I stole these pictures from Chooglin’s parts for sale thread but that’s ok;). I found a mint set of tail lights off an 88 Thunderbird Sport at the local Pick and Pull. When I got home I noticed they were slightly different than the tail lights on my 88 Thunderbird LX. In the areas I circled on the lights below my Thunderbird has black paint. The tail lights I purchased from the Pick and Pull and the ones from the car Chooglin is parting out don’t have this black paint. I’ve noticed that 87 and early 88 Thunderbirds have this area blacked out but later cars do not (the Sport I pulled parts from was built in June of 88). Any idea as to when/why this change was made? Like I said the areas I circled are black on the tail lights my Thunderbird has. They came like this from the factory as I know the previous owner (my dad’s cousin) never made any changes to them.
Normal wear and tear. The paint flakes out of the area.
Hmm I'll have to look the ones I bought over again for any paint remains. The paint is fine on the tail lights on my Thunderbird.
Anyone else notice how those are very similar to the 85-86 Cougar tails?
the 87 parts bird I stripped had the smoked plastic on them..I remember because I took them off and said "thats pretty cool"… cant remember if I still have them or gave them away
Yea the paint flakes off I just re did my a while back
X2 on paint flaking off. All the ones I've encountered were in some stage of paint loss.
Pretty stinkin' easy to restore, as well. Clean, mask, and repaint.
So it's kind of rare for these to still have the factory paint? These two sets (the ones for sale and the pair I have) are the first I've seen without the black paint intact.
Out of all that I've seen I would say so
I hated seeing my white paint through the corners looks so much better painted
I've never noticed any flaking before
Neither have I. The ones I've got never look like they were painted. Perhaps some of them weren't? I mean the thing should have some paint remains.
IIRC some had paint and some didn't. There was a discussion about this on the NATO board some time ago. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason why.
Hmm. Supplier difference or a change late in the model run perhaps. I like them better with the paint.
I knew mine didnt have paint on them