headlight trim rings

[gashog]

Are the trim rings for the front headlights interchangeable?
I'd like to swap my 73 for the better looking 72 style.
:confused4:

[73 Centurion]

Nope, the 73 is a completely different set up. The 73 front end was designed to have more depth to work with the 5mph bumpers. The grille sticks out farther on a 73 than on earlier years.

The 73 headlight housings are very prone to pitting.

Anything is possible with time and effort, but it's not a bolt in change.

John

[gashog]

Thanks for the reply.
I have a nice local shop that polishes chrome cheap.
They did a whole box of motorcycle parts for $70.
The pitted aluminum and chrome came out looking brand new.

[Phil Genario]

Nope, the 73 is a completely different set up. The 73 front end was designed to have more depth to work with the 5mph bumpers. The grille sticks out farther on a 73 than on earlier years.

The 73 headlight housings are very prone to pitting.

Anything is possible with time and effort, but it's not a bolt in change.

Johngood call john! the chrome on the 73s did not hold up well at all. i can remember the cars when they were 2 and 3 years old, as a neighbor had a 73 lesabre coupe , as a kid i used to wax the car for her, the car was a low mileage garaged car and i can remember how badly the headlight bezels were pitted, and the bumpers were even getting the pepper haze to them. fortunately the headlight bezels on my 73 were replaced with near perfect used originals. i have 1 extra that came with the car which i assume is the original and its pretty ugly! the front bumpers excellent, but the rear has the light pepper haze on the top surface. not a good year for chrome.

[73 Centurion]

Polishing will usually not fix these bezels. The pot metal below the chrome has begun to oxidize and the chrome flakes off in little chips.

It will make them look better for a little while.

To truly fix these the chrome has to be stripped, the pot metal ground smooth, any oxidation removed, any pits filled with copper, then replated with chrome. Once that's finished the area below the headlights needs to be repainted to match the car and flat black painted in the false grille area below that.

It can all be done, it's just a matter of $$$$.

The headlight bezels for Centurions had more grille teeth below the headlight than the Electra or LeSabre. It's easier to find bezels for Electra and LeSabre in good to excellent shape. I've never seen a Centurion headlight bezel in good shape for sale so I'm using a pair from an Electra. Only true Centurion fans will spot the difference.

In the future (when I'm rich enough to blow the money) I'll have my originals redone. :laugh:

John

John

[gashog]

The last good looking cars are the 72's.
I don't know who the designer was, but 73 has some ugly versions on all the car lines from gm and other manufacturers also.
Maybe we need a thread of the ugliest cars of the 70's?
:o

[gr_speedy]

I personally love the 73's........they look richer, it took me quite some time to find again a 73 (in good condition AND in my budget). My first one ( the black one) and my second (Colonial Yellow) are both 73's. And yes the bezels they pitt easily.

[Phil Genario]

The last good looking cars are the 72's.
I don't know who the designer was, but 73 has some ugly versions on all the car lines from gm and other manufacturers also.
Maybe we need a thread of the ugliest cars of the 70's?
:owhat you need to look at here is the total picture. look at all american cars from 1973 forward. what you see is one big massive pile of "government imposed S--- !" first lets look at gm , you have the bumper issue, yeah theyre not pretty,but it wasnt the car makers fault... it was the government breathing fire down the car makers backs and asses.how can you possibly make a peice of steel that had to protrude 8 or more inches out the front and then wrap around the sides x amount of inches possibly look nevermind pretty,but lets use palatable for example.id say its impossible or nearly at best. then you had the rollover issue which applied to the mid size cars. thicker roof panels , no more open rear quarter side windows, so out comes the mid sized colonades of 1973, boasting safer rollover standards and improved visability, i say just plain ugly. add the big bumpers to those cars and you have one mighty pretty automobile,huh?but the car makers all saw this coming and you figure if they do the designing 3 or so years in advance , and what you see is obviouslythe best they could possibly do, you know it was an ugly situation all the way around. the funny thing is that the mid sized rollover standards never ever materialized and fell to the wayside. think of the phenominal costs of tooling for this big hoax.that was why the gm colonades were designed in the first place! ford, chrysler, dodge, plymouth mid sized cars were unchanged for 73,so were the other carmakers wise to this issue?was general motors gearing up for something that never happened?or did the other car makers just try to buy more time to see what would happen?who the hell knows.thank the government for it!im not saying what im going to say just because i love buicks,but if you look at all the full sized gm cars of 1973, buick by far did the best job,by far they still looked like buicks, the rear bumpers didnt look like the front bumpers and and buick actually held on to the use of die cast the longest.awhile ago someone in the forum stated that the centurion was dropped before its time. i dont find that at all to be true. i think it went out in a blaze of glory... yeah they took away some of its identity ....obviously to cut costs! but what did the centurion have to look forward to.... lets see, a v6, a thickly padded landau top,14 inch wheels, the hideous 74-76 roofline, the hideous chevy -buick front and rear end on the75-76 lesabre.or maybe even a "centurion luxus,or even limited!"i say the centurion left the building while the audience was still cheering!

[heavycenturion]

John,

Good info!! I've got really badly pitted bezels on my 73 Conv. Centurion. What years Electra will work on my car.. I will start looking for some.

Thanks
Dennis



Polishing will usually not fix these bezels. The pot metal below the chrome has begun to oxidize and the chrome flakes off in little chips.

It will make them look better for a little while.

To truly fix these the chrome has to be stripped, the pot metal ground smooth, any oxidation removed, any pits filled with copper, then replated with chrome. Once that's finished the area below the headlights needs to be repainted to match the car and flat black painted in the false grille area below that.






It can all be done, it's just a matter of $$$$.

The headlight bezels for Centurions had more grille teeth below the headlight than the Electra or LeSabre. It's easier to find bezels for Electra and LeSabre in good to excellent shape. I've never seen a Centurion headlight bezel in good shape for sale so I'm using a pair from an Electra. Only true Centurion fans will spot the difference.

In the future (when I'm rich enough to blow the money) I'll have my originals redone. :laugh:

John

John

[centurion 455 ragtop]

John,

Good info!! I've got really badly pitted bezels on my 73 Conv. Centurion. What years Electra will work on my car.. I will start looking for some.

Thanks
Dennis

John is correct in his reply post. The bezels are different. Slightly but different, but they will fit. The vertical ribs accented in black at the base of the bezels are an inch spaced apart from each other on the Centurion. This spacing matches the spacing on the upper and lower grills. (see photo below) On the Electra the spacing is about 2" apart. I would figure if you get a matching pair of bezels from an Electra only a knowledgeable Centurion eye will catch it as it. Otherwise they are a bolt on replacement.

But if you use one from a Centurion and one from an Electra it does become noticeable that they are different to the average eye.

So if all else fails, get a quote on a re-chrome pair of Centurion bezels, then compare it to what you will pay for an excellent or very good pair of '73 Electra bezels. If the cost difference is not much, well in my opinion I would have the original ones re-chromed, but if it is a large cost difference, then I would use the '73 Electra bezels and hold on to those old Centurion ones as a spare.

[EEE]

what you need to look at here is the total picture. look at all american cars from 1973 forward.

What happened to that 5mph no damage rule? These days the cars can't even take a fly landing on them, and all the plastic junk flies everywhere.

[centurion 455 ragtop]

My guess is weight and money.....your money:D

Those bumpers weigh around 200 pounds:eek: So if you remove it and replace it with more energy "crumble" zones you save weight and saving weight gives you better fuel economy. The new cars do just that....they crumble to absorb the energy of the impact, the by product is a costly repair on a minor fender bender...hence I say, "your money";)

Back around 1989 while driving my '73 Riviera, it was late at night and there was actually no traffic, I slowed on an entrance ramp with a small Toyota Corolla in front of me also slowing. I glanced over my shoulder saw it was clear not a car in sight, and saw the Toyota starting to merge too, so I hammered it:confused4: BUT the idiot in the Toyota decided to come to a full stop to take a second look after he started to merge. Well:eek: Let's just say I plowed him sending him into the middle of a 4 lane highway.
His car was wrecked, total rear end damage. My Riv.....:p NOTHING!!!!! NO damage at all!

In the end there was no injuries, I just let my insurance handle it. Even though the guy caused it I still rear ended him, my fault...live and learn for next time. It is what it is:rolleyes:

But it was funny to think back that the Riv which has that same front end which that huge bumper did it's job. Man they sure don't build 'em like that no more.

[Robroy]

Interesting when you say that the 73 headlight housings are very prone to pitting :confused:.

I was amazed over the good shape mine were in when I bought the car. Guess they can have been replaced sometime during the years, on the other hand all those dings on the painted lower part indicates they have been on the car for many miles or maybe even since new…

[The German]

Dennis, here are some for the right side:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NOS-1973-Buick-RH-Head-Lamp-Door-Le-Saber-Centurion_W0QQitemZ370148997465QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item370148 997465&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A543%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-73-BUICK-LESABRE-CENTURIAN-HEADLIGHT-BEZEL-TRIM_W0QQitemZ120366244158QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotor s_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item12036624415 8&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Ask the sellers whether they have the other one too.

Good luck !

[dewbers]

I was just bidding on a pair for my 72 a few weeks ago... but I was out of town when the auction ended. I lost them (right and left side) for a lousy $.50 each. Yes, .50 cents... I was not and am not happy. I bet one of you turkey's got them from me!!! :(

So, the search goes on...

[73 Centurion]

That's the entire premise of an auction. If your the second highest bidder it will always sell for just a little more than your bid. That tends to piss people off and they resolve to bid more aggressively.

That's why the most expensive items are usually near the end of an auction.

I was watching the auction for the NOS 1973 Bezel and it was a wild ride. It was $36 with 1 minute left to go and the spiking began. It finally sold for $152.50.

That's a bit more than the last estimate I had for getting my original bezels rechromed. That estimate was a couple years ago and is probably obsolete.

It was asked what years will fit a 1973 Centurion. There are 2 years: the '73 and the 1973. :D

You can use bezels from a LeSabre, Centurion or Electra. Any body style. The 73 bezel mentioned above is the first one I've seen on eBay that has the tighter spacing on the bottom. The first one in around 15 years that was not pitted.

I used a pair of NOS Electra bezels, that I got for around $50 for the pair.:xyxthumbs:

John

John

[dewbers]

I know how it works John, I just don't like it! Had I been around, I would have been able to bid again... I used that auto bid option, but put my max in and I guess I put it too low, considering what you just said these things can go for. They sold for under $20 a pop. That kills me... But, I've know one else to blame but myself. (my Mother's voice is ringing in my ears as I type this!)

I love the avatar John!

[heavycenturion]

Steve,

I've got a beautiful pair of 72 bezels I don't need.
They have no pitting that I can see.

Are you interested?

If so, call me.
770-337-0296
Dennis