Trapps
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Excellent results so far! Nice job, Bob!
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium
- Thread starter Bob Heine
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
rmack898
Well-known member
Interesting that you mention Shorty and there's blood in the picture.
casmurbax
Well-known member
Hi Bob,
I have one of those soldering guns on the way. I don't solder much but when I do... well your previous description covered it for me as well.
Nice job with the cameras. How long will the recording stay before it is overwritten?
Hopefully your leak was not that bad.
I have one of those soldering guns on the way. I don't solder much but when I do... well your previous description covered it for me as well.
Nice job with the cameras. How long will the recording stay before it is overwritten?
Hopefully your leak was not that bad.
Chrisb62
Well-known member
I believe they belong together like peanut butter and jelly.
madison069
Well-known member
Good Grief Bob!
Hope ya got all of the glass out of your foot.
Camera is looking good so far! I've toyed with the camera idea and I keep thinking now is the time to do it while temp is still in the 40's. But then again, there's a lot of things that just make sense to do it now but don't have the time.
Hope ya got all of the glass out of your foot.
Camera is looking good so far! I've toyed with the camera idea and I keep thinking now is the time to do it while temp is still in the 40's. But then again, there's a lot of things that just make sense to do it now but don't have the time.
Thank you Mark!
Mac, it's like macaroni and cheese, they go together.
John, I haven't tried it on any projects yet but I did a little solder melting test. I think this gun is going to be helpful.
Good one Chris!
Cody, I didn't get any glass stuck in my foot. I think Eliquis (blood thinner) is helping to make little nicks look like crime scenes.
I have yet to make a connection to my PC with the new camera and recorder system. I'm sure there's a simple fix I haven't found but I haven't given up (yet).
shortykorte
Well-known member
Nice seeing the install on the camera system. Will there be a detailed wiring schematic when finished?
For the house attic, you need a rolling platform like Eddie Murphy had in the beginning of Trading Places.
For the house attic, you need a rolling platform like Eddie Murphy had in the beginning of Trading Places.
Hi Shorty! I want the next occupant to be as frustrated and confused as me so the wiring diagram will remain in my head.
Not sure if it's a good sign or a bad sign but we think alike. The third or fourth time I traversed the attic my knees suggested I pick up some Unistrut and trolleys (I already have the plywood for the seat). My inspiration was a paraplegic I saw in a Mexican plaza back in 1959. He was truly pathetic, emaciated and dressed in rags. He scooted from table to table on his wheeled platform, begging for money. I felt so bad I gave him a silver 5 Peso coin (worth US 40¢ back then and more than my 25¢ weekly allowance). Later that day I saw him again in an alley off the plaza, being lifted into a Cadillac limousine by a driver dressed in livery.
If I lose a hundred pounds there's a fancy mall in downtown Boca that might help fund my fancy tool habit. Actually, now that I think about it, there was a one-armed beggar in Mysore India who had a pretty good thing going. He pointed to his stump, put his finger tips up to his mouth to indicate he wanted food and then held his hand out to me. When I mimicked his schtick, he and his fellow beggars thought I was hilarious. I paid him to follow me around and ward off the other beggars so I could enjoy my tour of the Maharaja's palace.
I have to admit that I, too, have thought of the unistrut rolling trolley. My inspiration though was the trolley from "The Great Escape".
We have a gable fan at the far end from the crawl hole. I've put sections of plywood up there but it's still a ways to go to replace it - 2 or 3 times in 30 years.
I've thought about this stuff too but pretty pricey and doesn't look too comfortable to do the army crawl on.
We have a gable fan at the far end from the crawl hole. I've put sections of plywood up there but it's still a ways to go to replace it - 2 or 3 times in 30 years.
I've thought about this stuff too but pretty pricey and doesn't look too comfortable to do the army crawl on.
Attic Dek Universal (4-Pack) Made for 16 in. or 24 in. On Center Joist Spacing 351804 - The Home Depot
Provide additional storage space to your home or garage by selecting this excellent Attic Dek Universal Attic Dek Made for On Center Joist Spacing.
www.homedepot.com
RickP
Well-known member
Your camera install skills are looking pretty good!
I need to follow your lead and pull some new camera cables.
I'm glad you picked February for all that work in the attic!
I think the location of the camera over the garage is perfect for maximum theft deterrence -- right in the middle. You were smart to start with the two cameras over the front facing doors. Those darn blood thinners make any project involving sharp objects a lot less fun...
I need to follow your lead and pull some new camera cables.
I'm glad you picked February for all that work in the attic!
I think the location of the camera over the garage is perfect for maximum theft deterrence -- right in the middle. You were smart to start with the two cameras over the front facing doors. Those darn blood thinners make any project involving sharp objects a lot less fun...
xtremek
Well-known member
Bob, you're my new hero. How in the H do you get pants on? Just had my right shoulder operated on, and everything takes on a new dimension. Putting the bag tie on a bag while trying to keep the air out. How many words a minute can you type. I'm lucky, in a month I'll get this sling off. I have renewed admiration for who you are.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Anyone else notice the WTF in this picture?I've thought about this stuff too but pretty pricey and doesn't look too comfortable to do the army crawl on.
Attic Dek Universal (4-Pack) Made for 16 in. or 24 in. On Center Joist Spacing 351804 - The Home Depot
Provide additional storage space to your home or garage by selecting this excellent Attic Dek Universal Attic Dek Made for On Center Joist Spacing.www.homedepot.com
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Besides the fact that those wires are sorta bundled up on the floor.?
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
When you see it it can't be unseen.
(Sorry for the thread hijack, Bob...)
(Sorry for the thread hijack, Bob...)
rmack898
Well-known member
Website editor just sees red and clicks OK.
Nice catch PD
Nice catch PD
Craptain
Well-known member
Did you see the tool being used?
LeonardY
Well-known member
I think you guys are going about this the wrong way. Something more like this. 
Roger, I'm sure that movie was guiding my thoughts. Then again, it could have been "Hogan's Heroes."I have to admit that I, too, have thought of the unistrut rolling trolley. My inspiration though was the trolley from "The Great Escape".
We have a gable fan at the far end from the crawl hole. I've put sections of plywood up there but it's still a ways to go to replace it - 2 or 3 times in 30 years.
I've thought about this stuff too but pretty pricey and doesn't look too comfortable to do the army crawl on.
Attic Dek Universal (4-Pack) Made for 16 in. or 24 in. On Center Joist Spacing 351804 - The Home Depot
Provide additional storage space to your home or garage by selecting this excellent Attic Dek Universal Attic Dek Made for On Center Joist Spacing.www.homedepot.com
We have two gable fans but fortunately I haven't had to replace them. In addition to the thermal switch I installed two standard light switches high on the garage walls that cut power to the thermal switches and fans in the event they go bad. Our first Florida home had a much shallower pitch so there was no stand-up headroom anywhere. The current house does have that going for it.
There's a lot of plywood in our attics and it's all the cheapest 5/8 ply available at the time (circa 1996). That expensive stuff has way too many holes where something I drop up there could hide. As it is, I put 2x2s on the 2x4 trusses to raise the plywood enough to get R19 insulation under the plywood. The biggest job was the garage, which had no insulation above the ceiling. I put R19 fiberglass batts up there and in many sections of the house I moved bays of blown-in cellulose to the next bay, doubling it to R19 level and then putting R19 batts in the one I emptied. I probably should have just blown in more cellulose but that would have required planning and help (someone to feed the insulation into the blower). My way meant no planning and no help and best of all, no schedule.
Rick, I spent a fair amount of time planning the install because it's a pain to go up in the attic, discover you don't have a tool you need and have to go back down. I needed two 5/8" drill bits for the cable passthroughs, one wood bit and one masonry bit (house is stuccoed wood frame construction). Now that I have M12 tools, I brought a drill and driver with bits installed in each up in the attic. Glad I did because one of the batteries ran low and I finished with the battery from the other tool.
In case a clueless crook doesn't see the cameras, I plan to put a sign out front that says "Smile, You're on Camera."
At least Eliquis doesn't require frequent blood tests but the bleeding and bruising that comes with using it is annoying.
Kirk, one-handed life is good or at least better than no-handed life. When I broke my only elbow, the doctor put my arm in a half-cast. Very first thing Liane said was "I'm not wiping your *** so you better figure it out!"
The pants buttoning thing is not all that bad. I find a doorway to lean on and hold one side of the waistband in place and then drag the other side (in my case the side with the button hole) to reach the button. In your case it would be pulling the button to reach the hole. The bag tie thing is tough and it's best done when there's no one else in the room. It's kinda like the one-armed chef making donuts.
On my best days at IBM I was typing 30 words a minute (accurately).
Anyone else notice the WTF in this picture?
Scott, Kay, Mac and Andrew, at first I thought you were referring to the nicely manicured and feminine looking hand and didn't notice the Harbor Fright branded tool. You'd think Home Depot would show a Ridgid or Ryobi tool. Then again, considering the price of that attic flooring stuff, maybe they should show a Festool drill being used.
xtremek
Well-known member
Bob, I can't even get past the step of getting my waist band up over my ****. And my typos are more like 30 per minute. As always you're correct, there's almost always someone out there who has it worse than we do.
MARKSTANG
Well-known member
Kirk, I feel really bad for you. I recently donated all my 36" waist jeans to the hospital thrift store. It's bad enough leaning against something to button my pants -- when I have to lie down and **** it in, it's time for roomier pants. My typing speed is also way down because I've done something to my thumb.
Back in January I put the Chapel roof back on and decided to order new bungee/ball tensioners. Most say "measure twice, cut once" but because there was no cutting involved, I didn't measure at all and guessed I needed 4" rather than 6" bungees.
On the good side, the shorter tensioners pull everything together nice and tight.
On the bad side, by the time I got to the last few tensioners my thumb refused to stretch the bungees anymore. Luckily there was a joint release button nearby and I quit trying.
After stretching nearly 50 of those bungees with my thumb, index and middle finger, my thumb was hurting. A month later it still hurts so I bought a thumb brace for $10. I would go to the doctor but I suspect nothing but time will help. I'm also tired of the laughter when the doctors ask how I hurt myself.
@Squankum, that's pretty much how my mornings go. Except for the Slippers, Breakfast, Newspaper and Walkies. Success getting out of bed is feet hitting the floor first.
@MARKSTANG, I didn't hate the cold weather when we moved to Florida but I was 31. Now, 47 years later I limit my exposure to the freezer to a few seconds at a time. I drink tap water that's 70-something degrees. I don't turn on the A/C in the garage when it's below 85° out there.
Last edited:
I managed to crawl to the far end of the house and install a third camera but it didn't help my thumb at all. Got the hole for the camera drilled through the 2x4 but the position I was in, balancing on a rafter, made it impossible to get all the way through. It was hot enough in the attic that I was making a puddle and I quit before painting the ceiling was added to the honey-do list.
Six years ago I replaced the headlights on the 14-year old PT Cruiser. I had polished the originals so many times I decided to spring for a new pair. Paid $80 for the pair of aftermarket housings but didn't throw out the old ones. I figured a little tap in a parking lot would result in replacing one or the other two days after I threw them out.
Turns out the aftermarket housings don't just fade, they crack. Not from impact, just from exposure to the Florida sun. They started showing cracks in two years.
Having painted a new front bumper coverr and a new pair of outside mirrors in 2020, I wasn't thrilled about pulling the bumper cover off to replace the headlights again. Instead I just polished them up and called it done.
Time is not my friend and certainly not my headlights' friend. Now they are yellow, hazy and cracked.
I am going to sand the original headlights and spray a couple of coats of SPI Universal clear on them. Because they are already out of the car I don't have nearly as much masking and I can take my time. I have some 3" 800-grit wet or dry disks on the way and will hand sand the originals back to clear, non yellow plastic. Tested the process on one section and it looks like it will work just fine.
Six years ago I replaced the headlights on the 14-year old PT Cruiser. I had polished the originals so many times I decided to spring for a new pair. Paid $80 for the pair of aftermarket housings but didn't throw out the old ones. I figured a little tap in a parking lot would result in replacing one or the other two days after I threw them out.
Turns out the aftermarket housings don't just fade, they crack. Not from impact, just from exposure to the Florida sun. They started showing cracks in two years.
Having painted a new front bumper coverr and a new pair of outside mirrors in 2020, I wasn't thrilled about pulling the bumper cover off to replace the headlights again. Instead I just polished them up and called it done.
Time is not my friend and certainly not my headlights' friend. Now they are yellow, hazy and cracked.
I am going to sand the original headlights and spray a couple of coats of SPI Universal clear on them. Because they are already out of the car I don't have nearly as much masking and I can take my time. I have some 3" 800-grit wet or dry disks on the way and will hand sand the originals back to clear, non yellow plastic. Tested the process on one section and it looks like it will work just fine.
Lou's Garage
Well-known member
Bob,
From experience, you can polish headlights all the way to 2000. In fact, 3M puts 3000 in their polishing kit. At those levels weathering seems reduced and you can keep them going seemingly indefinitely with just a coat of polishing compound and UV protectant once a year. I have replaced a couple of sets, there are some pretty crummy replacements out there. I've had good luck with CAPA or NSF certified pieces.
Lou Manglass
From experience, you can polish headlights all the way to 2000. In fact, 3M puts 3000 in their polishing kit. At those levels weathering seems reduced and you can keep them going seemingly indefinitely with just a coat of polishing compound and UV protectant once a year. I have replaced a couple of sets, there are some pretty crummy replacements out there. I've had good luck with CAPA or NSF certified pieces.
Lou Manglass
Wreckster23
Well-known member
Glass headlights were a thing way yonder, no issues there either yellowing. Back when I was an auto tech at sears, the company was on a huge kick to sell headlight restorations, even to the point of gently reminding us every so often that hazy headlights could fail inspections. A ton got sold, and I never did one of them. We got so many back that hated over again in short order it just seemed futile.
At least my research back then seemed to suggest that the only way to properly do it was to spray with a good clear afterwards, that was supposed to keep them goof for a long time. Alas, we had zero paint supplies.
At least my research back then seemed to suggest that the only way to properly do it was to spray with a good clear afterwards, that was supposed to keep them goof for a long time. Alas, we had zero paint supplies.
xtremek
Well-known member
Bob, I should come down and see you to get tips on how to move around with one arm, but by the time I get to you, I'll probably be able to use both. The longer my arm is in the sling, the more impressed I am by you.
Time is not my friend and certainly not my headlights' friend. Now they are yellow, hazy and cracked.
Bob, I'm not a PT Cruiser bargler -- is that an aftermarket grille? Looks good!
(I have driven a few laps in PT Cruiser, manual transmission, back when they were new. )
Racing friend of mine tows with Ford Econoline vans -- and lately, an RV. I forget which of his vans he bought aftermarket replacement headlamps for to start over with clear plastic "aero" lenses. He discovered that they just stunk as lenses for light and he couldn't see very well at night! He hated it so much he went so far as to go to the junkyard, find a work van front end and get its grille and headlight buckets, and install Hella glass rectangular lights.
HELLA 003427291 Vision Plus 190x132mm High/Low Beam 12V Halogen Conversion Headlamp (HB2)
(What it is is US-spec aiming pattern, but high quality and precise lenses with good light distribution, but your choice of Euro-style/powerbulbs that plug in the back.)
Lou, thanks for the suggestions. I haven't driven at night for ten years so the headlights are like decoration (I do turn them on in the rain as required by Florida law). I'm going for a more permanent solution because I polished and sealed the originals every year or so for fourteen years. To get rid of the yellowed surface I need to sand it more aggressively than the 2000 or 3000 grit discs. The SPI Universal Clear is amazing and can be quickly buffed up to a like-new shine years after it's been sprayed. It does need a little tooth in the surface it goes on if it isn't fresh base coat so I'm scuffing the lenses with 800 grit. The wet or dry discs I bought work great with a little water. This took about 10 minutes to sand and another 10 to clean (before and after sanding). The plastic that was under the gasket is like new and I wiped the lens down several times until there was no more yellow in the dust.
@Wreckster23, glass headlights were great at lighting up the road but they were horrible for aerodynamics. Not a big deal for any one car but for the manufacturers it was a big deal to squeeze every mile per gallon to meet the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standard.
The quality of the clear you spray on headlight housings is critical. I had a body shop paint the new bumper cover on the PT Cruiser in 2006 and they used typical collision shop clear. It started peeling after five years. I sprayed the most recent front bumper cover with SPI clear in 2020 and it looks like the day I sprayed it almost three years later.
Kirk, the good news is you will quickly adapt to the single wing life. The better news is it won't be a permanent requirement. I feel blessed to have what I have and doubly blessed that I was never really ambidextrous. My left hand was mostly a target for heavy blunt objects like hammers and sharp things like saws, knives and X-Acto tools.
@Squankum, good eye. That's an aftermarket billet aluminum grille. There were two versions and that one is for Turbo models.
I've never driven a normally aspirated PT Cruiser but it has to be a gutless wonder. Even my turbo was unimpressive until I upgraded the computer to a Stage 1, gave it a 93-octane tune, added a CAI (Cold Air Intake), modified intake runner and Borla exhaust. It's still wimpy compared to my Cadillac (556 hp) but it surprises a lot of 'sporty' drivers. In it's heyday, there were a lot of people modifying these cars. There's this heavily modded one that cranks out 808 horsepower and ran 165.9 mph in the half mile (https://www.motor1.com/news/347315/800-horsepower-chrysler-pt-cruiser/).
Bob, my baseline context isn't Corvettes but 4 cylinder sport-y cars. When I bought my VW GTI in 1985, it had 100 hp -- not the 85 hp that the base model had. (And in practice, the 85 hp cars didn't feel like it, because they had nice low and mid-range torque for their genre.)
(Don't get me started on weight. I could rant and rave all day on that one. In today's world, everybody thinks 3,000 pouhds is light. Ay yi yi.)
IIRC, one thing that went "wrong" with the PT Cruisers is that the car magazines asked for and tested the manual transmission versions and said, "kinda fun", then the general public bought automatic transmissions and those were sluggish. I'm talking PT Cruiser debut, pre-turbo, and the one I drove was manual transmission.
(Also, always keep in mind that the car magazine writers know the secret of using the full travel of the gas pedal, whereas a great many members of the American driving public consider that to be the act of a madman. And then moan that X car is slow.)
(Don't get me started on weight. I could rant and rave all day on that one. In today's world, everybody thinks 3,000 pouhds is light. Ay yi yi.)
IIRC, one thing that went "wrong" with the PT Cruisers is that the car magazines asked for and tested the manual transmission versions and said, "kinda fun", then the general public bought automatic transmissions and those were sluggish. I'm talking PT Cruiser debut, pre-turbo, and the one I drove was manual transmission.
(Also, always keep in mind that the car magazine writers know the secret of using the full travel of the gas pedal, whereas a great many members of the American driving public consider that to be the act of a madman. And then moan that X car is slow.)
Last edited:
jblnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Every time I see the PT in here I'm impressed it looks so clean after all these years .......... then I remember you're in Florida where there isn't nearly as much salt used on the roads in the winter 
If you made a resolution to never drive at night you could go Lightening McQueen on the PT and put stickers over the covers so they just looked like they worked
If you made a resolution to never drive at night you could go Lightening McQueen on the PT and put stickers over the covers so they just looked like they worked
@Squankum, my baseline has changed over the years. I went from a stovebolt-6 fan to big V8 fan to I-4 fan back to big V8 fan. None of the cars I loved had base or stock horsepower but the price of the upgrades increased over time.
I completely understand the weight thing. At the same time I was driving a 454ci Corvette that weighed in at more than 3,900 lbs, I was also driving a Fiat X1/9 that weighed in at 1936 lbs. Put a set of barrel-per-cylinder Webers, headers, cam and tires as wide as the Corvette's and I was in love. Still miss that car.
I went for a ride in a 2000 PT Cruiser with a manual and it was booooring. Much as I would have liked to buy a manual equipped turbo model, Florida decided to add a restriction to my license (without ever asking) when I returned from Australia. If I wanted to drive a stick I would have to re-take the driving test. The Fiat was my only manual car at the time and because it sat unused for two years, it needed a new clutch slave cylinder. My job at that time was a 7-day, 16-hour clusterfark so I had no time to make repairs. Filled one of my few days off shopping for a second Corvette, which replaced the Fiat as my daily driver.
I do my best to maintain the full travel of the skinny pedal. If you don't floor it often enough, the throttle cable and linkage gets rusty and sticks. I have occasionally overstretched the cable, forcing a replacement. I learned that lesson when a friend complained the dual 4-barrel setup on his car was no better than the single 2-barrel it replaced. A major adjustment of his linkage fixed that problem in a frightening way.
Mike, the first two years we lived in Florida I continued to hose off the undercarriage on our cars every time I washed them. Then I bought a Corvette, joined the local club and was told it wasn't really necessary. Now I only hose off the undercarriages every couple of years. I even bought a pressure washer attachment to make it easier.Every time I see the PT in here I'm impressed it looks so clean after all these years .......... then I remember you're in Florida where there isn't nearly as much salt used on the roads in the winter
If you made a resolution to never drive at night you could go Lightening McQueen on the PT and put stickers over the covers so they just looked like they worked
I haven't pressed the "Buy it Now" button but there's a pair of headlight mooneyes in one of my carts.
sawduststeve
Well-known member
Bob, to go with the mooneyes.
You know you want to
You know you want to
I gave the headlights a real good wash and rinse in the garage sink, wiped them dry with fresh paper towels and set them outside to dry in the sun. It's a beautiful warm and sunny day so I didn't even use a [cardboard] spray booth.
There are a few companies whose products I really love and one of them is Southern Polyurethanes Inc. (SPI). They make amazing automotive coatings but I don't get paid or receive free samples from them. I am spraying their Universal Clear polyurethane on the PT Cruiser headlights so I pulled a gallon can off the shelf Sunday afternoon. I bought this gallon of clear in January 2010 and have used small amounts over the years so it's less than half full. I do not recommend using 13 year old paint but decided I'd give it a shot. I did buy quarts of activator more recently (May 2018) and the Very Slow activator can is less than half full as well. Here's what it looks like mixed up and ready to spray.
In addition to the old paint, I am using an old DeKups disposable paint cup system and an Anest Iwata LPH 80 detail gun (little one on the left).
This turned out to be a horrible mistake. As soon as I turned the gun upright, clear started dripping out of the junction between the adapter and cup. I have a whole box of new one liners and caps so it was my own forced error. Clear had already dripped onto one of the headlights so rather than start fresh, I just slammed the clear on while it dripped on the ground. I have bumps and urethane wave in the surface but there's no bubbles, grit or bugs and there's a lot of clear on both headlights. There's enough clear so I can sand the **** out of it, starting with 400-grit on a board all the way to 5000-grit on a soft pad. At least this clear has fantastic UV protection and even as thick as it's laid down it's crystal clear.
There are a few companies whose products I really love and one of them is Southern Polyurethanes Inc. (SPI). They make amazing automotive coatings but I don't get paid or receive free samples from them. I am spraying their Universal Clear polyurethane on the PT Cruiser headlights so I pulled a gallon can off the shelf Sunday afternoon. I bought this gallon of clear in January 2010 and have used small amounts over the years so it's less than half full. I do not recommend using 13 year old paint but decided I'd give it a shot. I did buy quarts of activator more recently (May 2018) and the Very Slow activator can is less than half full as well. Here's what it looks like mixed up and ready to spray.
In addition to the old paint, I am using an old DeKups disposable paint cup system and an Anest Iwata LPH 80 detail gun (little one on the left).
This turned out to be a horrible mistake. As soon as I turned the gun upright, clear started dripping out of the junction between the adapter and cup. I have a whole box of new one liners and caps so it was my own forced error. Clear had already dripped onto one of the headlights so rather than start fresh, I just slammed the clear on while it dripped on the ground. I have bumps and urethane wave in the surface but there's no bubbles, grit or bugs and there's a lot of clear on both headlights. There's enough clear so I can sand the **** out of it, starting with 400-grit on a board all the way to 5000-grit on a soft pad. At least this clear has fantastic UV protection and even as thick as it's laid down it's crystal clear.
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
Bob I have heard nothing but good things about SPI...just haven't done any spraying in long time. I still have a bunch of Wanda products in my basement.
Marc, I am a rank amateur at painting cars. I've re-painted two cars and done the bumpers on the PT Cruiser a couple of times. Also helped a friend paint his '59 Corvette with black lacquer. I've found the SPI products to be the most newbie-friendly available. Mostly because the local suppliers don't want to be bothered with hobbyists.
Not sure why but I started the cut and buff on the first headlight using the same hand-held 3" round block I used to prep the plastic surface. I wanted to be careful but I ended up not getting all the 800 scratches out of the clear.
For the second headlight, I got out the pneumatic DA sanders, a 2", a 3" and a 6". I forgot that the 3" was just a straight polisher with no orbital setting so I had to be careful using it on the edges. I also forgot where I stored my 2" sanding discs so it will only be used as an orbital buffer in the tight spots. My triple outlet air coupler setup was perfect for the job, allowing me to switch from tool to tool without uncoupling them.
Had to stop and rinse off the headlight frequently to be sure I was getting the surface sanded through the waves and runs.
Worked my way through the grits all the way to 5000.
Final process is polishing the clear coat. I use Chemical Guys four-step optical polish with four different foam pads on a Porter Cable 7424XP polisher.
It's still pretty cloudy after the #32 compound and a little time with the 3" polisher on the edges...
The #36 compound, followed by the #38 compound and a couple of coats of ceramic coating clears it up a little more...
The refurbished old headlights look better than the knockoffs and are much easier to polish if and when they get a little dull. All they need is a quick hand polish with #38 compound.
While I have the fender liners, grille, bumper and bumper cover off to swap the headlights, I'm putting replacing the low, high, turn and fog/running incandescent bulbs with LEDs. I was able to swap one of the fog/running lights for a nightime comparison. It's a lot like night and day.
For the second headlight, I got out the pneumatic DA sanders, a 2", a 3" and a 6". I forgot that the 3" was just a straight polisher with no orbital setting so I had to be careful using it on the edges. I also forgot where I stored my 2" sanding discs so it will only be used as an orbital buffer in the tight spots. My triple outlet air coupler setup was perfect for the job, allowing me to switch from tool to tool without uncoupling them.
Had to stop and rinse off the headlight frequently to be sure I was getting the surface sanded through the waves and runs.
Worked my way through the grits all the way to 5000.
Final process is polishing the clear coat. I use Chemical Guys four-step optical polish with four different foam pads on a Porter Cable 7424XP polisher.
It's still pretty cloudy after the #32 compound and a little time with the 3" polisher on the edges...
The #36 compound, followed by the #38 compound and a couple of coats of ceramic coating clears it up a little more...
The refurbished old headlights look better than the knockoffs and are much easier to polish if and when they get a little dull. All they need is a quick hand polish with #38 compound.
While I have the fender liners, grille, bumper and bumper cover off to swap the headlights, I'm putting replacing the low, high, turn and fog/running incandescent bulbs with LEDs. I was able to swap one of the fog/running lights for a nightime comparison. It's a lot like night and day.
Attachments
Grizz1963
Well-known member
Excellent work Bob.
I have done a few headlights now, not with the finesse you use, but the improvements were vast.
and of course the S10 got some clear front side, repeaters with LED’s and still make me happy.
I have done a few headlights now, not with the finesse you use, but the improvements were vast.
and of course the S10 got some clear front side, repeaters with LED’s and still make me happy.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Bob, you're clearly doing a great job; brilliant work- and your descriptions are illuminating.Not sure why but I started the cut and buff on the first headlight using the same hand-held 3" round block I used to prep the plastic surface. I wanted to be careful but I ended up not getting all the 800 scratches out of the clear.
For the second headlight, I got out the pneumatic DA sanders, a 2", a 3" and a 6". I forgot that the 3" was just a straight polisher with no orbital setting so I had to be careful using it on the edges. I also forgot where I stored my 2" sanding discs so it will only be used as an orbital buffer in the tight spots. My triple outlet air coupler setup was perfect for the job, allowing me to switch from tool to tool without uncoupling them.
Had to stop and rinse off the headlight frequently to be sure I was getting the surface sanded through the waves and runs.
Worked my way through the grits all the way to 5000.
Final process is polishing the clear coat. I use Chemical Guys four-step optical polish with four different foam pads on a Porter Cable 7424XP polisher.
It's still pretty cloudy after the #32 compound and a little time with the 3" polisher on the edges...
The #36 compound, followed by the #38 compound and a couple of coats of ceramic coating clears it up a little more...
The refurbished old headlights look better than the knockoffs and are much easier to polish if and when they get a little dull. All they need is a quick hand polish with #38 compound.
While I have the fender liners, grille, bumper and bumper cover off to swap the headlights, I'm putting replacing the low, high, turn and fog/running incandescent bulbs with LEDs. I was able to swap one of the fog/running lights for a nightime comparison. It's a lot like night and day.