Headlamp "door" coloring

Hi All,

If I wanted to be a stickler for originality, has would i know what color/part number my headlamp doors were (originally). Black on the headlamp doors could have faded to grey albeit unlikely since the grille is still black. If I understand the chart (pic), i'm either the 1st or 6th row for an 1981 with black grill?



I'm not sure if i'd like black, but I can't rationalize it since the grille is black. What do others have?

Rustoleum satin black. Need to do the grill, masking takes forever.

This was one of the first things I did to my truck - black rustoleum plastic spray paint.  Careful masking yields very rewarding result.  It's been a few seasons and no issues with fading or chipping.  Make sure to also mask and blackout the trailing edge where it meats up with the hood seam for both the buckets and the grill molding.  Blackout screws as well.  

If your signature is correct and you have a 1981 Ranger XLT, it would not have had a black grille originally.  The Ranger XLT trim would have had a chrome grille, and the headlight doors would have been chrome trimmed with Argent paint.

The black grille would have only been available on the "Freewheeling" model for 1981.  And the headlight doors for that grille (and the standard painted Argent grille) would have been chrome trimmed with black paint.

LARIAT 85 wrote

If your signature is correct and you have a 1981 Ranger XLT, it would not have had a black grille originally.  The Ranger XLT trim would have had a chrome grille, and the headlight doors would have been chrome trimmed with Argent paint.

The black grille would have only been available on the "Freewheeling" model for 1981.  And the headlight doors for that grille (and the standard painted Argent grille) would have been chrome trimmed with black paint.

Hmmmm well I looked up the freewheeling package "A", and I have most of those things. Still unsure of what the sport wheel thing is - at first I thought it was the wrapped steering wheel (which i have) but it is more likely something to do with the 4 wheels now that I think about it (times like this and a Marti Report would come in handy). The PO "upgraded" to hideous rims so I dont know what was original for wheels other than they were 16.5inch. It's like peeling away the layers of an onion haha.

Dont know if it is right for my 81 Custom or the 81 Ranger but I did my doors & grille in dark cast iron

To me it looks like the Argent grille color.
Dave ----

I'm impressed with how simply painting them looks so good! I might try that instead!

Plus, i thought i found a company that had a bunch of hard to find parts, but when I called them, not only do they carry new and NOS without the user knowing via the website (not super helpful), it also lets you add parts to your cart that they may no longer have .

My truck came with headlamp doors that were dark charcoal gray, I think. My grill however, was argent/chrome. I much prefer the black in the doors and a black/chrome grill.

Painted mine black, was argent previously. Just needed brightening up a bit. I like it.
Before

After

Looks good!  How hard was it to mask the grille?  

And, did you replace the Ford name plate when you painted the grille?  It looks darker in the 2nd pic.

Hi Gary, yeah fitted a new badge that I had kicking around to pretty it up.
It took a long time to mask everything. Just took my time with a lot of patience.

Alan

Looks like you got one of the later badges, which are a bit darker than the Bullnose badges.  But, they are available for about half the price of a Bullnose badge, and few know the differences so that's what I'm doing as well.

As for masking, I asked because John/Machspeed and I were talking about that yesterday.  The grille on Big Blue is all hacked up on the back because  decided he wanted to put the massive engine oil cooler on the wrong way 'round.  It isn't obvious from the front, but can be seen.

That grille is dark in the egg crate, but I have one in better shape that is light in there.  So I'm thinking of painting it, but it looks like a huge pain to mask.  John said he opted to buy one rather than paint his.  Of course, in the UK that's less of an option due to the price.

Gary,
I had trouble locating the proper earlier grill emblem when I did mine and had to use the newer/darker one.  Can you share where to purchase the proper earlier one please?

Thanks,
Troy

Here's an excerpt of a recent post of mine:

There are two versions of the oval that I'm aware of that fit our trucks:

Original: These are marked E2TB-9843156-A and are part number E2TZ 9842528-A.

1987 & later: These are marked E7TB-9843156-AA and are part number E7TZ 9842528-A

You can see the differences in the two in Rusty's post here.  And while the E2 version is more "correct", Big Blue came to me with the E7 version, so I'd be happy replacing it with one of those.

And now to answer your question - I don't have a good source.  I did quite a bit of research and came up with this on Amazon: Genuine Ford F2TZ-9842528-A Nameplate.  But in spite of Amazon saying it'll fit my '85 I'm very sure it won't, although I haven't canceled the order yet.  As John/Machspeed pointed out, the reviews say it won't fit and the dimensions are wrong.

So, back to the drawing board, and all of the early ones I found were something like $75 plus shipping, and the shipping was significant.  So, since the one that was on Big Blue when I got him was the later badge I ordered this one: E7tz9842528a Name Plate Oem Ford.  And in spite of Amazon saying it won't fit, I know it will as it is the same one that I took off Big Blue - and damaged.

But, if you find a good source please buy a few and then let us know.  

I like the dark gray best.  I did mine that way as well.   Figured it's 40 years old and on mine exact restoration isn't a necessity.   The masking takes a while, for sure.   I also misted the recesses on my chrome bar grille and then wiped the paint off the chrome with lacquer thinner.  My chrome is pretty bad to start with.   Just wanted to look a little better.  

Blacktop wrote

Painted mine black, was argent previously. Just needed brightening up a bit. I like it.
Before

After

Say, I like that too.  

My truck has chrome/dark charcoal headlight doors and a chrome argent grille.  That is how Ford did it, but after looking at your truck, I think I might have to paint the argent recesses of my chrome grille black to match the headlight doors.