Any Advice, Part 2!

[Othen]

I'm enjoying reading your thread Chris; don't worry - there are no silly questions :-)

Alan

[Chris152]

Thanks both.

Stephen - I guess there's a case for lubricating many of the nuts/ bolts on a car that's so old, and some of which may not have been touched in 30 years? We did the bonnet hinges but not the headlamps, which we'll do now as they're going to need the reflectors replacing.

On cleaning the rear lights, I posted that on a facebook page and someone said to remove the units, and then the bulb attachments and clean through the bulb holder holes, which seems a reasonable compromise. In fact, once all the electrics are out the way and you just have an otherwise sealed plastic unit, I guess there's no reason not to immerse the lot in detergent and soak, shake, then repeat till as much as possible of the dirt is out. Then allow to dry thoroughly before replacing. We'll wait til it's stopped pouring with rain to try that.
Not terribly important, just waiting for bits to arrive in the post!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Chris152

In fact, once all the electrics are out the way and you just have an otherwise sealed plastic unit, I guess there's no reason not to immerse the lot in detergent and soak, shake, then repeat till as much as possible of the dirt is out. Then allow to dry thoroughly before replacing. We'll wait til it's stopped pouring with rain to try that.
Not terribly important, just waiting for bits to arrive in the post!

The dishwasher takes the hard work out of it Chris!

Lenses upwards and treat as a normal load. If you remove the rubber gaskets (they're usually a sort of sponge rubber) and soak them in really hot water with a hefty dose of washing up liquid then when you can get your paws in without taking your skin off, give them a good massage and a rub to remove the loose dirt, rinse well and lay flat to dry.

If possible, fit them back to front to the opposite handed cluster from which they came so the RH is on the LH cluster back to front and vice versa on the other side, this really helps them reseal. Likewise a gentle smear of silicone grease also helps them seal and waterproofs them while making it easy to remove them in the future if necessary.

[Chris152]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The dishwasher takes the hard work out of it Chris!

I assumed you were kidding when I read that, Dave - but I can see it makes perfect sense! Maybe a cooler cycle in case any distortion occurs? We'll wait for a dry day so there's no issue with the holes where they sit getting water inside.

Alan - I appreciate your 'no silly questions' comment - from our perspective, I think it's a question of being sure we've done what we can to find out for ourselves before throwing questions out, hoping someone will be kind enough to answer. Looking back on our flushing of the cooling system questions, I realised that the thermostat would indeed have to be removed as (hoping I've figured this right!) it won't allow the water to flow to the radiator until the engine's warmed it sufficiently to open the valve. So we could have thought before asking - tho I guess it's what happens when there's so much new info to process. Rambling a bit, but I'm trying to say thanks again for everyone's patience with our basic questions! Just read your current thoughts on your drive gear - I know in due course that's where the lad wants to head, lots of learning to do before we get there... :-)

[Othen]

Super duper Chris,

That is the value of this forum - before you know it you and your son will experts and advising others on their newly acquired project cars :-)

Alan

[Chris152]

Quick one - we managed to get the lights off the rear, about to wash them. Some of the electrical connectors were quite stiff to remove - can I lubricate them with anything? WD40? Vaseline?

Edit - OK, dielectrical grease, apparently. We don't have any, I think we'll just slip them back on, should be fine.
Prime example of asking a question without researching first! Got over-excited about getting the light housings off.. :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Chris152

Quick one - we managed to get the lights off the rear, about to wash them. Some of the electrical connectors were quite stiff to remove - can I lubricate them with anything? WD40? Vaseline?

Edit - OK, dielectrical grease, apparently. We don't have any, I think we'll just slip them back on, should be fine.
Prime example of asking a question without researching first! Got over-excited about getting the light housings off.. :-)

Silicone grease!!! Did you pick any up yet?

Don't forget to polish all the connections on the cluster firstly with fine emery and then something like Solvol Autosol before smearing silicone grease on and refitting the connectors.

[Chris152]

Went to Halfords just assuming they'd have silicone grease, but no! we've refitted the lights anyway as we didn't want the rain getting in, and they look way better - the grease is arriving tomorrow so we may release the lights enough to smear a coating on the seals.
It was a bit disturbing to see a brake light wasn't working but after lots of fiddling with wires, it turned out to be the bulb! Could have been that way for some time.
Next up, antifreeze... :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Chris152

Went to Halfords just assuming they'd have silicone grease, but no! we've refitted the lights anyway as we didn't want the rain getting in, and they look way better - the grease is arriving tomorrow so we may release the lights enough to smear a coating on the seals.
It was a bit disturbing to see a brake light wasn't working but after lots of fiddling with wires, it turned out to be the bulb! Could have been that way for some time.
Next up, antifreeze... :-)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/70G-Silic...g/174292752540

There you are Chris - Toolstation may do it as well or a better motorists shop, Hellfrauds is geared more to bikes and always has been. Toolstation do indeed do one :

https://www.toolstation.com/silverho...se-tube/p79867

They also do a superb silicone lube spray as well :

https://www.toolstation.com/silicone-spray/p21983

Excellent for locks, latches, window channel rubbers (where the glass slides up and down) and other general lube jobs.

[Chris152]

I'm getting on with the antifreeze today tho the boy's not here - the weather's looking grim later in the week. At the moment it's sat on the drive, cooling after removal of old coolant and refill with water from hose, and 45 mins drive.

Quick question - once the engine's cool, is it best to remove the bottom rad hose again to drain water and the flushing fluid before removing the thermostat housing? It'd save water spilling all over the shop?