Headlight shields

[Keith L.]

What years are these shields correct for?

[Alan S.]

Re: Headlight shields

Hi Keith,
I believe the shield with the 'scallop' is typical for later 69 through 72 cars. I will add that my original 71 shields are embossed RH and LH, not just L or R as your example appears to be.
I also believe the plain (un-scalloped) shield is typical for 68 till early 69 cars. The 68-69 Technical Information Manual does offer a bit more info in the Exterior section.
I hope this helps you some.
Regards,
Alan

[Keith L.]

Re: Headlight shields

Thanks Alan, I bought these at Carlisle and the one with the L is exactly the mirror image of the right one on my 70. I am pretty sure it just has an R. The left one was gone. According to the third owner it was a pretty good size dog.
I need two for my 72. I saw another pair that said 68-69 on them and I didn't pay much attention to them but I noticed at least one had like a "finger" that stuck off one end about maybe 3/4 inch. Maybe the one under it was like my lower.

Both these appear to be for the Left side.

The repo ones say late 69-72. I wonder if they have R or RH.

[John C.]

Re: Headlight shields

Keith

The first attached picture is of the current reproduction shield sold by Paragon. They only have an L or R embossed on them.

The second picture is of a 1968 LH shield. The major difference is that it has a cutout along the bottom and is not embossed.

The third picture is of an early 69 (Dec built car) RH shield. It is the same as the 68 but a small tab has been stapled onto the inside edge. The tab slips in front of the front grill support bracket and holds it a way from the headlights bezel. I have read there were problems with early shield being pushed back against the headlights at high speeds and preventing them from opening. It looks to be some type of interim attempt at solving this problem.

John

[Keith L.]

Re: Headlight shields

Thanks John. That one with the piece stapled to it is like the one I saw that said 68-69.
So If your two with the cutout on the bottom are the early ones, what is the lower one in my pic??

[John C.]

Re: Headlight shields

Keith

I'm not familiar with the usage of the shield you show in the bottom of your picture.

Only thing I can think of is it might be a interim step from the 68-early 69 style to the final shield you show on top. After they eliminated the bottom cutout on the shield it may have still rubbed on the one corner so they cut it off.

John

[Dan C.]

Re: Headlight shields

Could it be possible that full shields were the earliest version? These shields are off #3239 and hopefully original to the car! Next they made the bottom cutout, then the version with the "tab or finger" shown in the earlier post. Anybody else out there have an early original 68 with full shields to support this possibility? Thanks, Dan

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[Gary B.]

Re: Headlight shields

We are working on a new revision of the 68-69 Judging Guide. Hopefully this information will be included. Still learning about these shields, the more cars we look at and your help, please, maybe we can include all this in the new manual.

I think, based on several original unrestored cars I have looked at, picture one is the first issue. This picture is from a 1968, May18th built car. A TSB was written May 6, 1969 changing the shields to a fuller style, without the notch in them. Driving at high speeds would not allow the headlights to open. The AIM shows this change 12-15-1968, adding new shield 3966559 &3966560. So 1969 built cars would also have these, probably changing over December 1968 or January 1969. This shield part number continued into 1970, 1971 and 1972. I think, this shield was picture number two? I think sometime in 1969 or maybe 1970, with the introduction of the new side grilles and the larger parking lamps in 1970, GM changed the design, but kept the number the same? Picture number 3 is the latest issue and what most the reproduction parts houses sell. Picture number three is actually a 6,000 mile 1969 built October 1969.

I wonder if shield number two, was a part that GM used for the recall, the TSB change? I need to look through my TSB's and find it and see what number they call out. With the TSB being issued, I think GM changed the early design shields with the second design if and when the owners asked for them to be changed. I think, maybe ??... The second design was not actually used for production, but I don't know. If only these cars could talk.

Really need to find some more original, unrestored cars to look at. Seems like "early" 1968s (built before January 1968) just don't exist!!! PM me about your car. Yours is a very early car...

Gary Bosselman

[Jeff P.]

[Gary B.]

Re: Headlight shields

Jeff;
Pictures of each? Pretty please?
Gary B