73-74 headlight bezels

[jdscofield]

i just recently purchased a new set of grills with bezels.  I noticed one set of bezels are not sitting properly in the grill leaving a gap on the top between bezel and grill.  i had thought that maybe it was from another year.  i had another bezel sitting around my garage, so i decided to swap it out.  it does the same thing. My questions are, are these bezels warped from the heat of the headlamps after 40+ years?  has anyone else had this issue?  If so, how was it corrected to get a proper fit?  these bezels look as if they have shrunk believe it or not.  I was thinking of taking a heat gun to them to soften them up to try and reshape, but i thought it might be better to ask on the boards first.

Thanks for any inputs

Jon

[ODZKing]

Pics?

[1973rallye]

I assume you are talking about the the vinyl inserts that go around the headlights?  Depending on how dry and brittle the vinyl pieces are will dictate if you can get them fitting as they should. If they are somewhat pliable I would recommend heating them up by submersing them in a bucket of hot water. I was able to work mine back into position in this fashion. This will depend also on how badly they are distorted.

[Nacho-RT74]

hard to reshape them though! I tried once and never could so had to get a grilles set with headlight fillers in its place sit correctly. Can't be bough separatelly because usually when they are divorced from the grill for some time, they loose COMPLETELLY the size, getting smaller day after day ( BTDT )