Uh - I just thought XL was referring to me when he used the word "fat."
Restomike: Thanks - that helps put things in perspective.
So - I've been jumping all over the place with no real direction putting the car back together. That's been mostly because I was trying to get the heap of parts on the other half of the garage re-installed on the Demon so that Wifey's neon could be parked inside again...
Now that that is done, I figured I would proceeed the same way we did when disassembling the car - one end to the other until finished. Seeing as the car is backed in, I started on the back of the car.
I'm starting to realise how foolish I was in thinking I would get to drive this thing this summer, even if the body shop had finished their part quicker. It seems that every little thing I encounter is going to be a day long project...ah well - if they are all as enjoyable as today's was - I guess that's why we call it a "hobby."
My plan was to re-install the taillights, mount the rear bumper, put the back half wiring in and put the fuel filler neck and cap on the car. Gluing in the trunk seal would be next. Then move into finishing the interior wiring and putting thr door rubber on.
Unfortunately, the swap-meet taillight lenses I bought a couple years ago to replace the busted up ones on the car were in need of some serious TLC themselves, resulting in a almost day long project themselves...
Picture one is the original lights. The outer plastic ridge is broken on pretty much all of them. Apparently this happened a couple weeks before I bought the car and was done by some neighborhood kids.
Picture two is the new ones. Upon pulling the gasket from the front of them, I discover some moron has glued them up with slicone. They are also pretty dirty & faded...
Picture three is after about 2 hours with a razor knife, scraper and dremel tool loaded with a very fine wire wheel...
Picture four - I have polished the lenses with Kleen Flo paint and fibreglass reconditioner. (I know there are lots of other methods - but this stuff flat out works) There was a bunch of primer overspray on the lenses as well. The stuff worked it right off and made the lenses shine again. My favourite parts guy at the local auto-value store turned me on to the stuff. The black areas have been repainted with testor's gloss black model paint and t ablack paint-pen.
Picture five - While waiting for the paint to dry, the rear marker lites got polished and the edges repainted with a silver paint pen. The fuel filler got installed and I went in for supper.
