Headlight assembly restoration.

Cougar Community Classic Cougar Maintenance Restoration and Repair
1

Since I have my front end completely disassembled, I’ve started to restore my head light assemblies and I have a few questions.

  1. I have a few cracks in the inner grille toward the center. Has anyone used Muggy Weld to repair them?

  2. Which finish should I use should I use for the black paint: flat, satin, semi-gloss? Anyone have a favorite brand of rattle can black?

  3. The upper seals on my headlight motors are worn out but my diaphragms are still good. I found replacement seals here, but their shipping charges for four pieces of rubber is outrageous. Does anyone else sell them?

  4. The chrome is in good shape. It just needs to be polished. I’ve been using Simichrome and it works pretty well. Does anyone have any suggestions on polishing chrome or any favorite brands of polish?

Thanks in advance.

2

I used a black satin, which I think looks quite close to the original (sorry, don’t remember the brand). And, note that the headlamp grille “box” is painted with a higher gloss paint. Also, when I cleaned my chrome up, I used OOOO steel wool to get rid of the grime first, before polishing them with Mother’s metal polish. I like Simichrome too, and I’m sure it will do a great job. By the way, to preserve the argent paint on the sides of the vertical chrome pieces, I carefully taped them off first before painting, and carefully cleaned up any overspray with the OOOO steel wool.

P.S. I have not yet restored the grille on my dark green '68 in my avatar photo – it’s still original.

3

Thanks, Dennis. I didn’t know that was argent paint on the sides of the chrome. I thought it was oxidation and grime!