Tail lights - blacked out chrome or not

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Joined
Nov 5, 2010
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Location
Flint - Michigan
My Car
1973 Mustang Mach 1 - Q-code auto - Medium Bright Yellow
Okay, here's a new one that I can't seem to figure out. I seem to rembmer in my early days that I scratched off the black covering off of my rear tail lights for some reason or another. Most of the 73 mustangs in totally restored condition have the all chrome ones. Very few that I've seen have the black covering. Any ideas???

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03_1973_Ford_Mustang.jpg

 
The black is supposed to be there on the 71/72 but the reproductions come not painted. See below for item descrition from OMS

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Item #D1ZZ-13450

71-73 TAIL LIGHT LENS AND TRIM - Tail lamp lens and bezel assembly with Ford oval, in lens. Bezel is anodized aluminum and heat welded to the lens just like the originals. Correct for 73, but to be correct for 71-72, you must mask and paint black the inner edge of bezel. Reproduction.

*Ford oval and numbers SAE-TSIAR-71MG in lens.

Price: $89.95

©2003 Ohio Mustang | Contact Us | Legal Notices


A little more history of the changes for 73

1973 would mark the end of the first generation of the ponycar. The Mustang had gained 575 pounds and was over a foot longer. Mustang was destined to undergo an extensive change in design for the 1974 model year.

The 1973s were unchanged from their 1972 counterparts, but there were some differences to distinguish them. The front grille size and shape remained the same but the plastic egg-crate mesh was larger and mounted further forward. The pony and corral lost the horizontal bars but the shorter vertical ones returned. A new vertical parking/turn signal lights were mounted at each end of the grille and the entire area was surrounded by bright trim. Headlights fit into fender extensions and were housed within a chrome, rectangular bezel. The taillight bezels were bright metal. To meet government five-mph impact standards, the front bumper was fitted with a color-keyed, urethane impact-absorbing system and the rear bumper was mounted further away to comply with impact regulations.

The Mach 1 received a new bodyside tape treatment and a three-quarter vinyl roof was optional on the Mach 1 and other SportsRoof models.

Engine availability was unchanged from '72. The Hurst shifter with four-speed transmissions used a round knob rather than Hurst's T-handle.

Total production : 134, 867 units. In all, a total of 10,820 SportsRoofs; 11,853 convertibles; 25,274 Grandes, 51,480 hardtops; and 35,440 Mach 1s.

 
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As Roy (TNFASTBK) inferred, the '73 tail light bezels are supposed to be bright. That is how they differ from the 71 - 72 bezels which are supposed to be black.

I have one (1) of each on my shelf and can attest to both having the exact same part number. I do see that the "black paint" on the 71/72 bezel was peeling in places. Maybe your car was built in late '72 and received the black bezels and you removed it when it started to peel?

Hope this helps.

BT

 
Okay, Tnfastbk, you say that the tail lights are supposed to be non-black for 73 but the picture above that I posted was directly from a dealer brochure which clearly shows that a 73 has the blacked out tail lights. I'm thinking that there is some other threshold for getting the blacked out tail lights. Like maybe if you got the hood stripe you'd get the black tail lights.... More research.

Thanks to all that weighed in.

Dealer brochure.jpg

 
Okay, Tnfastbk, you say that the tail lights are supposed to be non-black for 73 but the picture above that I posted was directly from a dealer brochure which clearly shows that a 73 has the blacked out tail lights. I'm thinking that there is some other threshold for getting the blacked out tail lights. Like maybe if you got the hood stripe you'd get the black tail lights.... More research.

Thanks to all that weighed in.
Not sure on the picture but if you look close at it it looks like they do not match. The one on the left is all black and the one on the right has a chrome stripe between the lights. hmmmmm will have to dig some more

 
TNFASTBK is correct

All 71-2 had black out

All 73 were anodized aluminum, no black out

Don

 
I found several pictures of high quality 1973 restorations. All had no black on the bezel. haven't found any unrestored pictures yet. Ford printed some things that changed by the time production began (ex. 1971 Boss 302 with mag star wheels.). Don at OMS has taken apart more 71-73 Mustangs than anyone I know as well as restoring several. Having said all of that, if you want the black, use the black. It is your car. Good luck.

Chuck


Look at bkelly post from today 73 q code restoration. There is a video showing the tail lights of his unrestored 73 Mach 1.

Chuck

 
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Well gonna stick with my original post of 71/72 with the black and 73 without the black. I can find nothing to suggest anything different. That is unless someone finds something to prove otherwise :D

 
I am the original owner of my '73 Mach I (original 351CJ car) and it does NOT have the black bezels on the tail lights - - it has the bright one.

ALL the documentation that I have identifies that as being the way it should be.

Hope this helps.

BT

 
Concur on the blackout years. None of the '73's I've ever owned (7) had blackout taillights, however one -did- have chromed fender extensions and hood molding.

 
Okay, I conceed. It looks like Ford artists embelished a little when getting ready to print the 73 dealer brochure. I happened to have run across Eric Helm's original low milage 73 Mach down in Charlotte back in 2003 right after he purchased it. The rear lights are not blackened. But I did take a lot of pictures of his engine compartment to use it as a reference...

Thanks to all who weighed in on this one...

DSC02653.JPG

 
Do you have a larger version of this picture? What is it from, the brochure?

attachment.php


 
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Okay, I conceed. It looks like Ford artists embelished a little when getting ready to print the 73 dealer brochure. I happened to have run across Eric Helm's original low milage 73 Mach down in Charlotte back in 2003 right after he purchased it. The rear lights are not blackened. But I did take a lot of pictures of his engine compartment to use it as a reference...

Thanks to all who weighed in on this one...
Not anything to do with conceeding :D Its all to do about learning. Thats one thing I enjoy about this site I usually learn something new daily. Or what I thought was correct was not in a friendly way.

 
Okay, I conceed. It looks like Ford artists embelished a little when getting ready to print the 73 dealer brochure. I happened to have run across Eric Helm's original low milage 73 Mach down in Charlotte back in 2003 right after he purchased it. The rear lights are not blackened. But I did take a lot of pictures of his engine compartment to use it as a reference...

Thanks to all who weighed in on this one...
Not anything to do with conceeding :D Its all to do about learning. Thats one thing I enjoy about this site I usually learn something new daily. Or what I thought was correct was not in a friendly way.
My 73 Mach,that I bought in September of 73 has the bright trim.I agree with Hemi and the others.It was a 73 only thing.My car was built on Decemeber 14 of 1972.That would be the middle of the model run.Seems like most of the changes to them happened after December,especially on the Q codes from what I have been able see.But the tail light trim remained the same.

Mustang 1.jpg

 
Okay, I conceed. It looks like Ford artists embelished a little when getting ready to print the 73 dealer brochure. I happened to have run across Eric Helm's original low milage 73 Mach down in Charlotte back in 2003 right after he purchased it. The rear lights are not blackened. But I did take a lot of pictures of his engine compartment to use it as a reference...

Thanks to all who weighed in on this one...

I would love to see the rest of the pics of this car it looks pretty sweet.

 
OOPs I guess mine are wrong... as are most things on mine. I love Mustang car shows where some "expert" has to point out everything "incorrect" on the car. They do not realize some of us do not care how Ford did it. :D

BTW here's the pic I said I'd post about a month ago.

IMG_1634.JPG

 
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OOPs I guess mine are wrong... as are most things on mine. I love Mustang car shows where some "expert" has to point out everything "incorrect" on the car. They do not realize some of us do not care how Ford did it. :D

BTW here's the pic I said I'd post about a month ago.
Well put, Jeff. If what we do to our cars makes US happy, then I believe we've been successful.

Doc

 
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