Paint Matched Headlight Bezels

[Fouledplugs]

TJ mods are always on my brain. I have a running list of modifications I would like to make which always gets edited and reworked.

Some of the modifications I list out are often outside the box, yet still modest and tasteful so that the modification supports the factory OEM look and feel without being too overwhelming/overbearing. My end goal is to not take away from the factory TJ look.

So after looking at the front end of the various Jeeps I have I noticed that the YJ’s I own utilized painted body matched headlight bezels. The JK and the new JL does the same. This leaves the TJ in the middle and without matched bezels. So I set out to match mine just to see what it would look like.

Purchased these:
http://www.ruggedridge.com/black-headlight-bezels-12419-23.html

And had them painted at the body shop with the PW1 Mopar Stone White:

Installed:

Love the look. Its definitely different. I can only imagine a Red TJ/LJ might look even better.

A few take aways:
I definitely need new chrome trim retainers as the factory ones from 06 have some surface rust that I’ll order this week if I can find factory ones from https://www.factorychryslerparts.com/

I need to remove the bezles and really clean and scrub the bezel area without the bezels installed. There is some dirt and grime that has built up in the recessed area between the bezel and the body of the grill.

 

[bobthetj03]

I like the look. Looks clean.

 

[Fouledplugs]

For refrence,
My factory YJ:

A factory JK:

 

[jjvw]

Looks good. I like the bezels color matched or black, depending on the body color.

 

[Starrs]

TJ mods are always on my brain. I have a running list of modifications I would like to make which always gets edited and reworked.

Some of the modifications I list out are often outside the box, yet still modest and tasteful so that the modification supports the factory OEM look and feel without being too overwhelming/overbearing. My end goal is to not take away from the factory TJ look.

So after looking at the front end of the various Jeeps I have I noticed that the YJ’s I own utilized painted body matched headlight bezels. The JK and the new JL does the same. This leaves the TJ in the middle and without matched bezels. So I set out to match mine just to see what it would look like.

Purchased these:
http://www.ruggedridge.com/black-headlight-bezels-12419-23.html

And had them painted at the body shop with the PW1 Mopar Stone White:
View attachment 53859

Installed:
View attachment 53862 View attachment 53863 View attachment 53864 View attachment 53865 View attachment 53866 View attachment 53867

Love the look. Its definitely different. I can only imagine a Red TJ/LJ might look even better.

A few take aways:
I definitely need new chrome trim retainers as the factory ones from 06 have some surface rust that I’ll order this week if I can find factory ones from https://www.factorychryslerparts.com/

I need to remove the bezles and really clean and scrub the bezel area without the bezels installed. There is some dirt and grime that has built up in the recessed area between the bezel and the body of the grill.

Did we do bezels randomly at the same time haha?? That’s crazy. Waiting for mine to dry. I hate chrome so it’s been bugging me lol. Color matched looks great!

 

[Fouledplugs]

Did we do bezels randomly at the same time haha?? That’s crazy. Waiting for mine to dry. I hate chrome so it’s been bugging me lol. Color matched looks great!

We definitely posted them around the same. I had them in and out of the body shop almost a year ago. But just recently drove down to Alabama and worked on it.

Id love to see your TJ with the silver paint matched bezels.

 

[Chris]

I have the Rugged Ridge black headlight bezels on mine. I love the way they look. That would be the route I went, especially on yours, being as though it's white!

 

[Fouledplugs]

I have the Rugged Ridge black headlight bezels on mine. I love the way they look. That would be the route I went, especially on yours, being as though it's white!

Yep I bought the same ones and had them painted by the body shop. Yea its a mod that is definitely modest, as I doubt many people would notice.

 

[Mike_H]

I have mine painted black (so body matched). I like it. I also painted the headlight retainer rings.

 

[cliffish]

any reason why you can't scuff the oem ones and paint to match?

 

[Chris]

I have mine painted black (so body matched). I like it. I also painted the headlight retainer rings.

Image doesn't work. Your Google privacy settings must be insufficient for the public to view it.

 

[Mike_H]

Image doesn't work. Your Google privacy settings must be insufficient for the public to view it.

That is so weird...I follow the same process every time I load a picture. Occasionally, it doesn't work. Try again...

 

[Starrs]

Yep I bought the same ones and had them painted by the body shop. Yea its a mod that is definitely modest, as I doubt many people would notice.

Why spend 35 bucks on other bezels to get painted, and not use the ones that came with your jeep?

 

[cliffish]

Why spend 35 bucks on other bezels to get painted, and not use the ones that came with your jeep?

hence my question....that was not answered????

 

[Fouledplugs]

hence my question....that was not answered????

Why spend 35 bucks on other bezels to get painted, and not use the ones that came with your jeep?

Body shop told me that the factory plastic chrome bezels uses a copper base that doesnt scuff effectively to support a professional spray. They wouldn't spray the chrome ones, as they didnt want their job to be shoddy and come back. They gave me the impression to be very detail oriented and professional in all their work, even small projects like headlight bezels.

 

[Starrs]

Body shop told me that the factory plastic chrome bezels uses a copper base that doesnt scuff effectively to support a professional spray. They wouldn't spray the chrome ones, as they didnt want their job to be shoddy and come back. They gave me the impression to be very detail oriented and professional in all their work, even small projects like headlight bezels.

Mine scuffed pretty good. Hope mine workout lol.

 

[Fouledplugs]

I have mine painted black (so body matched). I like it. I also painted the headlight retainer rings.

Are you uploading directly from your google cloud/photos?

 

[Damazzaro]

Body shop told me that the factory plastic chrome bezels uses a copper base that doesnt scuff effectively to support a professional spray. They wouldn't spray the chrome ones, as they didnt want their job to be shoddy and come back. They gave me the impression to be very detail oriented and professional in all their work, even small projects like headlight bezels.

These are the factory chrome ones. It was definitely a shoddy job just doing a rattle can paint job. I'd imagine if the shop did it professionally there would still be areas that didn't look great. Don't know what about the OEM bezels that make them hard to paint but it's true.

 

[Mike_H]

Are you uploading directly from your google cloud/photos?

Yeah, when you have a full screen photo, you can drag and drop into the editor window...Most of the time anyway. Can you see the pic?

 

[techster82]

I hate Chrome. Actually hate might not be a strong enough word. So I too wanted to change up the bezel/retainer ring setup. I opted to go with the Rugged Ridge black plastic bezels on the LJ as they did great on my TJ. For a black retainer ring, the ones I ordered from Amazon fit like crap so I took the factory rings and hit them with a primer followed by some Krylon Fusion. So far so good but time will tell. The black paint on my previous retaining rings that was applied with no primer didn't take long to start flaking off in big chunks.