Oh the little things...
I have only been able to work a few minutes at a time here and there lately. So, the little things have been getting done. I really need a day or two (I mean full days) in order to tackle the few rust issues before the body can go to paint. Seems pointless to finish up smaller projects that can more easily be tackled while the car is with the painter, but that's all I have had time for...oh well.
Anyway, I finished up the heater box, refurbished the hood latch bar, freshened up the wiper linkage and rebuilt the headlight buckets. Pics and descriptions below...
Heater Box:
The car was being completely gutted, so removal of the heater box was simple. Upon removal, it appears that the heater box was removed and lightly freshened up before. It had a newer heater valve and fan, had some repairs made to cracks in the box, and had the repair made to the flange that holds the valve. I pulled the box apart, repaired any cracks with 2-part plastic epoxy and cleaned it out really well. I painted the fan side of the box to freshen up the look. I got new grommets (internal for the flaps and external for the hoses) and had as many of the external parts re-plated as I could, including the control levers and plates. I took the heater valve apart and cleaned it really well, and replaced the two o-rings. I also pressure tested the heater core with a bike tire tube.
Pressure testing the core. I don't want leaks after installation!
New grommets, with some silicone grease, make the flaps move smoothly.
Cutting new closed-cell foam to fit. Some edges need to be chamfered in order to close properly.
Heater Valve disassembly, cleaning and new o-rings.
Full box reassembly and new grommets.
Hood Latch Bar:
I wanted to refurbish the hood latch bar, but didn't want to use any paint on it, since it is quite exposed and didn't want the paint chipping over time. I was already sending a batch of parts to be plated, so I dismantled the whole bar and sent off all of the parts, except the aluminum part that holds the latch cable (which I polished by hand). I bought some new end rollers and an assortment of stainless steel roll pins and e-clips to finish it off. It really turned out nice with the clear bar and yellow chromate ends and springs. I can't wait to see it on the car.
Wiper Linkage:
The wiper linkage seemed to be in good shape and I really didn't want to spend another $500 on new linkage arms just to get the new bushings. The car won't be driven a lot in the rain, so I really only need them to look good and function. They don't need to be at their top performance. The bushings seemed to be OK. The pivots were all plated with the rest of my parts, so they were ready to go. Once I had the linkage all pulled apart, I cleaned them up and painted them with aluminum wheel paint. After reassembly, I tested it and everything works well and smoothly.
Headlight Buckets:
The headlight buckets were dirty and worn as usual. I dismantled them and sent the pieces off to be plated. They came back looking beautiful. I reassembled using the original parts, except for the little oval nut-washers. I instead used some extra washers and o-rings, as well as a nylon lock nut.
I marked the headlight buckets when I pulled them off, but the plating process removed my marks. I think I have them figured out, I just need to test them before full installation to make sure I have them on the correct sides.
The buckets are getting new Cibie z-beam H4 headlights, which are now manufactured by Valeo.
All fresh and reassembled:
Edited by bergie33
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