $300 for the privilege.
The other two are hard to get done on the east coast so you do pay. PMB can probably do the zinc plating for less, especially if you prep with a wire wheel.
Chrome plating is expensive no matter where you go.

You already cleaned up the buckets. Paint them and they will be good for another 50 years.

Agreed on the PC quote. My local shop would do a job like that for less than $100.

OK. I got a second quote of $275-$300 to powdercoat the parts in these two pictures.

Two part headlight mounting rings (4 pieces) Top of pictures
Fog light retaining bezels (2 pieces) Right side
Pedal Cluster Parts (6 pieces)
Brake Pedal
Clutch Pedal upper and lower parts
Pedal Cluster Bracket
Bearing Tube
Clutch Pedal shaft
I am not including the trunk springs because I'm not sure the powdercoat would flex enough. Let me know if I'm wrong about that.
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Does that seem right? Eventually, I want to powdercoat my engine tin, suspension control arms, steering cover plate, etc. So this could get very expensive.

Thanks.

George

It’s expensive but a lot of these shops want big production orders that keep their guys busy for days.

50 parts don’t take much more time than 1 so do as much as you can in one batch.

914rubber offers both late and early springs for the front trunk. Just buy new ones.

@GeorgeKopf
That seem very high to me. My guy charges about $10 per part for blasting and powder coating.

I think I'm going to have to learn to do my own powdercoating.

@GeorgeKopf

I zinc plate the circled parts.
I then powder coat the housing and clutch pedal and mask the threads.
If you powder coat the clutch tube and clutch shaft you will not get the bushings to fit. If you want me to gettje parys powder coayedi think it will be about $50. I get parts done every week.

It's very easy and if you can find an old electric oven, pretty inexpensive.

Eastwood has a hoome system that works great. I've been powder coating small parts myself and showing the process in some of my videos.

I did a little research and supposedly an electric smoker is a great oven for powder coating. They are tall, slender, light weight, well insulated and can maintain the necessary temperatures . I found a used one on craigslist for $100 and purchased the Harbor Freight powder coating kit for $74. I'll post pictures when I have something to show.

@bdstone914
Bruce, Thanks for the tips. I would definitely have screwed that up.

Wear a mask so you don’t breathe in the powder. Buy some silicone plugs so you can keep the powder out of the holes and threaded parts.
Powder coating is very rewarding. Spray, bake and as soon as it’s cool, it’s usable.

Here is my first attempt at powder coating. I was a little too conservative in my application of the powder and had to give the pieces multiple coats.
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I bought a used smoker on craigslist for $100 and the Harbor Freight powder kit for $80.
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And here is my cardboard painting booth. I hang the tray from the top of the booth and hang the parts on the tray. They I just slide the tray into the booth.
Click to view attachment

One cavate is that my oven/smoker only gets up to about 300 degrees. To compensate, I've been heating the parts for 40 minutes which seems to work pretty well.

George