68 Side Marker Light Gaskets

[jeff68]

Were there originally rubber gaskets between the marker light bezels and the body, or was there only the foam gasket between the plastic light housing and the body?  I checked the AIM, but it didn't show the gaskets at all.

Background: 
I have my original foam gaskets.  If I install the lights with only the foam gasket, they fit nicely (but I'm worried about the bezels damaging the paint).  If I install with the foam gasket and the rubber gasket, it looks like I'm going to really have to crank down on the nuts to get the bezel to sit flush against the body.  The situation gets worse if I use new foam gaskets.  I'm trying to avoid any distortion around the side markers.

[vtfb68]

The rears had the foam gaskets to seal the trunk, The front did not have a gasket at all (no reason to seal the front frnder, and thats why they are different sizes and part number). If you can, re-use  ALL the original gaskets.... They fit proper. There is nothing worse than looking an a nice car and seeing the cheap hard gaskets sticking out of the doorhandles, miror, tail lights  and side markers.  Most people don't notice these things, It kills me.
 Jeff, Do your side marker light bezels have black paint in the valleys?
    Victor

[68camaroz28]

The rears had the foam gaskets to seal the trunk, The front did not have a gasket at all (no reason to seal the front frnder, and thats why they are different sizes and part number). If you can, re-use  ALL the original gaskets.... They fit proper. There is nothing worse than looking an a nice car and seeing the cheap hard gaskets sticking out of the doorhandles, miror, tail lights  and side markers.  Most people don't notice these things, It kills me.
 Jeff, Do your side marker light bezels have black paint in the valleys?
    Victor

All of the originals I have looked including ours have/had the black paint in the valleys. Assume Jeff you have the orig. bezels as Victor hit on a very important point, that being the front bezels have a different width (thinner) and GM stopped making the thinner front bezel I believe in 1970 or not too long thereafter.

[jeff68]

I was wondering why I only found 2 original foam gaskets, now I know why.  Thanks.  Just to confirm, all 4 bezels should get a rubber gasket, correct?
I have all of my original bezels, they have the black paint, but they aren't in very good shape.  The bezels that we are trying to install are all the same part number.  I bought them from GM back in the mid 1980's.
I guess I need to decide if I'm just going to install the bezels I have, or send the originals out for chrome.

[vtfb68]

Jeff,
 Thanks for the response. What trim level is your car?  The factory only installed the FOAM gaskets under the rear bezels, The rear bezel was thicker to compensate for the gasket. If the NOS's are loose in the front you may need to use a spacer/gasket, but please trim as needed. Did you repaint or are you detailing? I faced the same thing, but went with the shinny but micro-pitted originals becuse they match the rest of the car's chrome. If you do a re-chrome you  may want to find some other originals to chrome becuse i dont't think the rechromed bezels will be as finely detailed in the corners and edges.
  Good luck,
    VT

[jeff68]

My car is a L30/M20 with the Z21 style trim group.

So, there was only a foam gasket on the rears, no rubber gasket at all between the body & bezels?  The car was recently repainted, and I'm working with the shop on reassembly details.  We talked about mounting the bezels directly against the body, but the body shop doesn't want to risk any damage to the paint (and I don't blame them).  I have a set of rubber gaskets from the 80's that were on the car for a while.  They are slightly thicker than the current repro gaskets and seem to fit better.  The shop is going to install these.  And, yes, the plastic lights are loose if no foam gasket is used, so we'll need to use the foam gaskets on all 4 lights.

My originals don't have much pitting, but the chrome is very dull, and the bottoms of the rear bezels have been heavily 'sandblasted' from 160k miles of debris coming off the back tires.  I had thought about using them, but they just aren't nice enough.  I know what you mean about losing the details when re-chroming.  I have a top notch chrome shop fairly close, so I will probably end up eventually rechroming the originals.

[vtfb68]

Jeff,
  Nice car, I love original cars. Just be carful with the reassembly, The "Camaro" emblems are also installed with out gaskets. I asked about your trim level to determin if ALL sidemarker lights have the black highlights, old original cars are hard to come by even here in LA. Be sure they reinstall the last Clips for your botton chrome of your winshield, They hold the outer ends of the trim tight to the car. They are hard to place/fit so lazy shops will bypass them, a single screw holds the clips and the bottom of the clip, or a empty hole will be located a few inches above your top door hinge. ( it could be hidden by a piece of weatherstripping coming down the front of the door.) 
   VT

[jeff68]

My car is a convertible, so I don't have the clips at the ends of the bottom molding. 
Thanks for your help.

[68camaroz28]

Jeff, we had our front bezels re-chromed and they look great so I'd have no concerns if we had to do the re-chrome thing again. Our's like yours were in excellent condition but not for a restored car.