Silver argent tail panel

[YellowThumper]

Very helpful pictures Thumper; thanks!
I see that the bumper filler pieces are argent as well; I've seen a few argent tail panel cars on the internet with the bumper filler pieces black.


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your welcome and yes, all the fillers are the same color. Might look ok on a darker color car but definately not on mine.
No need to have those kind of things become the focal point.

[dodj]

I painted mine black to make them stand out. I like the way they contrast with the white and chrome.
If memory serves, they were not originally argent though. Just grey. Darren can probably confirm or deny the accuracy of my memory.

[Burdar]

The three rear fillers were painted argent to match the tail panel paint.  The front three are just gray rubber.

The tail light housings wouldn't have been painted at the factory.  They were painted, assembled and shipped to the factory as complete assemblies...ready to be installed.  You can see how they were painted from the pictures YellowThumper posted.  First, the housings were completely sprayed black.  Then some type of masking was done and the argent was sprayed.

Since the tail panel itself WAS painted at the factory(and was probably painted over a gray base coat) it's very possible that there could have been a slight color difference between the two pieces.

[YellowThumper]

The three rear fillers were painted argent to match the tail panel paint.  The front three are just gray rubber.

The tail light housings wouldn't have been painted at the factory.  They were painted, assembled and shipped to the factory as complete assemblies...ready to be installed.  You can see how they were painted from the pictures YellowThumper posted.  First, the housings were completely sprayed black.  Then some type of masking was done and the argent was sprayed.

Since the tail panel itself WAS painted at the factory(and was probably painted over a gray base coat) it's very possible that there could have been a slight color difference between the two pieces.

Agree to all above notes. However look closely. My base is rust colored.

[Burdar]

The entire body was sprayed with a red oxide primer after it was dipped in the rustproofing.  After the red oxide primer, the body was painted with a gray primer before the color was sprayed.  It looks like the tail light housings were also sprayed with the red oxide primer before the black was sprayed.

[318Stroker]

Here's a little info to add to the discussion. Straight from the back page of the 73 Challenger dealer brochure: Under Selected Challenger Options, it lists the rallye pkg, which includes a performance hood, black-out painted grill and deck panel...etc. Yes, I know that the brochures are printed early, and not always accurate, but I find this info interesting.

[fireguyfire]

Wanted to revive this thread as I've painted my tail panel back to argent silver, and am about to strip the black overspray off of the bumper filler pieces.
Looking at the photos posted earlier in the thread, the cars with silver argent tail panels look to have darker bumper filler pieces.
We're the bumper fillers darker grey rubber, or were they painted to match the tail panel?


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[Burdar]

That picture is a 72 so it doesn't have any rubber fillers.  The three rear fillers should be painted argent.  The three front fillers are natural gray rubber...not painted.




https://www.hamtramck-historical.com/images/dealerships/DealershipDataBook/1973/73_Challenger0004.jpg

[YellowThumper]

X2 on the rear fillers being painted argent to match back panel. As has been noted some appear to be differing colors. If they are different I would suspect it is an unintended consequence from painted metal to painted plastic/rubber. Would suspect the argent would lay down differently.
My2c

[fireguyfire]

Thanks gents[emoji106]


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[71383bee]

This is a great thread!

What type of paint did you end up using?  I'd like to restore my resprayed housings back to the original argent. 

[Burdar]

Mine was sprayed with Totally Auto dark argent.  Then Totally auto light argent was misted over the top.  The picture was with a flash and looks lighter then it does in person.

NOS housings to show the correct shade.