In the Bag
In the Bag
Short day
Got off work early today for the holiday. Stopped on the way home at my favorite Ace Hardware and bought some stainless steel hardware for the mounting plate of the license plate to the fuel door. Swung by Wally World and picked up an order of a couple of bottles of Techron, too.
Got home, headed out to the garage, stared at the car and tried to figure out what to do next.
Since I had the battery out I had the clamp bracket and related hardware sitting aside. That included the windshield washer bottle, since it hangs on the battery hold down bracket. So here is the bottle as it came with the car:
Yeah, pretty nasty. And this is the good side! If you look closely, you can see the black paint that’s on the back of it through the front.
So back to the outdoor kitchen I go with the bag, a bottle of Simple Green, a stiff plastic brush and a 3M ScotchBrite pad. Here’s what it looked like when I was done:
With the ScotchBright pad I was able to get most of the black paint off the back. Certainly not original looking, but far better than it was. Next!
I don’t have pictures because of the way the car is backed into the garage, but I removed the left rear taillight assembly, cleaned and polished it, relamped it, and reinstalled. I also took the opportunity to remove the chrome trim on the top edge and rear of the fin. It was barely hanging on, with only two clips the whole length. I knew I needed clips but didn’t realize they used the tiny little nylon rivets to hold them in place, so I had to order a set. In the interim I used an aluminum pop rivet that I will drill out and replace with the proper rivet when I get them. With the trim out of the way I ran the buffer over the area to get the finish polished out for waxing.
And I got the license plate bracket and license plate installed, too.
Tomorrow being Saturday I’m planning on an early start. I plan on driving the car over to the gas station and filling it up, drive it back home, then start in on a fluid and filter change for the oil and fuel. I may have time to replace all of the ignition components, too. Pictures and details tomorrow!
Friday, December 21, 2018