My Silver '06

[delhusband]

After collecting the car today from a successful MOT ( ), decided to have a crack at polishing the headlights.
There's some mildew behind the rims of the lenses, so I decided that rather than polish them in place I'd take them out and see if I could clean the sides as well.  This was a bigger job than expected.  Started by getting bumper off again, which came off fine.
The top screws for the lights came out OK, but the side screws behind the bumper both sheared when I turned them.


Here's them out. You can see the swirling, and a little bit of discolouration


There was a fair bit of overspray of Dinitrol from the recent underbody treatment, and some mildew also.



I've cleaned the inside of the rims around the lens, clean one is on the left obviously!


Tomorrow I'll start polishing the surface of the lenses with my Autoglym kit. Bought some clear lacquer too for after the polishing.

[delhusband]

Had a bit of a disaster polishing the first lens today. Kit advises on using a drill with a decent speed.  That meant breaking out my electric drill which is quite a heavy beast. Because the lenses were out of the car I was using my legs to brace the lens whilst using the drill. Final part of the perfect storm was some tiny flecks of dinitrol I hadn't cleaned properly off the sides of the lens.  Net result of this little perfect storm was that the sanding pad on the drill picked up a bit of the dinitrol, which then preceded to burn rapidly on the sanding disc, which then caught and skidded on the lens, and created some deep marking on the surface, which despite best attempts wouldn't come out, even with several subsequent passes of the 800 grit disc.

Here's how the lens looked before - there's some pitting etc. visible;


Here's the first couple of passes on the sanding



Here's the marks that were caused by the drill slipping




I've treated it with some Halfords Universal Clear Lacquer. Not really sure if it's appropriate for polycarbonate lenses or not, but trying to give it some UV protection.

[Call the midlife!]

Had a bit of a disaster polishing the first lens today. Kit advises on using a drill with a decent speed.  That meant breaking out my electric drill which is quite a heavy beast. Because the lenses were out of the car I was using my legs to brace the lens whilst using the drill. Final part of the perfect storm was some tiny flecks of dinitrol I hadn't cleaned properly off the sides of the lens.  Net result of this little perfect storm was that the sanding pad on the drill picked up a bit of the dinitrol, which then preceded to burn rapidly on the sanding disc, which then caught and skidded on the lens, and created some deep marking on the surface, which despite best attempts wouldn't come out, even with several subsequent passes of the 800 grit disc.

Here's how the lens looked before - there's some pitting etc. visible;


Here's the first couple of passes on the sanding



Here's the marks that were caused by the drill slipping




I've treated it with some Halfords Universal Clear Lacquer. Not really sure if it's appropriate for polycarbonate lenses or not, but trying to give it some UV protection.

If it weren't for bad luck you wouldn't have any! You could try nail varnish and some well soaked 1200 grit to try and get a gloss on it again but you're probably stuck with the opaque side of things.


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[Topdownman]

The end result looks ok to me in the picture at least!

Did you polish them up and then lacquer them? Thats what I did with mine with some UV resistant lacquer but that started to peel off very quickly and there are only a few bits left on the edges of mine that have resisted me polishing them to get it all off due to sods law.

I think the correct way to do it is to go through the levels of wet and dry to end up with a fine grade and then spraying the lacquer onto the now opaque and sanded lights (ie no polishing) and that should make them clear again.

I have not been brave enough to try that though so let me know how you get on!

[delhusband]

I'll give it another once over @Topdownman, once they're back in and panels masked off.

On another note, i did buy a tin of red caliper paint yesterday :-)   next job...

[delhusband]

You could try nail varnish and some well soaked 1200 grit to try and get a gloss on it again but you're probably stuck with the opaque side of things

Gutted. Went over it 3 times with 800, then 2 times 1500, then 2000 and 3000. 800 didnt shift it, in too deep. Also noticing more fine bubbling/ tiny hairline cracks than before. Looks worse than before I started. If i do it again, it'll all be by hand next time

[Call the midlife!]

You could try nail varnish and some well soaked 1200 grit to try and get a gloss on it again but you're probably stuck with the opaque side of things

Gutted. Went over it 3 times with 800, then 2 times 1500, then 2000 and 3000. 800 didnt shift it, in too deep. Also noticing more fine bubbling/ tiny hairline cracks than before. Looks worse than before I started. If i do it again, it'll all be by hand next time

I could be wrong but if you can buy replacement covers for the rears you might be able to get a new one for the front?


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[Call the midlife!]

After collecting the car today from a successful MOT ( ), decided to have a crack at polishing the headlights.
There's some mildew behind the rims of the lenses, so I decided that rather than polish them in place I'd take them out and see if I could clean the sides as well.  This was a bigger job than expected.  Started by getting bumper off again, which came off fine.
The top screws for the lights came out OK, but the side screws behind the bumper both sheared when I turned them.


Here's them out. You can see the swirling, and a little bit of discolouration


There was a fair bit of overspray of Dinitrol from the recent underbody treatment, and some mildew also.



I've cleaned the inside of the rims around the lens, clean one is on the left obviously!


Tomorrow I'll start polishing the surface of the lenses with my Autoglym kit. Bought some clear lacquer too for after the polishing.

Didn't realise the slam panels were different, unless mine's a replacement?



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[delhusband]

What a day. Tried replacing bulbs whilst front lights were off the car. Discovered I'd bought wrong bulbs (didn't check manual, went with Halfords listings). Put lights back into car, put bumper back on and discovered I'd left the rubber cap off the back of the light unit that seals the bulb in.  I'm going back to bed and pretend today never happened.

[wotugonado]

On another note, i did buy a tin of red caliper paint yesterday :-)   next job...

Don't do it, the luck we have at the moment means it will spill everywhere, splatter in your face, you'll stagger round blinded into the removed wheel on the ground, trip over into your neighbours car and dent their bodywork. Probably........

[Call the midlife!]

On another note, i did buy a tin of red caliper paint yesterday :-)   next job...

Don't do it, the luck we have at the moment means it will spill everywhere, splatter in your face, you'll stagger round blinded into the removed wheel on the ground, trip over into your neighbours car and dent their bodywork. Probably........

Funny you should say that, I had one of my wheels off today and stood it up at the side of the car so I didn't have to keep stepping over it. Then kicked it over into the rear quarter panel while lying underneath the car, made a lovely thud!


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[wotugonado]

 :withstupid: lol
That's the closest I've come to getting something right today, almost prophetic. I'm off to pick my lottery numbers now.
Edit the lottery's done for the day  (:< >

[StuC]

A day in the life of Dan! Lol

[delhusband]

kicked it over into the rear quarter panel while lying underneath the car, made a lovely thud!

Ouch 

[Call the midlife!]

kicked it over into the rear quarter panel while lying underneath the car, made a lovely thud!

Ouch 

I think I got away with it, it hit right in the middle so just flexed with it I think rather than dented. I was more annoyed about killing the nut and bolt that goes through the control arm! I've bodged it for now but don't want to drive it far until I get some proper replacements.


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[delhusband]

Had a go at removing the dent in my OSR panel, below the vent.

It's been bugging me for a while.  Don't see it as much up close, but from a distance it looks quite big.


Googled "Side vent removal MR2 Roadster" and found this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WajzOcBS8ZA

Removed the side vent along the front edge using a narrow profile bike spanner wrapped in sellotape, to protect the paintwork. Flat tip screwdriver wrapped in tape would have done it too, but proper trim tools would have been better. There's 3 pop studs along the front edge. The pop studs have a square shaped profile at the back, which slide into recesses on the back of the vent. When prising the vent off, the vent came off without the studs, which were left in the bodywork. 


To put the vent back on, I removed the studs from the bodywork, slid them back into the recesses on the back of the vent. Then, I hinged the back and upper side of the vent back into the bodywork, before pushing the front of the vent (and the studs) back into the bodywork.





Looks a little better for now @Mandsevo. When the vent was off, I tapped the inside of the body panel at the dent/crease gently with a hammer.  It popped back out, but because of the crease in the bodywork the dent has a tendency to pop back in again.  Tapped it a few more times, to see if I could get it to stay out more permanently, and it's out for now, but I'll leave it to the pro's at dingday - don't want to go from concave to convex.

[1979scotte]

I had an amateur have a go at a dent in my silver.
Looked pretty good to my eyes for no outlay.
When i went to ding day I got a telling off.
He reckoned it took 3 times as long to sort than if it hadn't been messed with.
Just something to think about for the future maybe.

[delhusband]

I had an amateur have a go at a dent in my silver.
Looked pretty good to my eyes for no outlay.
When i went to ding day I got a telling off.
He reckoned it took 3 times as long to sort than if it hadn't been messed with.
Just something to think about for the future maybe.

Tried it by hand first, popped out OK, but crumpled back in. After first couple of knocks with hammer it wasn't any better - but yeah, didn't enjoy using the hammer - got scared and left it

[Call the midlife!]

I had an amateur have a go at a dent in my silver.
Looked pretty good to my eyes for no outlay.
When i went to ding day I got a telling off.
He reckoned it took 3 times as long to sort than if it hadn't been messed with.
Just something to think about for the future maybe.

Tried it by hand first, popped out OK, but crumpled back in. After first couple of knocks with hammer it wasn't any better - but yeah, didn't enjoy using the hammer - got scared and left it

The pros know where to hit it to take the tension out and stop it pulling back in but credit to you for having a go![emoji1303]


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[Enjay]

I just noticed the story about the light cleanup.  Even with the bit of bad luck, the lights look so much better.  It's great when you can get a nice shine on them and remove the dullnes of the weathered lenses. It makes such a difference to the look of the car.

You've probably figured out a system for removing the dinitrol overspray but, just in case, I find that white spirit is very effective.

[Call the midlife!]

I just noticed the story about the light cleanup.  Even with the bit of bad luck, the lights look so much better.  It's great when you can get a nice shine on them and remove the dullnes of the weathered lenses. It makes such a difference to the look of the car.

You've probably figured out a system for removing the dinitrol overspray but, just in case, I find that white spirit is very effective.

We discussed it at length yesterday sat outside the pub, @delhusband  is going to buy a cat and get it to lick all the spare Dinitrol off.


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[delhusband]

Did a mini service this evening, - oil & oil filter, new standard paper Air filter, and new Bosch FR78X's spark plugs. Just went for Bosch again- can never get Denso or NGK in Halfords.
My coolant has done a disappearing act - bottle was completely empty - vented the bottle, but was still below the "Low", so topped up to full - bet I see a tonne coming back tomorrow.

May have a problem - I've overfilled the oil ever so slightly - There was ~225ml left from a 4 litre bottle, which means I've gone over about ~75ml-90ml.  I reckon I've probably spilled 10-20ml over the engine bay and onto the drive - The letter "F" on the dip stick is covered (just), but there's nothing on the cable.  This could either sound ridiculous or dangerous, I just don't know - looking for advice on whether or not I should consider removing some oil - and if so, is it possible to extract from the top cap, or is it a case of opening the sump plug again?

[jonbill]

I'd try and get a little out with one of these through the dipstick hole.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F401409716973
But it's not a big deal if you don't.

[delhusband]

I'd try and get a little out with one of these through the dipstick hole.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F401409716973
But it's not a big deal if you don't.

Thanks again Jonbill.  I'm heading out tomorrow for a couple of hundred miles of probably quite enthusiastic driving, this gives me peace of mind.
Screwdriver got hammered through the filter again today

[delhusband]

Fitted the new headlight I got at DD (Cheers Tricky ) Gave it a quick rub down with T-cut and it looks brand new, fantastic! Old scratched unit out from my epic fail of an attempt at polishing.


Ding Day was brilliant. Won/bought a new Cone filter at the auction. This is my new favourite toy. Have I done a professional job of fitment? No. Is it in the optimal position to acquire cool air? No. Does eet sound a beet, shall we say, cheeky? Mais oui!


I've also go some nice seatbelt covers in the auction - nice & comfy and themed appropriately! (Cheers Jane!  )