Saturday, September 22, 2018

MKII Supra Foglamp Restoration - Wrap-Up -

Groan, this turned into a project in it's own right!

For those that missed our previous installments, you can find them here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

and

Murphy Strikes

The particular problem that had me stalled was the length of the LED H-3 halogen bulb replacement I bought:



It's  bit too long, resulting in it hitting the internal light shield inside the reflector/lens, and not seating in the housing:




The "replacement-replacement" bulb is the black one in the opening photo, and it snuggles down just like it's supposed to, and allows the little wire bail latch to close:




Then connect up the wires:




Slide the weather boot back into position:



Slide the reflector/lens with the wiring attached into the bucket, and insert the parking lamp bulb into place:




Mate the pieces fully together, and get the bezel ready:




Then screw the bezel on with some new stainless-steel button-head cap screws so they never rust again:




And place it on the shelf next to it's mate:




And one of the other tasks that was staring me in the face was cleaning up/refurbishing the turn signal/side marker lamps. Since a large portion of these face directly forward, they get hit with all kinds of FOD, and were pitted from it. I used Novus Plastic Polish, which is about as good as you can get, provided you follow the directions!

I spent several hours on each lamp assembly, slowly cleaning the road film and pits off of it, and then polishing it. After the initial cleaning, I started with Novus #3, the most aggressive, and polished the daylights out of it. Then I went to Novus #2, almost a finishing polish, and then ended with Novus #1, a glaze and sealant.

I was stunned at how the color returned, and they took on a deep luster. Most of the pitting on the front surface is now gone, and the sides, which were just weathered a bit, look stunning. Even my wife remarked at how they "looked new".




And of course I scrubbed and restored the backsides as well, cleaning all the wiring, and replacing the incandescent bulbs with LED units:



So as my beloved Heathkit would say...."This completes the assembly of these two units.".

And now it's time to get back to this:


4 comments:

  1. At least all your steps 'end up' in a positive direction... LOL And thanks for the honest appraisal of what went wrong AND right!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, I keep trying! Sometimes I get stalled, usually due to not having parts on-hand, or because I didn't know what I needed (or what was broke) until I took the sub-assembly apart.

      But she's getting there.

      Slowly I turned, step-by-step.....

      Delete
  2. Though of your Supra yesterday as I drove from Bellevue to the West side of Horsetooth on a job. That would be more fun in a Supra than a Taurus!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yeah! I've taken her up Taft Hill to 287 "B", through Laporte, turn at Vern's onto Rist Canyon, through Bellvue, and then left at The Grange, and down N Co Rd 23 along the East side of Horsetooth, and back out on Harmony.

      It's a really nice drive. Next time I take her out, I'm going to continue on Rist Canyon Rd up to Stove Prairie, and then down Poudre Canyon back to 287.

      Delete

Keep it civil, please....

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