Can anyone confirm whether the original headlight bezels on the F-1 were pot metal or stainless steel. The pair that came with my truck are pot metal and I tried to get them rechromed but one of them wasn't in good enough condition to be used. I trying to decide if I should look around for another good pot metal piece or buy a pair of stainless steel ones.

 

They are stainless on my '49.
Mark

 

Don't know that I've ever noticed one made of pot metal.

 

My '51 f1 has one of each! The pot metal one is pitted, stainless one is perfect. It will be a long time before I'm ready for it, but I'll be on the look-out for another stainless piece.
Geoff

ct50f1......I just looked on the Ford and Mercury truck parts for sale/swap thread (top of page).....
Looks like mike-rogers of Texas might have what you're after.

 

tiger100, raytasch, 49fordv8f4 thanks for your responses. I'm thinking I'm going to give up on the pot metal and look for a pair of stainless that I can use.

 

Geoff, I looked through the ads but I couldn't find the one you mention. Can you tell me when it was posted? Thanks.

 

Go to post number 117 in the ..https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...and-parts.html

 

Thanks, I found it. I was looking in the Marketplace. Didn't realize there was a For Sale / Swap thread.

 

B5CZ-13064-A .. Headlamp Door - 1957/63, 1964/72 & 1973/79 Ford Truck Parts Catalogs say "Chrome" / Obsolete

1948/55 all Conventional, Panel & COE trucks / 1948/52 F3 Parcel Delivery / 1953/77 P100/500 (P Series Parcel Delivery).

EAST TEXAS AUTO AIR & GLASS in Longview TX has 1 = 903-753-0089.

CARPENTER NOS OBSOLETE PARTS in Concord NC has 1 = 800-476-9653.

NOS PARTS LTD in Waxahachie TX has 2 = 972-937-2201.

MCDONALD OBSOLETE PARTS in Rockport IN has 2 = 812-359-4965.

GREEN SALES CO. in Cincinnati OH has 8 = 800-543-4959.

 

I've had at last count 18 '48-52 trucks, mostly '48-50 and have never had one with pot metal headlight trim, all were stainless except for the few '51-52s. Funny thing is I was just talking with a fellow FTE member who told me one of his trucks had pot metal pieces. I thought might have been after market pieces but he was sure they were stock pieces.

I would assume if there were after market pieces made it would have been cheaper to cast them in pot metal than to make die set up to stamp them.

 

At some point did they make pot metal because of the Korean War?

 

Probably not, because of "Korean War chrome."

Since there was very little copper & chrome available, auto makers were forced to plate nickel onto bare steel, then sprayed clear nitrocellulose lacquer on to protect it.

The lacquer soon turned brown, began to chip off, rust began.

 

Mine were pitted and the chrome was peeling as you can see from the picture, but I don't think that they were pot metal.



I cleaned, sanded and then painted them white to match the grill. If I were to do it again I would powder coat them. Eastwood has a new chrome powder that is pretty good but still not quite as shiny as chrome but very durable. But you could do any color you wanted with powder . . . purple See my Eaton P/S pump and the fabbed pump bracket.




The other alternative is to send them to Dan Gokey. He uses the Cosmichrome process. He did my heavily pitted Ford Emblems and rare F-2 logos and they turned out great. Note in the video that Cosmichrome can be tinted also.
But if you are just want to keep a stock look it would be cheaper to just buy new SS bezels from LMC, Macs, etc.

 

Before I made the decision to try and re-plate the pot metal ones, I had ordered the S.S. reproduction bezels from Dennis Carpenter but I returned them because I didn't like the quality. They were made in China, of course, had sharp edges and seemed a bit dull.

I have a S.S. buffing kit from Eastwood that I got years ago when I was restoring the brightwork on my '31 Model "A". It's worked well on the other pieces on the F-1 so I'd like to try it on an original pair of S.S. bezels. My guess is that they'll end up looking nicer that the reproductions once they're restored.

 

I like stainless, I wish al trim was stainless. Easy to clean up and straighten if it gets a ding or two. You just have to take you time.