.JPG)
Turbo Odyssey Part 5 -- Headlights and Other Trim
September 25-6, 2004
I finally got a chance to really put in some time on the convertible. This weekend I started with the front end trim. I pulled the headlight doors, and to my surprise they were in much better condition than I expected. A little bit of chrome polish and wax and they were quite presentable. Here is a before and after:
The black paint in the middle shows a little wear and I may end up repainting them before they go back on the car, but these parts are very reusable.
My next task was to remove the plates to which the headlights mount. I tried cleaning these up, but I really wasn't too satisfied with how they came out. I decided that the best course was to sandblast and paint them. Here's the sandblasted part:
After blasting, I painted the parts with semi-gloss black that I had on hand. Here's a comparison between one plate I painted and the other awaiting sandblasting:
In between working on the headlight plates, I pulled the turn signal housings. These parts were grungy, but I took them apart completely, and they cleaned up just fine. Before and after:
After the black paint had cured a bit, I clear coated them with some high-temp clear that I had on hand. To cure them, I left them in front of a floodlight overnight, with enough space between them and the lamp that I didn't have to worry about burning the barn down:
Sunday afternoon I went out to the barn. First order of business was to assemble the headlight assemblies. I think they came out quite nice:
I also soaked down the horns with WD40, the wonder substance, and blew them dry with the air compressor. Overall, the parts from the front end came out very nice:
I pulled the headlight harness and it also will clean up quite nicely. I took all of these parts and stored them in plastic bags, and then packed them into a big plastic tub where they will wait until the car is painted.
I then moved on to other trim issues. I removed the lower rear grille, the rocker moldings, and the wheel well moldings. While I was removing the wheel well trim, I also removed the tires and put the cracked bias ply tires that the car came with back on. These will be fine for moving the car around in the body shop.
I also removed the "Sacramento Motors" emblem from the back of the car and repainted the red lettering on it that reads "Alamogordo, NM."` I did a little research and confirmed that Sacramento Motors, a Chevy dealer in the '60s, is still around, although it is now known as "Desert Sun Motors." It used to be on Pennsylvania Avenue in Alamogordo, but they changed the name of the street to White Sands Boulevard, so it took a little sleuthing to track them down. I think I am going to put the dealer plate back on the car when the body work is done:
When I took off the rocker trim on the right side, I found out that the rocker below it was Swiss cheese. This didn't totally surprise me, since the rocker had a rust hole in the top just outboard of the sill trim. This is a disappointment, but I will have my body man tear into it and make it right.
Another task was cutting the spare tire off its rim so that the rim can be powdercoated. All five tires are old bias ply units. The spare was bald, but the rest of the tires have very good tread. Unfortunately they all show major cracking.
I spent some time pulling apart some of the windshield header trim. The two screws in the middle of the trim that goes across the top trim do not seem to want to move, so I am letting them soak in PB Blaster. We will see what happens.
If anyone has actually read this far, I would appreciate insight regarding replating the visor pivot/top hold down pieces that go at the outside corners of the windshield. Both of these parts are pretty pitted, and I think it will not be easy to locate clean ones. Does the hinge have to be taken apart for plating? I assume so. Any advice on replating these would be appreciated. Anyone who has an unpitted set they would like to sell could really make my day.
Overall, a productive weekend.
