<VV> Turbo Odyssey Part 5 -- Headlights and Other Trim

[Norman C. Witte]

This post may be viewed on-line at www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/5.htm

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:

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2828.JPG

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:

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2833.JPG

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:

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2832.JPG

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:

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2830.JPG

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:

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2836.JPG

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:

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2837.JPG
www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2838.JPG

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:

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2841.JPG

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:

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2853.JPG

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.

www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_2855.JPG

Norm Witte