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I just bought some 63 taillight lens. They are fomoco and look like NOS. They do not have the clear back up light lens center piece or the chrome fins inlay. I noticed there are 4 small nuts inside the lens to hold the center lens in place. These have red centers. So I'm wonder if I can take the back up light (clear lens) out of my old 500 lens along with the chrome fins and put them on the NOS lens?? Or maybe just the clear part? Anybody ever tried this?
I'll post some pics if I can make it happen. May be a little while.
Last edited by g-man (January 15, 2015 1:39 pm)
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I tried this today and the chrome fins from the 500 or xl will NOT fit the custom/300 lens..the one w/out the backup light. It would have been nice to swap out for the better lens The center clear lens of the 500/xl will not interchange into the 300/custom lens. The 2 lens are very similar but the custom lens does not have the little notches in the outer edges for the fins to fit into. Also the red center part is molded into the outer lens so after you take off the chrome you see that the whole piece is just one part. (unlike the 500) I was able to use the gasket inside the custom lens to go around the small glass back up lens in the center of the 500 lens. The 4 studs in the center line up, and the outer holes line up with the bucket. So i you want to delete your back-up lights you can switch out the entire lens. The back-up light in the 500/xl come out by prying the metal socket out. line up the notch in the bottom when you go to shove it back together.
Last edited by g-man (March 1, 2015 3:06 pm)
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one thing you notice right away is that the 500/xl lens is much heavier with the glass lens and the metal ring in the center that is the receiver for the back-up light plug. It's possible that the fins are for reinforcement for this extra weight. I wouldn't say its impossible to switch the lens but you'd have to cut the red center out of the custom and cut small slits in the edge to accomodate the fins. Prob would need a special plastic cutting heated knife.
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Any chance you are looking for the correct replacement lenses so you can still use the back up parts?? If so I am 99% sure I have what you are looking for.
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I'll try some headlight polish on them to see if I can get the dull look out of the lens. I will probably just reuse them.
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g-man wrote:
I'll try some headlight polish on them to see if I can get the dull look out of the lens. I will probably just reuse them.
I'm sure you can polish your lenses to get them looking good. Another trick I've seen for restoring faded and cracked plastic lenses is to spary them with clear coat. You can fill the cracks with light coats and give the final srface and nice shiny covering. You could also flatten out the clear to get a less shiny finish if you wanted.
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I'll try some headlight polish on them to see if I can get the dull look out of the lens. I will probably just reuse them.
If you change your mind, let me know. I purchased about 40 lenses as a big lot from a seller on ebay about 5 different years worth and would sell you a set for cheep.
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Ok. Thanks. I will keep you in mind.
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