1958 Tail Light Lenses

[Justin B.]

I don't really know what to look for when looking for correct 1958-60 tail light lenses. I have seen a few advertised on ebay as original "NOS" with the original plastic packaging but when looking at the photos of the stainless trim area of the "NOS" they look exactly like my repros. And, they are already out of the packaging which makes me wonder if the seller kept the originals and are trying to sell me repros with their "NOS" packaging. Check these "NOS" out on ebay an d tell me if they are the real deal or not. ebay# 230220226350
Thanks, Justin

[Kevin M.]

Re: 1958 Tail Light Lenses

Once again NOS is subjective, those are real GM but looks like from the 70's so tooling was outdated and used not going to be like factory originals.

Kevin

[Steven B.]

Re: 1958 Tail Light Lenses

Justin--I have a '58 and went to purchase repro tail lenses and found, compared to the ones on the car, the repros stainless strip was rounded, not flat like the ones already on the car. So i buffed up the stainless on what I had (assumed they were original, but don't know) and am using them. The ones I have with the flat stainless look just like the ones in the ebay auction, but that is the only difference I've noticed between the new ones and the ones I have-the rounded vs. flat stainless strip. Would like other clarification if someone knows, but past that, the differences must be very small. Only so much you can do with a red piece of plastic to fit the housing, but what do I know!!

[Ted S.]

Re: 1958 Tail Light Lenses

Justin, You really have to look at a side view to see the difference. There was a recent article in the Restorer on this topic. Basically the stainless sits higher (when viewed from the side) on the repros or the later GM service lenses. As you noted they actually look the same. It appears that whoever repros them didn't start with an original but rather a GM service replacement lens. In the Restorer article is shows how to retro fit the stainless of an original lens into a repro or service replacement to get it to sit right. If I get a chance I'll post a shot to show the difference. Ted