65 Taillight Buckets

[LeeFred]

I'm in the process of cleaning the taillight buckets on my 65. They appear to be original. I have recently read that it is better to paint the interior of the buckets a flat white instead of gloss as it reflects more light. I'll get that figured out. What have you folks done to the part of the buckets that stick inside the trunk...do you paint them or leave them bare metal. And if you paint them, do you go body color or a silver/cast/aluminum paint?

 

[65Fastbackman]

I'm in the process of cleaning the taillight buckets on my 65. They appear to be original. I have recently read that it is better to paint the interior of the buckets a flat white instead of gloss as it reflects more light. I'll get that figured out. What have you folks done to the part of the buckets that stick inside the trunk...do you paint them or leave them bare metal. And if you paint them, do you go body color or a silver/cast/aluminum paint?

I had always left mine bare metal but now they are covered by carpet

 

[Horseplay]

Unless you are concours type of guy, I suggest painting any bare metal part like that to keep things neat and clean. Whatever color works for your situation.

 

[MyFirstCar66]

He means the inside of the bucket, where the bulb goes.

Yes! Painting the inside white reflects more light - BUT if you use LEDs, use RED ones in any case.
White light is still present from regular bulbs and more of it gets sent back through the lens to be filtered to a red frequency, including light coming in from the outside.

 

[LeeFred]

He means the inside of the bucket, where the bulb goes.

Yes! Painting the inside white reflects more light - BUT if you use LEDs, use RED ones in any case.
White light is still present from regular bulbs and more of it gets sent back through the lens to be filtered to a red frequency, including light coming in from the outside.

Both inside and outside. I will paint the inside, where the light is, white, and was also asking about the outside of the bucket - where it sits inside the trunk and the wiring is hooked up.

 

[Russstang]

Mine are bare but I like the idea of painting body color.

 

[Jonk67]

Mine were in good shape so I just cleaned them up. A spare pair I had had surface rust/ pitting so I painted them aluminum silver or Ford Argent silver on the backside (trunk), whichever can I had enough left in... Matching the interior trunk color would work too.

 

[67DropTop]

I'm in the process of cleaning the taillight buckets on my 65. They appear to be original. I have recently read that it is better to paint the interior of the buckets a flat white instead of gloss as it reflects more light. I'll get that figured out. What have you folks done to the part of the buckets that stick inside the trunk...do you paint them or leave them bare metal. And if you paint them, do you go body color or a silver/cast/aluminum paint?

Flat will scatter or diffuse the light. It won’t reflect more, but it will look different.

 

[MyFirstCar66]

Both inside and outside. I will paint the inside, where the light is, white, and was also asking about the outside of the bucket - where it sits inside the trunk and the wiring is hooked up.

Natural / galvanized always looks nice and correct on the originals inside the trunk.

 

[bartl]

I "dunked" mine in EvapoRust overnight, rinsed and dried, masked the socket and sprayed with a high aluminum-solids paint.